  My baby girl is teaching me multitudes about how very different children can be. In every imaginable way, she is a completely different child than her brother. I want to be sure to celebrate her individuality, rather than tease her for it or even accidentally give her the idea I wish she was like her brother. I want our family to help me tow this line, too. Aidan has always been the happy-go-lucky, amiable child. The things in life that he desires are the very things that make adults happy to see a child desire.
He loves to cuddle in your lap, or to build something alongside you. He'll look at you with his giant kacky-green eyes, smile sweetly, and say "I love you" and melt your heart. Converseley, the things in life that Ellie desires are typically self motivated developmental and gross motor advances. She's working so hard, in almost every minute of the day, to achieve. As her mama, I love seeing her efforts. But I'm also aware that they don't illicit the grown-ups' smiles very often. This morning as Aidan and I played on SesameStreet.com (on his new Mac!
), John and Ellie played with Legos in the other room. She put two legos together all by herself! After a bit of play, though, she pointed to her sheepskin and John said he felt like she was saying she wanted to go to bed. So I came in and loved her up, then set her in her bed on the sheepskin and said night-night, curious and hopeful that she had decided, all by herself, to sleep.
She laid her head down for a few seconds, then sat up and fidgeted for a minute, then called us back to her with mamas and dadas. I picked her up and took her to nurse to sleep, but that too disparaged her so John picked her up and held her as he cooked. Before he could even finish cutting (with one hand, the talented devil! ) the mushroom patties, she was asleep against his chest. 
