Observations from the father

Alright, alright.... my wife has been asking me to participate in this blog for some time, as it's a documentation of our tiny men and their upbringing. Oh yeah, and it was my idea in the first place so I guess I have some responsibility to be a part of the family. So here goes.



The other night my wife and I had a discussion regarding the difference in personality of the boys. I have thought from the beginning that parents of singletons are missing out on watching two distinct personalities develop side by side. It's great to watch one child develop, but watching two who are going through the same upbringing in the same surroundings develop into individuals is an incredible sight.

I use this as a preface because our conversation centered around how different they already are. More importantly, all those predictions that we make about our children and who they will be at some point in the future. In this case, our conversation centered around the topic of courage, fear (or lack thereof), and risk aversion.

Our children have very different levels of risk tolerance already. It's awesome to watch, and a little scary at the same time. Some of you may know, and for those who don't, Logan has decided that there is no such thing as fear. He will do anything. Two months ago we had someone check out the boys for development and when the subject of playing games came up, the only one we could think of is the one he plays when he wants to hang upside down (he leans over backwards and smiles at you). That's right, he loves it, and wants to do it anytime he can!

From climbing stairs, climbing shelves in the fridge, being thrown in the air, hanging upside down, he loves it all.  Which is the exact opposite of his brother Carter. Carter has days where if you pick him up, and don't cradle him close to your body, he starts to shake a bit with fear. This isn't a constant, but it does happen and we are very aware of when he's feeling a little skittish.

Taking this into account, and the fact that we are teaching the boys "NO" and "leave that alone" at this time, we came to a scary conclusion (due to the fact that neither of them currently listen to us at all). Carter, in 15-20 years, will be a wonderful student and young man. Good grades, quiet demeanor at home, caring of the people around him, and when he really wants something he'll ask politely. However, he'll do it even if you don't give him permission and then tell you how he never does anything wrong anyway and he's earned a mistake or two. I can feel it coming already.

His brother will undoubtedly do things a little different. Did I mention that when you tell Logan "No" he tends to laugh at you. No joke, he smiles, leans his head back, giggles a little, and goes right back to doing whatever you asked him to stop. I know, I know, he's not quite one yet (this friday), but he's still sitting there laughing at me. Logan is sure to take a different path than Carter. At this point I believe Logan will be telling us to jump off a cliff when his big skydiving trip comes up. Seriously, is it bad that I'm already wondering how hard it will be to control this little stud?

Anyway, I just thought I would share a little personality with the world. It's fun having these conversations, and knowing (in some cases simply hoping) that we are wrong with our predictions. Or maybe not, and I'll end up with a nuclear physicist and an x-games gold medalist. I could live with that.

The latest

Here we are again, months after the last post, and I have no better excuse for not writing than the two little bugs that are (finally!) napping in the other room. They do keep me busy (as strangers love to point out), but the fatigue is worth it. They get more adorable everyday, and I am amazed by how aware they are becoming of me and the things around them.

We went outside one sunny day a few weeks ago and even sat in the grass for a while, but they weren't really  in to the grass yet. Carter just sat without moving, petting the tall grass every once and a while, and Logan cried like he was being punished (Note the little tear on his cheek) while he tried to crawl into the closest lap that would get him off the grass. 

They have started to really notice each other as potential playmates (YEAH!!) and are getting very funny to just sit back and observe. Just last week at their grandma's house they spent 15 minutes racing up and down the hallway, stopping to look at each other and crack up and then run around a bit more. (When I say run, I imply a very fast crawl of course - we've not reached that milestone yet.) They love to chase each other back and forth around the living room.They also have started to sort of communicate with each other in a squealing sort of language. Not sure of the translations yet.

Though they aren't walking, both are getting very good at walking (or running, in Carter's case) behind their little push toys. Carter has actually gotten to the point where if he runs into a roadblock, he'll either push harder (in the case of something being in his way, like his brother) or move to the side of the toy and push it sideways. If you're in his way, watch out!

Logan is really in to whatever Carter is playing with, and the big push toys (though we have three different kinds) are no exception. Logan will actually drop what he's doing to go check out what his brother's playing with. Once and a while  they'll both get a handle on it at the same time and push together - it's led to some adorable moments (and sometimes one or the other being left in the dust!)

Both boys are still hesitant to let go completely while standing, but Carter is starting to do it more and more for a few seconds at a time. Logan has done it for almost 30 seconds at a time, but it's still pretty few and far between. The key, I think, is distraction. They just don't seem to notice they're not holding on to anything for a little while.

Carter actually stood up in the bath without any support for a few seconds, stopping both Evan and my "SIT DOWN" admonition just before it left our tongue. It's hard not to reward him for doing something like that (Standing on your own! Yeah!) when we are trying to implement such a strict SITTING ONLY in the bathtub rule. Oh the dilemmas of parenthood!

 Carter needed to relax in his 

rocking chair after all that walking!

 

Logan - still a little groggy, but 

always willing to give a smile.  

 

"What do you mean I've 

got more dinner left...where is it?" 

"Mom - this is the article I was telling you about...it has a very interesting interpretation of the relationship between quantum physics and the human body."

 "Mom, I'm trying to read my news. Honestly."