Perfectly Happy Mum

YEEEHAAA!!

Who would have thought I would want to share this news and be so EXCITED about it?! 

He had a poo in his potty this morning!!! And he asked to do it too!! 

So maybe we've cracked it or maybe I've jinxed it, but it doesn't matter! 

HE HAD A POO IN HIS POTTY THIS MORNING!!!

They don't tell you this when you are expecting...

Or is it just me they didn't tell?

Having kids physically hurt! I hear you laughing. I am not talking about the burning stinging pain of giving birth, I am talking about what follows after the birth.

Jeez, since having 2 children I haven't had a pain free day:

• My feet request that I wear shoes or slippers (with hard soles) at all times when walking around the house. They are fed up of the excruciating pain caused by all these tiny toys parts scattered around the house.
• My back forgot what it feels like to walk straight. I am constantly bending midway to either pick up a child or pick up the tiny toys making my feet's life a misery. Come bath time and bedtime and I need an assistant to help wrestling with Elliott and Victor.
• My legs and butt do not believe in justice anymore. If justice existed they would be considerably slimmer and firmer for going up and down the stairs hundreds of times a day. No matter how well prepared I am I ALWAYS forget something upstairs.
• My arms ache for carrying someone all the time.
• My whole head and face hurts for regularly being punched or headbutted when trying to contain a wriggling toddler while dressing him or simply when I need to restrain him in one place.
• I am lucky I still have teeth following a couple of close calls during recent wrestling sessions when trying to put socks on Elliott.
• My ear lobes almost saw the end of them not so long ago when a lovely new pair of dangling earings attracted Victor's tiny hands.
• My hair has never been pulled so much. Again I am lucky for not having bald patches.

Why don't they tell you that? The least NCT classes should do is teach you self defense techniques under a toddler attack or how to dodge the punches and headbuts!

Photo credit (Note the Drama Queen effect) Mac(3) Flikr 

Cry me a river... Victor!

 Just recently, well I say that but it has probably been going on for the last 4 weeks, Victor cries and cries from the moment he rises from nap time until he has dinner.
I feel I have tried everything and I have checked everything.

At first we blamed it on the teeth. Where the hell are they, these flipping teeth??!! If that's teething, they must be coming from the bottom of his toes for not making a quicker appearance! If we decide to rule out the teeth, there is the possibility that he might be hungry. Don't be fooled by that. I doubt that he is hungry after a fruit pot, a biscuit and a beaker of milk, or at least not just after. So hunger is sort of ruled out too, especially if you consider that he manages to cry in between mouth fulls.

Then there is the possibility of pain maybe. We had a doctor appointment, two in fact in the last couple of weeks and they all ended up with the doctor looking at me wondering "why are you here weirdo? You are filling the space of someone who could genuinely be ill?".

So what am I suppose to do? I suspect greatly that it is attention seeking. I tell you why, simply because he cries and cries. He rolls around the whole lengh of the house. Then he encounters a toy, my bag, something fun on TV or the dog and suddenly the tears stop. It seems that someone just turned the tap off and the volume down. For as long as our eyes don't meet he plays and even laugh or chat to himself.

BUT suddenly I look at him. The second I do that I catch myself thinking "WHY DID I DO THAT??!!". That's when he starts again. His face creases everywhere and he wails as loud as he can. Then he walks to me arm out streched and he begs me to take him in my arms. And I do, of course I do. I am his mummy! And I can't possibly leave him smear snot all over the rug or the sofa, I much prefer it on my shoulder, much much easier to clean!

The minute I pick him up, it stops. The silence returns and then it is on his terms. He points in the direction of the computer "No darling, not the computer" of he starts again "wahwaaaahhh". So ok the computer if you like, but for crying out loud (no play on words here, promise) just ZIP IT! Then that's enough, he wants to go back to the floor. It is very immense pleasure that I put him back on the floor, but then here we go AGAIN!!!

This lasts until Craig comes home EVERY SINGLE EVENING!!

What shall I do?!!!

Preschool Update

Warning: long story ahead...

You all want to know how Elliott's first day at preschool went, don't you?

Well how can I blame you. In a post last week I was going on about leaving my baby with strangers who might do things like not wiping the snot off of his nose or forget to change his nappy and it was more than I could cope with.

On another note, yes there was progress on the potty business, but the kid hated being wet so much that he begged for nappies again. But that's another story altogether. One that I might update you on, once I have past the guilt of having one of the only kids STILL in nappies at PRESCHOOL!!

