That’s what they say isn’t it, no two are the same? No two pregnancies are the same, no two labours and no two babies. In my case, ‘they’ couldn’t be more accurate. As much as I tried throughout my pregnancy with Tayo – I couldn’t help but compare it to my first pregnancy – twinges I didn’t remember first time around, but how similar my bump was, almost identical in shape but perhaps bigger?
The comparisons continue on today as well. Leo and Tayo are very different. I thought with a second one I would know what I was doing. I’d done it all before after all. Apparently not.
Aside from Leo’s seeming inability to sleep he was pretty much a dream baby. He had a good routine – I knew when he wanted a bottle, when he wanted food, when he needed a cuddle or when he just wanted to be left to be. He took to his milk like a duck to water – he would down an 8oz bottle in under 45 seconds – yes it was so ridiculous that we used to time him. He was ALL for the milk and still is even now. Tayo on the other hand is barely interested in milk. Don’t get me wrong he has it and luckily we manage to at least give him the required amount for his age but he could very easily take it or leave it – unless its 3am and he’s screaming and demanding it.
You might know if you follow me on Instagram that Tayo is also not a great sleeper but even then it’s a different kind of rubbish sleep to Leo. Leo would fight to go down but he’d eventually cave/be so exhausted he’d fall asleep (I’m sure he had FOMO – in fact I think he still has it now) but then he would maybe sleep for 5 hours – maybe 6 sometimes – until he was about 16 months he only ever had one 7 hour stretch and that was the longest period of time he’d ever slept for. But it would get to three or four o’clock and that was it. He was awake. It was play time. No matter what we did, what we tried – he was up. Whereas Tayo is pretty easy to go down, he has his nice little 5 or 6 hours sleep and then he’s up between every hour and two.
Then there’s teeth – When Leo turned one he still just had those uber cute bottom two teeth whereas Tayo currently has four and boy do we know about it! I remember Leo being a big dribbler but not really that he was in too much discomfort whereas as Tayo, wowzer. He has suffered so badly – dribbling, not eating, ‘those’ nappies and refusing milk altogether. Poor baby.
And then there comes the developmental milestones. Leo was so hyper as a baby – so quick off the mark – so eager to try new things, to learn new tricks. And Tayo is so laid back he is almost horizontal. Leo crawled by seven months and the day he turned ten months he took his first unassisted steps and then there was no stopping him. Tayo turns ten months next week and we have a very confident roller, there is some hints of commando crawl and also a massive effort being put into figuring out how to bring his knees in to get to crawling position but he’s not there yet. He loves to stand and has a good push along in his walker but there are no signs of any steps being taken.
Two things they do seem to share; their smiles and their want to be sociable. Leo was a happy little baby – lots of smiles, so happy to go to nursery and explore and be with new people and so far it seems Tayo is following suit. His smile and his laugh take me right back four years and sometimes it’s like having baby Leo back in the room.
So that’s them. My boys. My two very different boys. I wasn’t prepared for one so laid back. I guess they all move at their own paces and Leo’s personality is perhaps just much more fast paced that Tayo’s.
Were your babies the same? Do they have similar personalities? Did they reach milestones at the same ages or were they different to each other? Or are you different to your siblings?
Feel the need to talk about today’s result? We’re on Rock My Style today doing just that.
So true. You know that they can’t be the same but you still kind of expect them to be! Silv and Paddy are totally different. She was just filled with will and energy from the start, slept horrendously, and is still always on the go, bright and active and very sure of her own wishes. He is Mr Chillout. He puts up with being toted around, ditched on his play mat, shoved in the Ergo, all with a smile on his face. He sleeps well and falls asleep easily. But he’s super lazy. No drive on show as yet.
People keep saying boy vs girl or first vs second, but I think they are all just different little humans. Look forward to hearing what other folks have!
Haha Lucy, sounds like you’ve had them the ‘right’ way round. My mum says my older bro was Mr Chill out and, four years later, she had a little devil (yours truly) – she was not prepared! It’s worth noting though that this hasn’t actually ‘fed’ through into our adult personalities – I’m now much more chilled out than my bro who is the life and soul of the party and isn’t good at sitting still. Weird!
Ahh, I love this Becky. This is the thing that amazes me about all the rules in place around babies – how can these rules fit every baby when they are all so different?! They don’t, and that’s the rub – because if your baby doesn’t fit the rules, you end up feeling like you’re doing something wrong. You’re not!
I was so surprised by how much of a personality Keanu had from the moment he appeared. He was always super alert, never wanted to sleep, didn’t like being swaddled, liked cuddles, liked being able to see what he was doing all the time. He has neverrrr slept through the night and he is now 14 months (I don’t sleep through the night so don’t really get why I should expect him to though). I haven’t had a second yet but, if we do, I’m fully expecting that experience to be completely different to this one.
Yes Kate!! I’ve found the whole ‘he should be doing this by XY age’ quite stressful because with Leo I didn’t even have to think about what he was or wasn’t doing because he just did everything before the thoughts even entered my mind.
Leo is SO like me personality wise it is scary! You can’t believe how they have your little quirks can you?! X
I have twins and can already tell how different they are at 3 months although trying hard not to compare them too much! Amélie has always been super active – right from when she was in the womb and rolled front to back when she was only 5 weeks – goes to sleep pretty well and is now doing longer stretches. Alex on the other hand is much more interested in the world and people and so isn’t so keen on sleep! He also likes to feed smaller amounts more regularly (read up every two hours for him at night so can sympathise Becky!).
My two girls are opposites. My first was hyper, into everything and met every milestone early but my 2nd, like Tayo, is sooooo chilled and zen and basically lazy! She bum shuffles around (no crawling) but I think we all dote on her so much that she doesn’t really need to do much more. She’s 1 and showing no signs of walking yet! But I remember how that made everything 100 times harder with my first so I’m enjoying everything being easier while it lasts!
That pic of your boys is so beautiful. As well as having opposite personalities mine look really different from each other too (they’re mixed race but one has my colouring, one has her dads) so I find myself being told daily how different they are and I find it really annoying! Yes, they ARE different people believe it or not!