Growing Up Fast

Having children a little over two years apart has shown me just how quickly time flies.  A little over two years ago, I was going through seeing my son grow from this little lump of baby flesh into a toddler who gets into everything and has the tenacity and persistence to tackle anything he sets his mind to.  Now, I look at our daughter who is going through the same stage our son went through and it amazes me how quickly they go from this little breathing lump of nothing that eats, shits, and cries to a little person who can communicate with you, make you smile, laugh, and push every button they know how to.   They say that there is a big difference between boys and girls when they are younger and growing up.  Boys tend to be on the crazier side, full of energy, bouncing off the walls, and always darting back and forth between one activity and the next while girls are more apt to be calmer and more likely to go color in a corner by themselves.   I personally can't speak to that difference yet, but in ways, I am glad we had a girl as our second child, if only to ease the craziness of the first few years of life.  That is in no way saying that I would trade any second of our son's craziness, its just nice to think that when our daughter reaches the age that our son is now, perhaps things will be a little quieter and different.  I am sure I will be amazed regardless of how our daughter grows up, but for now, she is just working on holding her head steady.  (Which by the way she is doing really well now).  Our son, on the other hand has turned into quite the helper, and also the adventurous go-getter who will figure out almost anything he wants to get himself involved in.  This past week, I parked my Jeep Wrangler inside the fence that closes in our backyard.  Well, my Jeep for, last week at least, became our son's jungle gym.  Being a Jeep, there is very little damage he can actually do to the inside of it, and as such, we let our son run wild through it.  Every day after daycare all he wanted to do was to play in the Jeep.  He figured out how to open the Jeep door (just within his reach) and how to pull himself in, by getting a leg over the lip of the door and grabbing on to the steering wheel to pull himself up.   Conversely, to get out, he held on to the steering wheel and let himself slide down on to the pavement.  He did this over and over and over again in an effort to master it and I am sure to cement the fact that I will let him drive the Jeep at some point (which I probably will if it is still around in 10 years).  All kitchen cabinets, despite a good child lock, have become fair game for our son.  He has figure out how to unlock them himself and let himself into everything.  Luckily for us, he likes to focus on the cabinet that holds all our pots and pans.  He gets in there, re-arranges everything, and sometimes just takes everything out so he can make his new bed in there.  And there is no keeping our son indoors unless we lock the deadbolt.  Lastly, (for today at least) and I actually kind of like this last one, is that we let our son go up to his room on his own to play.  He has mastered the steep stairs in our house and loves to go re-arrange his room.  He is getting to the point where he can largely occupy himself and is developing a little sense of who he is.  As time passes, I know it will only get more interesting as our daughter becomes more agile, starts sitting, crawling, and walking, and begins a life of personal interaction with her older brother.  I just hope it stays as good as it is right now between the two of them.