I always find it fascinating that having two babies is like having your very own in-house study on differences in normal development. Two babies, growing up at the same time, with the same parents, in the same in-utero and post-utero environment, can still demonstrate the full range of “normal” (or abnormal, of course).
Generally speaking, Daniel tends to do a lot of things before Rebecca. Who on earth knows why, but there it is. He’s bigger, he pushed her out of the way in-utero to become baby A and greet the world first, and he seems to want to continue that trend.
What’s funny about that is the way he seems to leap-frog Rebecca on things. She seems to take her time, mastering each component of a new thing before putting it all together. Daniel will do none of these small steps, but as soon as I think Rebecca is going to do some “big” thing first, he jumps right over her and does it all the way. Is he watching her, figuring it out? I’m a little skeptical. But you just never know.
Case in point #1: rolling over. Rebecca was rolling from her back to her side for nearly two months while Daniel lay contentedly supine. Next thing I know, he’s rolling back to belly, and she’s still stuck on her side! Not for long, but still, Daniel got there first.
Case in point #2: language. Rebecca has been blowing raspberries for quite some time. All day long, thhhppphtttt. She thinks it’s hilarious, especially if you do it back to her. Daniel? No interest. Then, he gets two teeth. Suddenly I start hearing this quiet ttthhhhh coming from him. I suppose he’s trying to do Rebecca’s raspberries. He does that once or twice, and then, suddenly and clearly, that sound became a “d.” Just to prove his point, all day long yesterday, it was dadadadadada… Not to anything or anyone in particular, but honest-to-goodness babbling!
He definitely showed interest in sitting before she did, as Rebecca would not bend in the middle for a while (just wanted to be standing, thank you). But she has caught up quickly, and they’re both making rapid gains in how long they can sit unsupported. Next up? *gasp* Crawling. Oh my lord, my house is so far from babyproofed. As soon as we start to see them itching to move, it’s going to have to be some major rearranging in my living room. I’m in no rush for that one!
Just a tip for your cabinets. If you have knobs, ponytail elastics work beautifully.
The crawling happens before you know it, at least it did for us! One day, Missy Hoohaw was laying on her back, the next she was scooching along, on her back to her preferred destination.
Good luck babyproofing!
My GOSH, I love that picture of the two of them sitting! Isn’t sitting such a wonderful milestone? I was like, “Hey, now I can just plop him down!” It’s so great.
I am amazed at Daniel’s language skills! Jack will occasionally say “Mamamama” or “Dadadada” but he never keeps it up for long. He prefers to say “Mmmmmm” and “Yeaaaaaahhhh.”
It IS amazing that two babies who grew in the same womb at the same time have such different personalities. It seems that Rebecca is methodical and purposeful about what she does, and Daniel has a more, “Well, I’m just going to do it!” attitude. Can’t wait to see how these traits unfold as they get older!
p.s. I have yet to babyproof my apartment! I really should, because Jack is on the verge of crawling (on hands and knees, scooting forward but accidentally rolling over every couple of crawls), and he’s pulling up to standing. I’m just dreading the task!
It’s so amazing how different siblings, let alone twins!, can be so different. I think it’s so interesting…
Good luck with your future crawlers!!