Audree and Arya are soooooooo different!

My two girls are so very different from each other. I remember being pregnant and trying to think up what Arya being like and couldn't imagine her being too much different then Audree. Even after Arya was born I knew their personalities were different(how could they not be? they are two different people) but everyday(and increasingly so lately) their personality differences become more apparent.

My night last night, and the way things have been lately, have prompted a lot of my pondering on the differences of my girls. Here's what last night was like:

Last night we headed up to our bedroom around 11 and like I do every night I grabbed Arya for one last feeding in hopes that I will get a full nights rest and she wont wake up til around 7:30 or 8:00. Now in the past this has never been a problem. I get her while she's still sleeping, she keeps her eyes closed while she eats and I lay her down, she wakes up and cries for a few minutes and then is back asleep. Well last night I failed to take into account the fact that she can now stand up in her crib and worse she cannot get herself down without hurting herself in some way.

So I laid her down and hop into bed and start falling asleep. Then Mark starts talking to me and brings me out of my near sleep and before I try to go back to sleep I look at the baby monitor and see that Arya is still crying and it dawns on me that she is probably standing up. So Mark goes in there and she just keeps crying so he bring her in our bedroom. We rock her, I feed her, she goes back to sleep, we lay her down and she is instantly awake again. This process in it's different variations goes on til about 2:30 in the morning. So I grab Arya from Mark, turn on the warm shower, lay Arya's front side across my left arm and stand in front of the shower for about 20 minutes holding her perfectly still so no sudden movements will wake her up. For about 15 of those 20 minutes my arm was screaming at me to change positions. So I persevered and finally at 3 o' clock I slowly moved my way to her bedroom and slowly placed her in her bed and it worked. Then comes the pain in my bicep. My muscle was all seized up and I couldn't straighten my arm out. I tried to massage it and instead of falling right to sleep I ended up laying awake in bed til about 4 because my arm felt like i was still holding Arya. Positions where my arm should be relaxing were no relief. I finally fell asleep and Arya woke me up at 9. And that was my sucktacular night.

This sort of stuff never happened with Audree. Sure every child has their crappy nights but this is the worst I've ever had and have to look forward too. Audree didn't crawl until she was about 9 months old, she couldn't pull herself up in her crib til she was 9 months old...The moment we figure things out with Arya the next moment she learns something new and messes things up. We get Arya sleeping through the night with her swaddle blanket and the next moment she learns how to roll over. So we spend the next while just getting by and the doctor suggests we lay her on her tummy and stop swaddling her. We finally get her adjusted and she figures out how to pull herself up to standing in her crib and the sleeping situation has never been so bad!

Audree had sleeping down at about 4 months only randomly waking up and by 6 months she was sleeping through the night, every night, for about 12 hours. She took all her naps when put down. She would cry but only lasted a few minutes. On the flip side Arya started off a good sleeper and never got better and as she learns to do more she gets worse. She cries forever and is persistent. I had just started the habit, and she was responding, of letting her put herself to sleep. Now I'm afraid until she figures out how to gently get herself down that there's no way she'll be able to put herself to sleep.

Some other of their many differences:

Audree was always so good at entertaining herself. I could put her down for hours and she would stay happy. Eve during her clingy phase I could set her down. Arya hates being set down and acts like her world is over if I turn away from her or walk away. If I hand her over to anyone she acts like it's gonna kill her. Nothing will keep her entertained without me for more then a few minutes.

Arya is fearless. Audree was always so cautious and if it seemed to dangerous she'd back off and try another time. I catch Arya trying to climb up stairs, standing up against walls, our shower, our chairs, the couch, our vacuum...the most freaky of it all being the tile step in our bathroom that goes up to the bathtub. Yesterday I thought I was watching her well and I turn around and she is all the way up on the step very close to falling back down.

Audree loved her jumper and was jumping in it around 5/6 months. Arya is almost 8 months and still hasn't figured out how to jump in it.

I thought that Audree was pretty quick at everything except crawling but Arya has been quicker. I think they rolled around the same time but I think Arya figured out rolling from her back to her front sooner. Audree started sitting up around 5 1/2 months Arya started around 5 months. Audree started crawling around 9 months, Arya around 6. Audree successfully pulled herself up to things around 8 or 9 months, Arya around 7. Audree started walking just before 11 months and I project that if Arya isn't beginning to walk during her 8th month then she will during her 9th month.

Both of my girls have been very happy but in different ways. Audree is just in general a very happy person. She enters a room grinning like a fool. She wont hardly say anything but she's always grinning. Oppositely Arya smiles a lot but mostly just when she's getting attention. Audree is so shy and doesn't mind being ignored. Arya demands attention and feeds off of attention. She loves being around people and charms the death out of them. She shows off and loves the response she gets.

Audree was always sensitive but tough. Arya is just a wuss. She gets looked at wrong and she starts crying. She falls very nicely and she starts crying. You give her the wrong toy and she starts crying. If Audree takes off without her she starts crying. I set her down and she starts crying...and I could go on but I think you get the picture.

Audree loves her milk and for her it's always been a substitute for food. Arya loves her food. She loves her baby food and scrounges the floors and eats all the food off the ground(and sometimes more unfortunately). She'll eat anything off of my plate which isn't very much at the moment.

I love both of my girls very much and they've both come with their different sets of trials. I think it's obvious that Audree was a much easier baby but she has been a difficult toddler. I'm hoping since Arya is a difficult baby I'll catch a break with her as a toddler. Please Lord! When I was pregnant with Audree I was always so anxious to have another baby. Arya has completely changed my mind on how many kids I want and sometimes makes me question if I even want more. At this point in Audree's life I was so ready to have another baby. Right now I can't think of much that I'd want less. Babies are great and all but I don't think mentally or physically I could handle it. I know given some time things will change, and will hopefully get better, but the differences in my girl's personalities have made all the difference in the world. I don't regret having Audree and Arya so close together, I love them both so much and it's definitely been a learning experience. But I have learned my capabilities and I know that they aren't as great as I originally thought they were. Life never really seems to turn out the way you think it will...It's funny to think back at the way I used to think my life would be. :)

I always suck at ending my posts. I never know what to say and if the last thing I said is good enough to end with...so I am just going to say: THE END