I realized as I am blogging about my kids, I am only talking about my daughter, Carlina. She is three and of course has a bit more personality right now than my 8 month old, Eldon. He is in the picture in my profile. I loooooove that photo! But that is one of the few he is in. Eldon definitely suffers from second child syndrome. There are very few photos of him, and if he does make it in a picture, Carlina is in it too. He has never had a professional photo taken. I think Carlina had three paid photo shoots by this same time in her life. Plus he is a hand me down kid. I never do it in public, but at home...he wears purple and pink bibs with flowers. He really is a good sport about it, but I think he does tend to spit up on those more than the ones with trucks and footballs on it.
For now Eldon is OK with his lot in life. He is a very laid back baby. He goes with the flow, goes along for the ride, and seems to be content to let his big sister hog the spotlight. I wonder if that will last? Probably not, but for now it is the only thing that is keeping me sane with two kids and a full time job.
My friends curse me for my luck. They say, "The first one is supposed to be your easy baby, not the second." At least that's how it worked at their house, not mine. Yep, Eldon has been easy ever since he was born. He ate when he was supposed to. He slept when he was supposed to. He rarely cried. He really should re-think this role as the "good kid". If he keeps this up he will be totally forgotten. I am bound to lose him in a shopping mall or leave him behind in the car when I go to the store. These good kids are the ones you hear about on the news that end up in the emergency room, or worse, because their parent left them sleeping buckled up in their car seats. It is pretty impossible to leave behind a kid that screams of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD for the entire two minute drive to the grocery store. That would be my first born. (I try to explain to her we won't even get past the 10 Disney commercials before we get to the store. She doesn't listen.)
But there is so much that is so sweet about Eldon. He is my snuggler. I nuzzle my head in his baby hair and he falls asleep on my shoulder. If I could bottle a feeling, that one would make me a millionaire. I hope that what makes Eldon memorable is good boy persona. If it sticks he will be his mama's pint size heart breaker.
Hard to tell if this is a standard pattern, Jennifer, but you describe a familiar dynamic. Our daughter was highly independent -- sometimes maddeningly so -- and inquisitive as a child. Our son, five years her junior, was highly cooperative and fun-loving. Today they are both grown, both accomplished, the best of friends and active in our close-knit family. I see in retrospect how we all benefited from their different personalities -- and am glad we didn't forget either of them in a parked car.
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