Having two children, I get to re-live the different stages that our son went through with our daughter. Some of them I am glad are past me forever such as the early baby stage where they are not much more than a crying, breathing, being that is uniquely void of any real personality. That doesn't mean I didn't love my son and daughter at that stage, it just isn't very exciting for me. There is only so much you can do with a little baby before boredom begins to set in. There are also stages in our son's development that I do not look forward to having our daughter go through. Example: potty training. I know that girls are supposed to grasp the concept using the bathroom much more quickly than boys, but I still have to go through it, even if it is just for a few months. And yet, there is so much more that I am excited about that going through potty training will just be a little bump in the road. The best news about the potty training is that I only have to go through it one more time and then I am done with it forever.
So what exactly am I excited about? For starters, the emergence of a distinct and unique personality in our daughter. What started blossoming at around a year is becoming more and more definitive and special. She has this quirky little smile, a sly little side grin that she throws around, and is stubborn as an ox. There is no disputing that she is our daughter, but even with her similarities to her parents, she is showing early signs of becoming her own person. That, I love. She is a generally happy toddler, except when she doesn't get what she wants, and has the most adorable laugh ever. Now that she is in the early stages of coming into her own, she is getting along even better with her older brother and can now interact and play more with him. For the most part, they play really well together, make each other laugh, and are an adorable sight to see. At daycare, even thought they are in separate rooms due to the age difference, when they are outside, their play areas are adjoining and they can often be found at the fence separating the two, playing with each other. I just hope they continue to get along as they get older and enter their teenage years where I feel their friendship will be a great help to them. Only time will tell.
But back to our daughter. In addition to her blossoming personality, I love the fact that she enjoys the outdoors just as much as her brother. Now that she is walking everywhere, she will often head for the back door and try to escape into the outdoors. She can't reach the handle yet, but she knows how to get out and the whole process that goes along with it. If she is wearing slippers, she takes those off, places them neatly on the shoe rack, grabs her shoes and plops down on the floor attempting to put them on. Once outside, she loves to explore, throw balls in the driveway, and stick her hands in mud and dirt. With mud and dirt, she is funny. If she wants to, she will readily shove them right in, try tasting the mud, and has no qualms about any of it. However, if she is walking and loses her balance and falls, she doesn't like her hands getting dirty from bracing herself. Yet, while she may have her occasions of not liking her hands getting dirty, improved balance and time should cure her of that. One thing she loves to do is go for walks. Whether on our property in Vermont where she sits atop my shoulders as we traverse the hillside and stream or just in our yard where she either walks around holding a hand or rides serenely in her stroller, she loves all of it.
From this point forward, things will only get better. I know we have some rough times to go through still, namely all the half year stages where disequilibrium takes over their little bodies. For all the rough times we have to go through, however, there are plenty of joyful times to balance it out and keep that smile on my face. As I have said, even with our son when he was little, I take everything one day at a time. I do my best to get home from work when they are getting home and make sure I see them every day. Yes, I need to work to pay the bills, but that is all. The rest I devote to family. So will I ever be rich? Probably not, but I'm OK with that, I have my wife and children and that is all that really matters.
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