Personalities

It's always amazed me how quickly our children's personalities come through. As mothers, we start getting to know our little ones in the womb. We know how they kick or wiggle, what their busy time of day is and how they react when you poke them a bit. We, of course, spend time wondering if they're going to be terrors once they're born based on all the kicking that they do at 3am. But once they're born, they begin to show themselves right away. We have some very distinct personalities in our house to be sure. M came into this world entertaining everyone and he's never stopped. From the moment he could smile, he was coaxing smiles and reactions out of everyone around him. He would have long gobbledegook conversations with people from a very young age complete with gestures, well-placed laughs and impressive timing. He's still like that today. He's always telling jokes and entertaining anyone and everyone. He loves being the center of attention and will do anything to get there. When he was little, he could always be reasoned with. I didn't know what a blessing that was until G came along.

After having our first child who's personality filled a room, G was different. He COULD smile but you'd really have to work for it and the only person who could really get him going was M. He had an idea about this world and we were along for the ride. As a toddler, he resembled a grumpy old man at times. In the morning, he would get up, very crabby, and make his way to the couch with his blanket where he would demand a sippy cup (sikky cup) and a show. After his morning libation and show, he was ready to greet the world and, to his credit, he did so in a good way. He was a challenging toddler because he fussed and whined a lot and it honestly wore on us. I used to tease that if he ever went to school, he would leave a trail of retired teachers in his wake because he was so willful and opinionated and there was no reasoning with him. On the flip side, he was so lovey and cuddly. He loved his mama and we cherished our cuddle time. He turned into Mr. Amiable at about 8pm so we started letting him stay up until we went to bed because he was so wonderful and happy at that time of night and we just cherished having that time with him. He's still very intense in his moods. He's either very happy and lighting up the room or screaming mad. I swear I've seen steam come out of his ears at times. He's very passionate and that passion will serve him well some day. In the meantime, we're working on some self-control.

S came into this world in a very explosive and dramatic way. The smallest of all of our babies, it took one push to birth him and it surprised everyone in the room. He asserted himself as "fierce" from day one and we nicknamed him catbird because his cry sounded like a cat yowling and his mouth was always open to nurse like a little baby bird. He was either very, almost eerily, content or screaming mad (sound familiar?) and he has one volume - loud! Even when he's excited and saying hello to everyone or naming things, he's yelling. He knows exactly what he wants and whom he wants to get it for him. You often feel a push on your shoulder if you're holding him and he wants you to go in a certain direction and "GO" was one of his first words. He has definitely followed in G's footsteps in waking up in a less than stellar mood and we haven't yet found what trips his trigger to get him happy and ready to start his day. We're working on that. And even when I'm exhausted from the whining, I can pick him up and he'll lay his head on my shoulder and cuddle in and it's just the sweetest thing. He's a master cuddler and I just love how that makes all of my stress just melt away.

C has to be our most consistently amiable child. He's such a joy. Even when he was tiny, Tim would say that his cry was so polite. It was more of a fuss and seemed to say "if you don't mind and if you have time, I'd like to nurse please." His smile is radiant and he exudes pure joy from the twinkle in his huge, brown eyes to the flexing of his fingers and toes when he's excited or happy. If he asks for things and you explain that he needs to wait for just a minute, he always says "okay" in his little sing-song voice. I truly want to bottle him up and just keep him this way forever. He's so wonderful. We get so many "Okays" and "Yeah!s" from him and it just warms your heart every time. We ask him questions just to get to hear his little voice and it's so precious. He does have his intense moments and S is usually the receiver of that and has the scratches on the cheeks and had many, many bite marks to show for it. He seems to be getting over that a bit (the biting at least) and we're very grateful for it!

It's wonderful to see what type of people our kids are growing into. It's not always easy and we admit that we're in a very challenging time right now with a couple of them but it's nice to have the good parts to balance everything out and make us remember why we had them and why we adore them the way we do. I always try to keep in mind that every part of their personality will serve them in their life in some way and they just have to learn how to use it all in a good way. And it's important to remember that on the days when you just want them to be quiet and stop being so stubborn and whiny because we all reach the end of our rope at some point. We all have things in our personalities that we need to tone down or liven up a bit to bring us some balance and it's in discovering those things and making the changes that balance and growth come into our lives. So I strive to maintain my own balance and remember how fleeting all of these things are and how we're doing our best to shape them into fine young men. Here's to enjoying the ride along the way!