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Sunday, April 22, 2012

Strengths

Anyone who has raised a child (or two) or been in a close relationship with a small, developing human being, can probably share in my marvelling at how crazy it is to see their little personalities make their first appearances. 
It's difficult at this stage to know for sure what my kids' strengths and weaknesses will be in later life but I love watching and making predictions about what they will be good (and not so good) at when they are a little older.  I find that it's more difficult to determent their weaknesses because all kids have a lot of the same weaknesses at this point and because what looks like something bad could actually turn into something good later.  Emotions are just so amplified at this young age, without the benefit of foresight or even a whole lot of hindsight, everything seems like "the greatest thing ever" or "the end of the world."
That said, here are a couple strengths I've noticed lately:
Evelyn.  This little girl is just so sweet and caring.  She likes to deny her mama (or just about anyone else for that matter) kisses when asked, but put on a pouty face and she'll immediately come back to offer up a soft-lipped smooch.  The same goes for when she gets too excited and hits; I put on my sad face (trying to teach some cause and effect here), and she immediately pets me or gives me a hug.
She has a lot of compassion- especially for her brother.  When he falls down, she runs to his side and tries to pick him up (two hands under his belly and HEAVE!).  If he's crying and I'm holding him she goes in search of a binky and always manages to find one (I think it's because she knows where he stashes them).  Tonight during their bath Elijah slipped and bonked his chin.  He was wailing away when Evie crouched down beside him and began to rub his back and give kisses until he stopped, he was all smiles after his sister's tender loving care!  She's also been known to get very upset when daddy seems to pick on mommy (tickling or teasing) or someone is crying around her- even joining in with some tears or plantiff whines of her own.
I also think she will be very good with detail.  She seems to remember just about everything we do once, and will show me what to do when we come back to it the second time.  She seems to always be one step ahead of me and offers things like; a kleenex, a fork or spoon, opening or shutting doors, a blanket for my feet, my shoes and coat, etc.  She's a little helper and very particular, I can see her being a big help with any younger siblings she might have(but only when she wants to of course, she is nothing if not strong-willed, reminds me of another big sister I know :).

Elijah.  Elijah is a little more go-with-the flow than Evelyn but I've noticed that he is a pretty conscientious little guy.  While he breaks his fair share of rules, he naturally puts things away when he is finished which I think is pretty awesome.  Maybe he's a creature of habit, I'm not quite sure which, as it doesn't seem that he puts a lot of thought into these things, it just seems to be very matter-of-fact behavior.  For instance a couple days ago both kids were eating banana halves (with the peel, must have the peel ON mom!) after their nap.  At some point I found Evelyn's peel on the floor next to a toy she had been playing with and I started to look around for Elijah's.  Where do you think I found it?  In the trash of course.  The little man had finished his banana and naturally, when one finishes a banana, one throws away the peel.  It was something I'd been telling them to do but I guess I didn't expect them to do it on their own for awhile.
Another example happened today when we were playing outside.  Elijah was pushing around the pretty pink stroller (his favorite thing to do outside besides picking up and carrying around sticks), when I said "lets go in and have dinner."  Evelyn was already at my side so I picked her up and headed for the front door.  Elijah however continued to push the stroller and made a beeline for the backyard.  Since I already had Evie in tow and her shoes off I continued inside and walked through the house to head him off at the back door before he could find any wayward doggie doodoos.  Instead, I found his little red-headed self standing at the backdoor and the stroller placed neatly in the garage.  Wow, what a good little boy.  He must have some of his Nana in him because he didn't learn that from either Andy or I!  While we both pick up at the end of the day, putting an item away right after we use it is not necessarily a strong suit for either of us!

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