Little Differences

On an intellectual level, I knew the kids would be different from each other, but it's been facinating to watch Elizabeth and actually see  the differences.

Joseph, our little Taurus, was as regular as clockwork.  He woke up every morning around 6:30 - still does, for that matter - and ate.  An hour later, he was ready for a nap.  He slept three hours, woke up, ate, repeat.  We could plan out the rest of the day based on his wake up time.  Most of our friends and family assumed that Chad and I put him on this schedule.  We didn't!  We noticed a pattern around six weeks and started to anticipate his actions, making for a much calmer environment.

Elizabeth is more free flowing.  We tried to discover her sleep pattern and, when we looked at our log, couldn't see one for the life of us!  She wakes up around 5:30.  Chad brings her to bed with us where she gets an early morning breakfast and falls back to sleep until around 9:00.  After that...sometimes she naps for a couple hours, sometimes twenty mintues.  The only sure thing is that she's in bed between 7:30 and 8:30.  For the last two weeks - with two exceptions - she sleeps until 5:30.

I'm not going to complain.  At this age, Joseph was still waking up every three hours all through the night.

The differences continue beyond sleep patterns...

Joseph had a play mat.  He used it maybe a half dozen times, but never got interested in the dangling toys.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, goes nuts when she's on her play mat.  She hits the brightly colored bumblebees and butterflies.  She looks at herself in the mirror and, realizing how beautiful she is, grins and coos at her reflection. 

Side note:  It cracks me up to watch her with mirrors.  She looks at the baby in the mirror and smiles.  Then, seeing the baby smile back at her, laughs.  Then, seeing the baby laugh, starts waving her arms frantically.

Joseph hated being swaddled.  He'd twist and squirm and kick until he freed himself.  Then, he'd finally relax and sleep.

Elizabeth needs to be swaddled like a duck needs water.  If she comes free, she cries in a pitiful, tired little voice until she's wrapped up tight as a burrito again.

When I snuggled next to Joseph to get him to sleep, he wouldn't budge as I slowly got up from the bed.

Elizabeth has a sixth sense about such things and will frown, squirm and start to wake up if I even shift slightly.

I can't wait to see how their personalities grow and develop.  It'll be amazing to look at them when they're older and see their similarities and differences.

Side note:  Excuse any misspellings.  I still can't figure out how to spell check and I can't figure out how to get back to my old formatting page.  *sigh*