So as you can imagine I anticipated the event with a tight knot in my stomach and everywhere else. I am used to leaving him at places. Well not like that of course. I do not leave him at random places, even if at times I would love to. I still love him too much for that.

What I mean is that I am used to leave him at his childminder, but you see it is entirely different. He started going at Super-nanny's when he was 7 months and he loves her like a member of the family, so it is so easy to turn around and get on with your own things.
I know that there he is cared for, cuddled and given one to one attention. He could keep going there, but recently he has developed separation anxiety like never before, so I thought that now was the time to start introducing him, gently, to a room full of kids, with other adults looking after him. After all it will be far less of a shock when he goes to school if he is already used to this sort of environment. I thought that if we started this young, it wouldn't be too much of a problem if I had to pick him up after an hour at the first sessions.

Also there could be far worse places than preschool. The amount of toys and fun there, makes me suspect that one day he will probably beg me to go and leave him there, oh and without kiss in front of his friends!

So back to our first day. I had a plan: don't think about it, ignore it is coming up and like this you don't worry before the actual day. It worked brilliantly. Burying my head in the sand seemed like a great method for me. Until it all hit me...

We were getting dressed and ready to leave the house and that's when I faced reality "I AM TAKING MY BABY TO PRESCHOOL!! HE WILL CRY AND BEG ME TO STAY! AND I WON'T BE ABLE TO! AND I WILL FEEL GUILTY AND IT WILL HURT AND MAKE ME CRY!!!!"
Note the distress I was going through. Anyway I put on a brave face and kept going happily.
We put music on and danced while brushing our teeth. We chose clothes together. I didn't let him choose mine, because I wanted to look half decent when meeting all the new parents.
We did all this talking about how fun it was going to be at school. We talked about the painting, drawing, counting and all the stuff he will do. By the time we arrived at the door he was over excited and I kept thinking "Wait until you see how much of a back stabber maman is..."

So we got in the queue at the door and waited for our turn.

Then it was our turn to get in. We were showed the way to his chair where I could leave his bag and jumper. I signed the register and exchanged a few words with the teacher. I thought I had to say that sometimes he says "merci" instead of "thank you" so not to be offended and think he is a rude brat because they might not understand what he says.

Then the moment to go arrived. I crouched in front of him and in a very lively and confident voice, I said: "Maman has to go now and you will have tons of fun until I come back" then I stared at his face. I searched for the anxiety lines. I knew they were going to appear. I knew he was going to cry so I was ready to catch him, hold him tight and run away with him!

No? No tears? Really? Not even a flinch! Oh yes a bit of shoulder tension, I see that. Then he says "OK!" kisses me and goes! GOES WITHOUT A TEAR?? Something is weird... I stand up, say bye to the teacher and I leave... I still have my mouth wide open in absolute astonishment.

Then I smile and I laugh. I call Craig and say "WE DID IT!!! He said good bye and didn't cry!!!"

The morning went on and as I browsed the same shops over and over again to stay locally, I suddenly realised that I didn't recharge the bag with wipes! I mean, how bad of a mum do you have to be, to not check his bag properly before his first day!!

I started having cold sweats. I could picture it: my baby in a soiled nappy and nothing to clean his bottom. I could feel the distress. It wasn't long before I received a call from them to tell me he had a dirty nappy but they couldn't find anything. As a result of that he was quite distressed. Thankfully I was only minutes away from the place to drop off the wipes. By the time I got there he had stopped crying and was busy playing again.

I had to find something to say to remove the sticker on my forehead that said "what kind of mum doesn't even check her kid's bag on his FIRST DAY!"?
I had to think quickly... so I blamed Craig... yes I know it is disgusting. He wasn't there so if I was smart enough, I could make it sound like it was his fault. After all I AM a good mummy and I would never forget to check his bag properly on his FIRST DAY, wouldn't I?!
So I said "My husband used the wipes from the bag yesterday evening and obviously didn't replace them... MEN you really can't count on them, can you?" It worked!! She replied "tell me about it".
I know I will burn in hell, but at least no one will judge my abilities as a mum, well at least in these circumstances...

So cut a long story short (even if I failed so far), I picked my big boy up at the end of the session and then there were tears. He was tired following all the fun he had and he was hungry. That's when I regain trust in my abilities as a mum: I had prepared his lunch in advance so he could eat on the way home, so I guess I am not bad.

