My children are very different.
Very. Different.
I have known they were different from the moment Liam was born.
Liam is a cuddler. Nora is not.
Liam is a climber. Nora was not.
Nora didn't walk until she was nearly 19 months old. Liam walked at 14 months old.
Nora is all girl! Liam is all boy.
Although they are very different, there are many ways that they are similar. For whatever reason, both of my kids are super chatty. I really don't have a clue as to where they get it. They both love books; they love to read or have a book read to them. Another thing they have in common is a very shrill shriek! Liam started this unbelievable scream when he was about 8 or 9 months old, and he screams his ear-piercing cry whether he is happy or sad. Nora, who really wasn't much of a screamer, seems to have picked up on the shrill shriek and uses it now too. (Usually when she is playing with her brother).
Needless to say, I am going deaf. Seriously.
Let me explain. A few weeks ago, Liam was already tucked in bed, and Jonathan and I were tucking Nora in for the night. Nora had just talked her Daddy into "relaxing" with her for a few moments, so I was just about to leave the two of them alone for their bonding time when Jonathan asked me to lower the speed of the ceiling fan because it was making an irritating "clicking" sound. Do you know that sound I'm talking about? The one when the pull-string taps against the fan base? Well, I looked at Jonathan and said, "What clicking sound?" He and Nora both looked at me and said, "That clicking sound? Do you not hear it?" I didn't, so I moved closer to the fan and stood directly underneath it. Nothing. I swear I heard NO "clicking." I blame Liam. And Nora, too, but mostly Liam. I think my hearing is getting worse everytime he screams in my ear. Oh well, he's worth it.
Anyway, back to the whole point on this post: differences in these two. When Nora gets hurt, you just might as well prepare yourself for some end-of-the-world drama. She cries, she wails, she has the tears, the need to be held, the desperation for a band-aid. Oh, it's just awful. But, she's a girl and she's my child, so drama is to be expected to a certain extent.
Liam, on the other hand, is a man when it comes to injuries. Take for example the other day when we were out on the back patio playing. As Liam is new to walking, he often loses his balance and falls forward. Unlike Nora at that age, Liam knows how to catch himself with his hands. Poor Nora didn't understand that she could break her own fall, so she had many head injuries when learning to walk and run. Anyway, Liam seems to continually scrape his big toe on his right foot when he falls outside. On this particular day, Liam once again tripped and scraped his toe. I saw the entire incident from start to finish, and I immediately noticed that his toe was scraped and was bleeding. Instead of scooping him up to check it out, I waited a moment to see how he would respond. At first, he didn't do much, but after a few seconds, I think the pain hit him. He very carefully bent down and looked at his toe, noticing the blood I'm sure. Then he rubbed his toe and very softly said, "Oooohhhh." A few seconds later, he stood up and walked off. It was then that I picked him up and checked the extent of his toe injury, sweet boy.
I just struck me as funny that my two babies respond to things so differently. Had it been Nora, things most likely would have played out differently. No matter their similarities or differences, I love them both to death!
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