Navigating Differences

Now that Baby Boy is over 2, I'm really starting to notice differences. Differences in personality, differences in gender traits. Things that work(ed) for Baby Girl cause me to feel like I'm hitting my head on a brick wall with Baby Boy. Baby Girl is attentive to discipline (kind of). She'll focus on my face when I try to hold her attention. She always has. Baby Boy, on the other hand, is strong willed against being disciplined. He lashes out - hitting, pinching, biting. He won't look you in the face, will stand with his back to you, chin down. It's tiring. I'm returning to the big bad world of the experts in books to try and find some new tools for my parenting belt to try and get some better results. At the same time, I'm trying to be more mindful and less of a yeller, an ultimatum giver. It's hard work.

Another place where I notice a big difference is in eating. Baby Girl has, and still is a big voracious eater. She seems to always be hungry, always asking for snacks. She eats well with the healthy food placed in front of her. I wish she would drink more. Unlike her brother who would live his life on liquids, especially milk. I've had to start to hold back on the milk at dinner time so that he will actually eat. The other difference is speed. Baby Girl gobbles up her food and is ready to go. Baby Boy picks away at his and then is distracted from eating any more. Any word about dessert and it's game over, Baby Boy's "all done". Given time, he will work his way through a relatively good sized meal, but more often than not, he's too distracted and eager to get down and play with Baby Girl, who finished her meal ages ago. The conundrum becomes whether to force Baby Girl to stay at the table so he'll finish, or just resign myself to the belief that he will eat if he's hungry.