When we arrived home he said something for the very first time. He said "It is nice to come back" and all I replied was "Oh yes Darling, you will always come back and we will always be here to welcome you back!"

I love this little boy SO much...

Photo Credit Google Images
 

Welcome to Preschool...

I suppose this is it. We are coming to that time when things change, when my baby is no longer a baby. When my baby is now going to have a life outside our family.

He is going to do things I won't know about. 

He will have friends I won't really know. 

He will say things I won't hear or do things I am not going to witness. 

He will sometime be told off by someone else and praised and cuddled by someone else. 

He will be hugged by a stranger (well stranger to me) when he is hurt or sad. 

He is only 2 and a half. Only 31 months old. 

It is not different from being at his childminder, and yet it feels terribly different. He will be in a group with different rules to obey. 

I have been looking forward to this moment when I would have a little bit more freedom and a bit more time for Victor. I have all these plans to make this time between Victor and me a special time, but why do I feel like I am betraying Elliott?

This morning was is settling in session at preschool. After 1h30 of watching him having fun and seeing his excitment looking at all the stuff he could play with, we agreed that I would go for 20 min and leave him on his own.
I told him "Mummy is going to go and buy some bread and I will be back very shortly". Then I saw his world crumbling around him. I saw the distress in eyes and I am sure he felt my heart racing and breaking.
I kept smiling, hugged him and kissed him and then I felt his arms being pulled away from me. I instinctively wanted to grab him back and run away but I tried my best not to show him. I felt like these 20 min were the longest ever. 

When I came back he was still crying. 

This is a very hard feeling to describe.
My baby is becoming a big boy and I am very proud of him. I know he will have the best of times there and he will have lots of friends. I just can't cope with the tears and the distress I see in him and I am dreading his first proper day next Thursday. 

Look at me, he is only going to preschool. PRESCHOOL woman not UNI!!

Something funny to start the week...

Somedays you feel down, tired, P***D OFF! Watch this and don't forget to laugh!

And while you are out there, say hello to Liz McNamara, The Hectic Mum because it is always nice to meet new people and always handy to know a fashion expert!

Terrible Twos

Definition:

To hit the terrible twos: to hit head against wall because toddler decide to not cooperate in crucial moments such as when crossing the road. To scream at the top of one's head because one's child decide to play hide and seek in clothes rails in shops and won't listen when being called once, twice, twenty times. To loose one's marbles when toddler laughs at one's face when being told off.

It can go further than this I promise you!

Elliott is driving us mad! No later than 3 or 4 weeks ago I thought to myself that we were quite lucky since he seemed to go through a mild phase of terrible twos. Now you see I am quite good with tantrums, I find it pretty easy to ignore them. Quite often I might be walking around him while he is rolling around on the floor, acting as if he wasn't there. I think that's why he never has long tantrums. They stop very quickly and most of the time don't even start when distraction is offered really quickly. So I thought it is not that hard. This was until I discovered attitude, eyes rolling around and acting as if I wasn't there at all. You know that kind of look that says "that voice shouting at me, I wonder where it is coming from..." I just cannot cope with this, I hate being ignored!

No later than today we have spent a whole shopping trip taking things from his hands and putting them back on the shelves, while he would run away and touch something else. This whole shopping trip was constant stress and even if he was tied up to his pushchair (when it was too much to cope with) because then you would get the "let me out!" malarchy.

So I think that this is it, we are in the terrible 2's!

Now I read somewhere that Terrible Twos start as early as 9 months and can last until their forth birthday! Can we cope this long? Can we (the parent) get out of this phase without physical or psychological damage?!

Along with all the advice given to get through this phase here is what was recommended:

Try and stay positive (How?)... this is just a phase (Thank God for that!) and it is as hard for your child as it is for you (yeah right). Try to focus on the positive behaviour and enjoy your toddler as much as possible (ok I agree). When it all gets too much (leave the house), have a little book that you could call "Your naughty moments" and write about his tantrums. First it will help you see that it is not that bad, then you will be able to read them with him later, and hopefully both of you will have a great laugh! (NOT THAT BAD?! Who are they fooling?!!! It is bloody hard!)

If you are really down one day, because it seems that the day has been a long battle (and you just want to give up), take time off just for yourself when your partner comes home. If you are single or without the help of your partner on hand (you are my hero), maybe ask a friend or family (or people you really hate) to look after the children for at least a couple of hours. It will give you some time on your own (to reflect on what you have done in your past life to deserve this). Use that time to do something positive for you, that you enjoy doing (shopping with husband's credit card). It can be anything as long as you are having fun and you are feeling relaxed (with hubby's credit card you bet we will be having fun!).

