Differences

So I was reminded today during bathtime just how different the kids are from one another. There share a fair amount of traits, both physical and personality traits, but they are very different in some ways. This isn't surprising, but it is interesting - at least for me. Here is a short list of some of the most obvious differences:

1. Bathtime: while they both love the bath, Griffin's love for the water borders on worship. If I didn't know any better I'd say he was Kevin Costner in Waterworld (you know, with the gills behind his ears, don't tell me you didn't see that movie). The child will dump buckets of water onto his own head and then spurt, laugh, and do it again... And again... And again. Poe will splash and sit in the bath for as long as you let her, but she hates having water poured on her head. Hates. She's finally gotten the hang of leaning her head back when you rinse her hair, but she's still not a fan of water on her head. Suffice it to say, swimming lessons should be interesting this year for both kids.

2. Food: Penny is currently going through a picky stage, but at Griffin's age she was a pretty good eater. Only she wouldn't really eat meat. She still doesn't care for it. Griffin on the other hand cannot get enough of the animal flesh. Pork, beef, chicken, you name it. I haven't tried fish yet, but since I'm the only one who eats fish I don't buy it. Maybe next time we go out I'll order some salmon and let G try it.

3. Sleeping: it's well documented on this blog how Griffin's sleep is less than ideal. He has a harder time going to sleep and staying asleep than Penelope did at this age. I'm hoping it's something he catches up to her with very soon. I have no idea if this is just a G thing or if it's a formula vs breast milk thing. He seems to sleep better if I give him a bottle before bed AND nurse him, but that doesn't always work. Maybe it's a combination of both. I guess it doesn't really matter since he's not ready to stop nursing and I'm not ready to try sleep training. I haven't ruled out sleep training, but it is my last resort.

4. Cars: Griffin is infinitely more interested in cars and trains, or really any vehicle, than Penelope ever was. She had car/train toys, but never drove them around the house like G does. She never attempted to make "vroom" sounds until recently and never really preferred to play with moving toys. She always preferred books. G likes books, but he eats them half as often as he reads them.

5. Alone time: Poe has always been really good about playing on her own and hanging out by herself. G, not so much. He prefers to play with someone else.

6. No means... apparently for Griffin it means "try that again". While Penny will disobey (she is 2), she is now and has always been much more responsive to authority figures. She was also easier to redirect. Griffin is capable of being distracted, but it takes a lot more effort and a few more tries.

There are certainly more differences... And they share quite a few things in common, like loving to have their picture taken and smiling on command. They also share a love of the dog, grapes, and yogurt.


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Differences

There are quite a few differences between the kids, and while I'm thinking about them I thought I should write them all down in the blog.

Sleep:
The kids' sleep schedules aren't all that different at this age. Penelope was on a much more predicable schedule, but we had the time/energy to actually stick to the schedule. Not so much anymore. G's down to 2-3 wakings a night, which isn't bad for this age. If I remember correctly P was between 1-2.

The biggest difference (for me) is HOW they get to sleep. Penelope would need to be rocked. We would also occasionally lay down in our bed with her until she tossed and turned herself to sleep. Griffin is a patter, pat him and bounce and he is.out. He also nurses to sleep and can be transferred right into the crib; even when Poe was falling asleep after eating a bottle it would still take a fair amount of luck to transfer her into the crib.

Exploration:
Griffin puts EVERYTHING in his mouth. Everything. Penelope rarely put anything in her mouth, even when teething.

G also likes to explore his manly-bits. Poe was never big into self-exploration. (They're both going to be SO EMBARRASSED) about this post when they're older :)

Movement:
At this age, Poe was sitting and that's pretty much as far as it went. She would "walk" around in her walker, but she wasn't interested in crawling or moving around too much. Griffin does.not.stop.moving. Oh holy jinkies, this child will be into EVERYTHING when he eventually crawls. He's already into almost everything... right now he's just scooting on his bottom.

There's more of course, they're very different babies. But these are the things I was thinking about this evening after putting both babies to bed.

I should probably get some actual work done - I have a lot of planning to do, I start new units in all of my classes on Monday.