Monkey Man

L and M are such different little people. They always have been. The differences were noticeable even when there were still in my belly, but it's still amusing to me when I see the differences pointed out clearly.

Jeff had soccer stuff all day Saturday, so I took the kids to the mall because they are little demons at home and little angels in public. (Seriously! I wish I could explain, but this has been the case since R was a baby.) We ate lunch at the food court and then I took the kids to the play area to run/crawl off some steam. M is such a flirt. He spent the whole time smiling and batting his eyelashes at two girls who were about 3 and 6. He kept trying to kiss the 3-year-old. They were both enchanted with him, but the couple of times they tried to do other things, he crawled after them and made sure they paid attention to him. He is way too much like his daddy!

Meanwhile L, our little monkey man, wanted nothing to do with people. (Jeff later reported that he actually cries when people smile at him at R's preschool.) At the play area he wanted to CLIMB! And that's what he did. On everything there. The boy has no fear. This is also the way he acts at home.

We never would've guessed it when they were newborns, but our monkey man is so much more physical than his brother. He is just going, going, going all the time. Although he was slower to develop gross motor skills, over the past couple of months he has surpassed his brother being the first to develop many physical skills. Although we somewhat feared that L might never do anything other than lay on his back and eating his toes, he was the first to sit unsupported, to really crawl (although M moved first with his crazy worming), to pull up, and to cruise furniture.

Monkey man mostly uses his new found locomotion to "explore" which translates into trouble making. Both boys are happiest when in the forbidden mecca of their big sis's room which is filled with all sorts of delightful shiny, princessy choking hazards. While M prefers to play with the dollhouse and eat all its furniture, accessories, and inhabitants, Monkey Man is partial to the Betty Crocker baking set. He has even figured out how to crawl under R's train table to get out the bin in the event that it is actually put away. One day, a couple of weeks ago, I caught the boys playing in there. Monkey Man must've realized he wasn't supposed to have it out, so as soon as I said his name, he chucked the baking set piece that was in his hand at his brother. M then dutifully picked up the plastic stick of butter and put in his mouth. Oh, I suppose the boys do have one thing in common. They both LOVE eating Barbie doll sized plastic doll shoes. I got to extract them from each of their mouths over the weekend.

Again, we never saw it coming, but L is just such a boy. When he is not crawling around and climbing, he is beating on things. His two favorite toys are the mallet that goes with their xylophone and an old fashioned style rattle. With both he alternates between chewing on them and beating on the floor. The only time he sits still is to beat on his drums. Over the weekend we pulled out R's talking ABC drum, and he loves the fact that it makes noise every time he hits it. I suppose to really mess with him we could permanently leave it on the Spanish setting.

Being the much older brother (!), he is the leader of the group. He is the first to try new toys or new experiences and he always jumps right in where M prefers to study things and learn about them first. L also thinks he is entitled to the best, and he is contantly stealing his brother's toys. Interestingly, he has yet to discover he can steal from his big sis, even when they are in the bathtub together. It probably helps that he worships her, and the feeling is mutual. Even if he was stealing her toys, she probably wouldn't complain, however, if M tried it, she would tattle in a heartbeat.

Like all truly boyish boys, L is SUCH a mama's boy. Anyone who has been around him knows he is still ticked that the doctor's cut his umbilical cord. He could be the poster child for attachment parenting. It's ashame he has a twin because he really doesn't like to share HIS mommy with that other baby. I know he thinks I'm cheating on him. For the past month or so, we've been letting him sleep with us for at least part of the night most nights, and that seems to make a big difference. By having that security at night he is actually sleeping some, and that frees him up to be a secure, crazy little monkey man during the day.