And last is my personal suggestion: if none of this work, try Meditation... mediTAtion I said not mediCAtion!

Ok now I am waiting for good, juicy, laugh out loud Terrible Twos stories! Over to you...

Is it right or wrong to love your children more than your partner?

A week ago or so, I stumbled upon this post written by the Mummy Whisperer and here is the comment I made:

That’s a very interesting and yet very tricky question…
I have to say that when I read the title of your post I wasn’t expecting the content to be mainly on co/Independence, because to me this is not so related. But that’s a good point you raised.
To me you see, loving someone so hard that you would die or kill for them doesn’t mean that you become completely dependent.
For example my children are the most precious people in my life. The love I feel and have discovered for them is so big that it physically hurts when I imagine that the worst could happen to them. However being a very independent person myself, I am trying to juggle between giving them their own space as well as keeping my own to myself and my husband, but at the same time I make myself always available for when they need to come to me for anything, from primary needs to comfort. It seems to work really well with my children.
I am the same with my husband. The same as for my children, if anything had to happen to him, I would probably crumble to the ground and it would probably mean that I would never be able to love anyone else. I am hoping and praying to never have to be in this situation. But talking about dependence, I can’t say I am dependent on him in everyday situation but I depend on the love he gives me and the confidence he brings out of me. This is a very hard to describe feeling.
I witnessed this situation of dependence between my parents when I was growing up and when they divorced after 28 year of marriage, my mum was left very sad and lonely, with no interests in anything. This is something I have always rejected and I guess this is at the back of my mind in my own relationship. I want my children to feel their mum can sort herself out if she ends up on her own and that they can go and live their own life without worrying about me.
Talking about love, I would say I do love my children and husband with the same intensity, but a different love. I hope I make sense
Thanks for this post and sorry for such a long comment!

Comment by Perfectly Happy Mum —

I have to say that this post got me thinking for a long time and the proof is that I am still thinking about it now.

If we put aside the notion of codependency, is it possible to love your partner more than your own children? I personally can't imagine it myself. I believe that the love you have for your own children is completely different to the one you have for your partner.

I believe that the love we have for our children is part of our animal instinct. Look in the wild and observe. Look at how natural it is for animals to protect their brood. There is no hesitation to kill whoever decides to come close. There is a deep connection between our children and ourselves and nothing can go against that.
Of course I am not talking of people who have got mental issues and can sit happily watching their child, or any child, suffer. This to me is impossible to conceive and even more now that I have children of my own. How can you not love your children? but that's another subject.

How can you love anyone more than your own children? I know that some people do feel they would be more hurt losing their husband rather than their own child but I find it very hard to even imagine. So why is it?

My husband and I are what some people call soul mate. We met and we instantly knew it was right. As well as being incredibly attracted to each other we quickly became best friends. You know when they say "I met him and I knew he was the one"? well this was exactly that.

The love I feel for him is a love on equal terms. We are both adults and we could exist without the other. We can provide for ourselves. We can fulfill our own basic needs so I guess that this is where the difference lay. Children are completely reliable on us until they are able to fly the nest and live their own life so I suppose one part of the attachment is due to our nature of nurturing parent. But once they have flown the nest and don't need us anymore do we love them less? Of course not.

The only thing I can think of is that like I said in my comment: I do love them all with the same intensity but differently.
If this meant that I had to choose then I would choose my children a million times, and be broken hearted a million times...

Your comments are more than welcome and noone will have a judgement, so please let me know your views. Thank you!

Shall we talk about the weather?

So what does it mean to "talk about the weather?" It means talking about all and nothing. It means talking when sometimes you should just zip it, because you are annoying others. Take my husband for example. I quite often talk about the weather, because I have nothing else to talk about and I just need to talk that's it! I need to go on and on about the special deals you get in M&S when you arrive at a certain time of the day, or how lovely it was to sit and do nothing for about 4 min and 35 sec, which was a major record in the Guiness book of my life. Or how annoyed I am that I am talking and he is NOT LISTENING TO ME prefering a CSI episode!!

So today I have decided that I was going to talk to you, my lovely friends. I am sitting here at my desk with a lovely cup of tea and I am going to talk, so if you have any intention of getting annoyed like my boring husband, then I would suggest that you move on now, because it might go on for a while.

