Different Parents?

Have you ever wondered why siblings turn out so different? For those of you who know me, it's no surprise that having a second child has given me a whole new reason to ponder the nature vs nurture argument. After studying and working in the early childhood education field for so many years, it's fascinating to have my own personal experiment!

Here is what has stayed the same with the births of our two daughters-we live in the same house, work the same hours-I am taking the same maternity leave, we have the same parenting philosophy and have responded to many issues with Cici in the same (almost eerily so) way as we did with Evelyn. We are surrounded by many of the same people and have a very similar routine. So, why does Cici nurse different than Evelyn-easier, faster, more scheduled? Why can I lay her down and she'll sleep for over an hour whereas Evelyn would wake after 15 minutes and demand to be held? Why does she like to be held upright and Evelyn preferred to be cradled? Why does Cici sleep more?

The answer, who knows?! I think part of it is nature-I am more relaxed thus creating the classic second child syndrome-a more relaxed baby. But part of it must be nurture-and how amazing is that?! That at just days old her personality is already showing itself. When she is older I bet I will be able to look back on these first few weeks and see how these early personality traits played into later developing skills and habits. It's so fun to see these different traits and to think back on how I was the same or different with Evelyn. Perfect example-if you want to be blown away be beautiful photographs of our girls, check out this link: http://chellenicole.com/WP/2011/01/17/cecilia-lynn-the-ballerina-is-here/

A friend of ours from church has her own photography business (Chelle Nicole) and came over to take our pictures last Saturday-(if you haven't already, scroll back through her babies' shots to see pictures of the day Cici was born.) It was a crazy fun experience and the pictures are absolutely priceless. Stay tuned for more too, I'll be posting the rest from the shoot as well as all our January photos in the next week or so. But, you may have already realized, I did nothing like that when Evelyn was a newborn. Our first professional shots were when she was 4 months old, and then we did a shoot as a family when she was 6 months. It's not that I didn't think about it, I just didn't think very positive things! It seemed so overwhelming to just leave the house, let alone coordinate outfits, time feedings and naps and suppress worries that she would be screaming the whole time : )Plus, my own recovery was so much more difficult that physically, everything was made harder. But with Cici I knew it would be okay. We would try to time naps and feeding, and avoid screaming, but babies are amazingly resilient-far more so than parents-and especially at this young age, they just kinda go with the flow. Toddlers on the other hand. . . ; )

The pictures are worth it by far, we will treasure these photographs forever; they truly capture who we are as a family. But just as important as the visual depiction of our family is how the photos are a symbolic reminder to me of who I am as a parent. Just like my girls I can constantly grow, gaining confidence and grace in my parenting. I can go with the flow and learn to be more resilient. The nature and nurture argument does not just apply to how children are shaped. As adults we too are formed by our surroundings, but instead of being little sponges, as children are, soaking up everything around them, we can be aware-learning and discriminating as we gain insight into the world around us.