Anyone with more than one child knows that it is more than just possible for the same two parents to bear children that are polar opposites, it almost seems inevitable. The hard part is recognizing their differences in such a way that you don't actually "compare" them and end up turning it into a list of pros and cons for each one. ALL kids are different...some of their differences just stand out more than others.
We named our second daughter Daire without even knowing what a huge joke it would turn out to be. When she starts school, I can only imagine how many "I dare you..." jokes there will be. And how many trips to the nurse's office will result from them. I have no hope of her being the kind of kid that turns down a good dare...
She was the infant that I had to literally wrap onto my body with a baby sling in order to use my arms for anything, because she insisted on being moved around, at all times. She was the baby that was full-on crawling by 6 months old, and walking around at 9 months old. (I was actually embarrassed to tell people how old she was when they asked because I could tell they thought I was lying every time.)
Running and climbing were tasks whose mastery she took very seriously, and still fine-tunes her technique of around the clock. I have pictures of her dancing on the kitchen counters, hanging from curtain rods, and standing on the entertainment center to push the buttons on the T.V. All of those things happened in the time it took me to turn around and back again.
She's the kid who falls down, skins her knee, then pushes you off, annoyed by your comfort and attempts at first aid. She's busy and doesn't care that the blood is dripping down onto her white socks while she runs off. That's YOUR problem, later.
She's the kid that tells strangers "HI!" in the grocery store, will bite you if you don't pay attention to her as quickly as she would like, thrives off of having an audience, and has no limit when it comes to what she will do for a laugh.
She's the kind of kid that strikes fear in the heart of pediatric professionals, made my dad suggest inventing an Adderal dart-gun, stopped me from judging people who use those "kid-leashes," and caused the baby-sitter to think about adding a padded room.
We've made a few feeble attempts at domesticating her. We tried dance. Once. A breakdown of Daire's first (and only) dance class:
First 15 minutes = Sat in my lap, just soaking it all in. (Ok, she's being calm!)
Next 30 minutes = Halfway participated, explored the room a little bit. (Hmm, this could actually work out!)
Last 15 minutes = Wild, heathenistic, demon-possessed behavior similar to that of "Animal" from the Muppets. (WHAT was I thinking?!)
I stood confirmed in my original theory that there was wisdom in holding off on domesticating her through the art of dance until next year.
I have been beating myself up for a while about how we never took Daire to get pictures taken for her first birthday. Then last Saturday, we took the girls to get their pictures taken - and I was like "Oh, yeah...THIS is why we didn't go last year." We did get a handful of really cute pictures, but at the expense of major trauma for all involved. Daire shook all of the lighting poles violently, licked all of the glass walls repeatedly, climbed the photographer's ladder (with the photographer still on it), threw all of the props (a hysterically funny game to her, by the way), and had to be chased as far as the shoe department of the mall store we were in (then hauled back kicking and laughing) - twice. By the time we left, the photographer was probably scripting a letter of resignation in her head and trying to decide where she would go first after work, to pick up a job application.
Right now, you probably think that I'm complaining. I'm not! Daire keeps me laughing, active, jealous of her energy - and I would never trade her or change her for ANYTHING. She is perfect and beautiful and healthy....and she marches to NO beat but her own. When I look at her, I smile and wonder what kind of HUGE things she will accomplish one day with all of that determination, tenacity, and "Daire-devil" spirit. Until then, I will just keep chasing after her with band-aids and ice packs...and maybe a big net, too. (There's a thought...)
My only regret is that we don't have a reality show, so that I could at least cash in on all of the chaos.
♥M
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