Second warning, I will talk as I think and trust me it can be bloody messy how I think...

So how about we start with the weather, the real one I mean?! Because the weather is in everyone's conversation at the moment. It is HOT! extremelly hot (ok I exagerate). It is that kind of surprising hot, when you haven't had the chance to get your summer clothes, which are in the loft and that you can't access because someone (erm husband) broke the ancient ladder (made by his step dad when he was 13) a couple of month ago. And we haven't replaced the ladder because, did you know it was THIS expensive?!! So heat is worse when you are wearing jeans, than when you are wearing summer clothes. Anyway at the moment I am still wondering, shall we buy this expensive ladder or shall I renew my summer clothes for the same amount (and the rest)? I much prefer the latter...

What else, well nothing much really (I did warn you). In my attempt to become a domestic goddess and taking a step back from my business, I have been crafting. Now I am seriously crafting! In the space of 6 days I have made a stuffed dog and a heart and 6 little pouchs part of the 30 I am intending to make for the Christening of Elliott and Victor, in July. These are going to be filled with almond and chocolate dragees, traditional favours in France. I am even personalising them!

Still in my attempt to become a domestic goddess I can proudly say that the house in considerably tidier and cleaner than a little while back when I was having fun working my butt off and doing something I loved...

Ladies (and gentleman of course) I miss working... I want to go back to work... I want to be in a packed train at rush hour, with a takeaway coffee that's too hot to drink before you get to the office and read the Metro that will leave your hands looking like you have done some car repairs. I want to get to the office and make another coffee that I will share with my colleagues, gossiping about the new cute guy on the 2nd floor or the shag story between the receptionist and the sales director. I want to make bet with the office about who will win Britain's got talent and in which case I would have won lots of money (or just enough to pay for my week worth of coffees) because I was ALL the way behind Diversity! 

I want to do something that does not involve changing 20 nappies a day, wipe 2 snotty noses, one after the other or sometime at the same time. I want to be able to go to toilet without having to make sure 2 people are safe in the lounge, not in the dog basket or drawing on the wall and without having to warn them before I do... 

But hey, my life is much more than just that... These 2 little people are growing like crazy! 

Elliott grew 5 cm in 3 months (that's 2 inches I believe) and he now makes proper sentences. He even tells me to stop talking if he's chatting with his mates on the phone. I mean proper look of exasperation, finger pointed in my direction and eyes looking in the vague, frowning because of course he can not hear them because I am talking (can you see the repeating story of my life?).

Victor also had his share in growth spurt and because of this sudden heatwave he has nothing to wear. Everything is too big or not cool enough (as in heat cool). Elliott as well has got nothing to wear. So we all have nothing to wear and once again, they will get new clothes before I do... because that is what mummies do and love doing of course (apparently).

My little Victor apart from growing, now stands up unaided which means that we are closer to the stressfull holidays of having to watch his every move, because of course he will walk! 

Holidays... I cannot wait... well WE cannot wait but right now I am talking about MY own feelings! It is MY blog and I talk about ME! So I cannot wait to go on holiday. Holidays this year will be kicked off with the boys' Christening in France and this means we will have a PARTY!!! It is at my mum's, which hopefully means that we will be able to have fun with indoor babysitter. How cool is that?! Friends and family will be there and quite a few travelling from the UK so surely we are in for a bit of fun.

Of course there is all the preparation right now, but I am working hard on my pouches so other people can deal with the not so important stuff such as food and alcohol. But that's what French family is for, isn't it? Afterall they are right in the middle of the action.

All of this leaves so litlle time for blogging... Because I have to tell you as well that I seem to be breaking computers at the moment. I spent the last 3 weeks typing without the letter "e". Can you do that? Well yes you can you just need to squeeze extra hard the little nipple that stick out of the keyboard under the letter. Often after you've done the squeezy thing you get 3 "e" and have to delete the extra ones. A bloody pain I tell you, but when you only have this for entertainment, you cope! But on Friday my computer was taken from my hands... it had to go for repairs... it was such a sad moment, but I don't know who ached most, me or Elliott?  When the DHL man came to pick it up and packed it in front of his eyes, I could feel his distress but when the man walked down our front path waving goodbye, it was far too much for the little man. He started crying and wailing "(com)puter... puter... man take PUTER!!!". He gave me the look "for god sake maman go and get the computer!" It took me a good 10 minutes to calm him down. After this I wondered, was he so distressed to see the computer go because it meant I would have to be less on it and more watching what they are doing?!

