Baby Burrito or Wild Hyena?

Monday, January 19, 2009



It's so funny to me that my daughters ended up incredibly different. Anyone who has known V since she was born knows that she came out kicking. She is what is considered an "Active" baby. She has also always been a very happy child, except for when she is teething. Little C on the other hand, is what is considered a "Calm" baby and she also is usually, at best, content. She prefers quiet, dark, and few people. Sounds kind of like a vampire bat, huh? V loves lots and lots of people and things going on but this tends to overwhelm her sister. Little C would be fine if I were the only other person in the world, but V would go crazy with boredom. J thinks that Little C will change, not because her temperament would on its own, but because her sister's behavior will force it to. I can see where this may be true, but I think that my sisters were not forced to be just like me because of my behavior. I was most certainly loud and talked up a storm, but I don't recall either of them being overly so. The girls' behavior extends into how they sleep. V is all over the place and often we find her in comical positions in her crib. She has woken up more than once with red marks across her face or legs from sleeping up against crib bars and we have found her sleeping horizontally across the crib with her legs sticking out the bars. She flops and rolls throughout the night and this is why we have been hesitant to consider a move to a "big girl" bed. She has recently shown interest in sleeping in a real bed with a blanket and pillow, so perhaps she is beginning to entertain the idea herself. Little C is a swaddler. She likes to be wrapped up tight like a baby burrito. V hated this when she was small, but Little C can't sleep very well unless I restrain her. She also likes white noise. I went on a mad search through this giant town for a noise machine in the weeks before Christmas (thank you Brookstone). Since then we don't use it as much but sometimes she goes into what I like to call "sensory overload" and I end up in the bedroom rocking her in the dark with the noise machine as loud as it will go. This is called the "sensory deprivation chamber". Maybe V is just too much for her, but she is just a much more anxious baby and doesn't smile as easily. It takes much more effort to make her happy than V required at this age. Maybe it's the reflux, but Little C has a fragile constitution. The pictures are of my babies sleeping. V was a little younger than Little C, but you can tell she's a much more wild baby. She's my little "Wild Hyena" child. We'll see about the "Saving Grace" of Little C.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, Clara has so much more hair than Ava did and it's so much darker. I knew it was but just didn't realize how much until I looked at those pictures! That picture of Ava was taken when she was about 2 months old wasn't it? It's going to be interesting to watch them grow and see how much they do (or do not) look alike.

Did you take a picture of the boo-boo that Ava got today? Didn't know if she would let you. Not like she doesn't stay bruised and banged up 3/4 of the time anyways! lol

FAMILY said...

Hey Sweety, I got your call today and I have been reading but also working a lot. The pictures look great and I am so glad things are working out well. Deb and I are hoping to have a visit from you this summer and go to Knoebles. I know Ava will have a blast. I know the challenges you are facing and how hard it is to keep both of them occupied. How I wish we could all be within driving distance to spend a weekend together, but I know you are doing well. I love you, and miss all of you terribly. Keep up the postings and send the blog to Kathy ,Karen, and Kim. Wish up luck on our house hunting. I love you , Dad.... aka (Pappa)