When I was a baby my father stumbled at the top of the stairs and almost fell. He then proceeded to demonstrate to my mother how the accident had nearly happened, while she kept saying "Put the baby down first, then show me" but he carried on "No just look, see, this is how I caught her with one hand while..." and wouldn't stop until she had seen him re-enact the whole incident - with her eyes OPEN!
My parents had a long and mostly happy marriage, but she never forgave him for that one.
No, playing catch on the stairs with a small baby is kind of, er, unusual. They must have had a cast-iron confidence in their own and each other's skill. Or they were just barking.