Anyway this leads me to apologise profusely to Metropolitan Mum, Maternale Tales, Home Mum of 2 (or 3 if count their dad) and Experimental Mum. They all awarded me beautiful awards and I still haven't had the chance to post them on my blog, nor to say "THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU!!", nor to forward them on, so this is a promise, I will do it this week without fail. This is of course once/if the spare computer that I have been offered is working again properly someday soon!

Oh and last but not least, as I am working on my husband computer I have discovered that you now have computer that will only allow you access just by scanning your fingerprints. Did you know that?! I can't log in onto his computer if he is not around now! Soon the new generation of computers will tell you to bugger off if you are not the right owner!

2 children with the same parents, yet so different...

It amazes me every day, how 2 children coming from the same oven can be so different and yet so similar at the same time.

Take the same ingredients; add the same amount of love, placenta, omega 3 and of course, folic acid. Bake for 9 months, or exactly 39 weeks + 3 for both of mine. Shake it regularly to one side, then to the other while you waddle... a lot... during the last couple of months and TA-DAH! You get 2 different people!!

How does that work?!

Could the difference be the result of the humongous amount of potato and cheese I consumed for one (cheesy mash, jacket potato lost under a huge pile of cheese, cheesy chips, cheese, potatoes, potatoes, cheese...) and the egg and bacon sandwich obsession and doughnuts for the second one??

When you give birth to your first child everything is new. You discover and learn something every day. What your first child does almost becomes a rule: if he does this then every babies do this. Although you know that’s not true, you know each child develops differently (that’s what Baby Centre repeats all the time in their Newsletter) but you think that it doesn’t apply to your own children. After all they are not any kids, they are yours.

Then comes the second pregnancy and the expectation of a second baby and that’s when you start with the “I didn’t have so many cramps during my first pregnancy” “I couldn’t stand lamb with the first one, how come I love it this time?” “I am so relieved to have less heartburn this time”...

Then the baby appears and just before he does, you can’t help but picturing him like his brother.  You have got in mind the image of a baby looking like Rocky after a match. And hair! OH MY GOD hair that all the cool guys around would die to have naturally standing up in a Mohican like that!

And then here he is... you look at him and this baby has got a smooth round face and no hair at all. He is sweet and warm and soft... and it feels weird... you don’t recognise him, you are shocked, “is this baby mine?” you wonder. There is no doubt at all, this baby is definitely yours. No chance of swapping in the very short interval there is between the exit and your arms! This is the beginning of a new adventure. A new life where we are all going to learn to live together and discover who we really are.

You remind yourself all the time “This is a different baby, therefore a different person, therefore they do different things at different times” But still you keep forgetting and you cannot help but being surprised every time you discover something different:

From the moment Elliott was born we never had any problem feeding him. When Victor was born he gulped his first bottle then refused to eat for 12 hours. Then it became the story of my life for the following 4 weeks. SHOCK!

Elliott crawled backward for about 3 weeks before he discovered the way forward. Victor crawled forward straight away and stood up in the following 3 days. SHOCK!

Elliott had his first teeth when he was 7 months and started with one. So from the moment Victor hit the 7 months milestone there wasn’t one day when I haven’t put my fingers in his mouth, desperately looking for one tooth. Then at 9 months, 2 came at the same time. SHOCK!

Victor wears all of Elliott’s clothes 6 months in advance and his body shape is much more on the chunky (ie my) side of the family. SHOCK AGAIN!

Elliott hates cuddles and kisses. Victor never has enough. BLISS FOR ME!

These are just a few examples but next to that, there are similar in so many other ways:

They are both white blond. The same blond that both Craig and I were when we were babies.

They both never had trouble sleeping although Victor is going through the same phase of waking up at 5.30 am, that Elliott went through at the same age.

They are both sociable beans and smile at whoever wants to be smiled at. Real little flirts, especially with our lovely babysitter, Victor has a crush on!  

Again I could most certainly add to the list but I can’t think about it right now.

All I can think of is that Baby Centre is right: each baby develops differently!

After all we give birth to individual from the very minute they are conceived and no matter how long you cook them in the same oven, same ingredients and temperature, the results is never the same...

Which is a bit like my cooking come to think of it... there is a special cake, no matter how hard I try, making sure I mix the same ingredients, same quantities each time, bake it in the same oven at the same temperature, that cake never looks or tastes the same... like my babies.

 

What about you? Do you get the same feeling of surprise if you have more than one?