Two. Different, But Not Too Different.

...Or, the title in which I demonstrate the importance of spelling and punctuation. :-)

My two girls - The Jones Clones, as I sometimes call them - are very similar. For better or for worse, I don't think they'll ever have to worry about people not realizing that they're sisters. Sometimes though, their similarity only serves to point out their differences to this Momma.

My oldest is the consummate first child. She takes it upon herself daily to make sure that others are following the rules and "doing it right". She already bosses around her little sister and then tattles on her when she doesn't follow directions. It's been months since we started having talks about the fact that she's not the mommy and her only job is to be a good example so that her sister knows how to follow the rules. It's not her job to force her sister to do things her way or to discipline her when she does them wrong.

She's also a spitfire, a spark plug, a live wire. When she grows up, she will be one of those people that other people call "indomitable".  When she sets her mind to something.... It. Will. Get. Done.

We have known since she was very young that she will be an influencer. Whether for good or for mischief, she will lead others. It's our responsibility as her parents to teach her how to make wise decisions so that her influence will be positive. We have been working, little by little, in age appropriate ways, to teach her to be a discerning decision maker. Even now, we're so proud of how well she thinks through her choices before making them.

Teaching her to hone her critical thinking skills has created some pretty funny "toddler logic" situations. For instance, just after she turned 3, she started to practice "leading questions" to help her get the answers she wants. A typical scenario would go something like this:

"Daddy, are you making dinner in the kitchen?"
"I sure am."
"And you have to stay in the kitchen while you make dinner, huh?"
"Yup."
"But I don't have to stay in the kitchen, do I?"
"Nope"
"So... since you have to stay in the kitchen while you're making dinner and I don't, can we turn off your movie and I can watch my movie?"

Wow. That's my girl!

Well, that's my first girl. My second girl is a little bit different.

Girl #2 is a whole different kind of handful. Much more easy going than her big sister, she's used to not being the center of attention every single second. She also uses this fact to her advantage and quietly gets into mischief when we're not looking. This talent has resulted in few smashed fingers from playing in drawers and probably a handful of crumbs (or dog hair, ew!) eaten off the floor. Obviously a second child, she yells when she needs something, usually because it's the only way to be heard over her jabbering big sister.

She's already played the little sister victim card. At about 10 months of age, no less! The girls were in their car seats and her big sister playfully patted her hand. She started screaming bloody murder, looking at me as if to say, "Big Sister hit me!" I had been standing right there watching and said to her, "She didn't do anything to you. Cut out the screaming." Little Sister stopped screaming immediately, looked at me, and shrugged as if to say, "Hey, it was worth a shot." Seriously, already!?!

She's not as progress-focused as her big sister. She seems to just "enjoy the ride" a little better. By that I mean that when my first girl discovered sitting up, she never wanted to lay down again. When she discovered standing, sitting up was so five minutes ago. Once she could cruise the furniture, she wanted nothing to do with standing still. When her baby sister is sitting up and falls over, she says, "Uh oh" and rolls off to find another fun activity. For her, it's not a giant failure. It's just a new opportunity to see the world from a different angle.

Because of her easy going nature, she seems like she might be developing her physical skills a little more slowly. Her big sister had been walking for over a month by this age. Last Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, she started to crawl. I alternate between being slightly worried and being really excited that I don't have to deal with a walking infant - which is exactly what her big sister looked like. The truth is, she's still developing faster than the "normal" development curve.

We thought that since we had such a verbal first child, we would perhaps get a quieter one the second time around. Not a chance. She talkes up a storm. Actual, recognizable words include all of our names (Mama, Daddy, Sister, Bob), "Thank You", "uh oh" and most recently "cracker". She also makes the following animal sounds/faces, puppy, elephant, giraffe, fishy, monkey, cow, dog and dinosaur.

We can already see that our sweet girl #2 is a sparkler. She's going to be the girl who lights up a room. Even her presence is uplifting, I can't wait to see the way she encourages people when she can finally form a sentance or two. She is already so sympathetic and tuned in to the feelings of others. I know that as she grows she will be the kind of girl who has just the right words to speak life to troubled friends and family. Just like with her sister, our main job will be to make sure that she develops discernment so that she can encourage others to do the right things. Neither of our girls will be followers, so we need to teach them to be good leaders.

Did I ever think I'd be the mom of two exceptional, active, sparkly, tough girls? Honestly, no. But I've got two. Different, but not too different daughters. And that suits me just fine.

Stay tuned for a crawling video! I've been trying to upload it since she turned 11 months on Monday but Blogger hates me. It'll be up soon, I promise!