I'm amazed that two children spawn of the same genes can be so different.

Wyatt is cautious, calculating and hesitant. He must fully understand exactly where we're going and what's going to happen next. He doesn't like surprises. He still likes to hold our hand when walking down stairs and he always looks for reassurance from us before trying something new.

He's a sensitive guy and if I scold him for something, he says "Mommy, dat hurt my fee-wings when you say dat." He says it so sweetly, I actually feel bad for scolding him. He has little interest in sports and a voracious appetite for books. He has a fantastic memory and amazes us with his ability to quickly memorize and recite a story after only hearing it a few times. He is really drawn to music and he loves to listen to all his songs on my ipod. He often tells me that slow songs make him sad. When one comes on, he says "Dis song just makes me too sad, Mommy." When I look at him, he has actual tears in his eyes. It really does make him sad.

He has never been a kid that gets into things he's not supposed to. I've always been able to trust him and never really had to do much baby-proofing of our house. I would often go and take a shower, come out later to check on him and find him sitting in his room on the floor, just looking at books, even at a very young age.

Hadley is quite different from her brother. She's determined, persistent and curious. All great traits later in life, but a little tricky in the early years. When she sees something that interests her, she just goes for it. She'll stop at nothing, climbing over pillows and pushing the dog out of the way to reach the object of her desire. She's already figured out how to open cabinets and has even made it up the first couple of steps on the staircase before I caught her.

She's pulling up on everything in sight and I always find her standing in her crib each morning when I go in to get her. She's even pulling up on things that aren't that static, like the dog, which is fine, until he runs away, leaving her to do a face plant in the carpet. She hasn't figured out how to get down gracefully yet, so when she's done standing, we often hear a loud thump, followed by tears. I'm sure she'll have it figured out shortly. She's even started cruising along the couch and "walks" if you hold her hands. The other day Dayven found her wedged between the two couches in the living room, her location given away by the wobbling ficus tree. He grabbed her just in time before it and she went toppling over.

She's also at that stage where EVERYTHING goes in her mouth. The other day, I heard her making a coughing sound like she was trying to clear her throat. A quick examination revealed a large Tonka sticker stuck to the roof of her mouth. She was so grateful when I scraped it off and threw it away.  Dayven had to do the finger swoop in her mouth last night to remove a few of pieces of dog food she was squirreling away in there. No twig, crumb or minuscule speck of carpet lint is safe in her presence.

Although she's mischievous, she's also the sweetest, easiest baby. She's quite happy most of the time and all you have to do is look at her and a huge smile spreads across her face. She's not at all shy ("making strange" as they call it up here) and will go to anyone who wants to hold her. She's a social butterfly and will happily forgo a nap if it means spending time with her people.

She loves her brother and her face just lights up when he comes in the room. I love hearing her deep belly laughs when he's around. He is slowly warming up to her, although he still gets a little jealous of sharing my attention. His attempts to play with her don't always work out as he doesn't seem to realize how to alter his strength and intensity to appropriately match her size. I have often found him sitting on her, "hugging" her a little too tightly and occasionally pinching her. She's strong and spunky so it won't be long before she's teaching him not to mess with her.

She loves it.....

....until she doesn't love it.