Boy Girl

I watch my two from afar. I not only marvel at, but I also celebrate the differences between them, a boy and a girl. I don’t know if the difference is primarily due to their gender or simply because they are two completely different human beings, but I do so love watching their personalities grow each day.

It must be one of the biggest joys in a parents life: watching your child develop into an individual, a completely separate and unique human being.

What a marvel, this little walking, breathing, talking, complex little individual – a completely random mix of mum and dad, with a bit of cousin and a bit of grandparent and a bit of auntie/uncle thrown into the mix. What amazing creations, our children.

Do you often look at your child/niece/nephew/brother/sister etc and suddenly see a “flash”, a glimpse of a cousin, or an auntie, or a grandma in their sweet expression, or the turn of a head? I find that quite delicious, that sudden little flicker of someone else. That link between families is such a beautiful thing, and makes them all the more special to our dearly beloved.

I'm so in love with watching my two.
Skye has always been a random mix between tomboy, and girly-girl. I’m curious to see which side of her personality wins out. Until recently she has always been fearless, throwing herself down slides, onto fast moving objects (gocarts etc). Thrilling in the simple joys of leaping off things and going ever higher and faster. This fearlessness has been toned down in the last few months as she begins to become aware of her own mortality, but I’m hoping its just a stage. On the other hand - the girly-girl side, she is endlessly fascinated with wearing pretty dresses, painting her fingernails any-colour-as-long-as-it’s-a-shade-of-pink, and adorning herself with large amounts of jewellery.

This is the pose she strikes whenever she's jumping around a lot and I say "FREEZE!"  Jazz hands?

Last week I dressed her in shorts and a T-shirt and she scowled and shook her head.  She looked down at herself, then up at me and declared "I'm not a BOY, mummy.  I want to wear a pretty dress!"

My girl has also been endlessly fascinated with nature. All creatures, whether they are stuffed toys, or a humble ant on the concrete, deserve the same amount of affection. Leaving the house requires hugging all the favourite toys goodbye and calling out her adieus to the dogs and cat – but not only that – if she spies a trail of ants on the way to the car, she has to stop and give the ants a cuddle too. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve turned around and found her hugging the concrete.

Perhaps she’s destined to become a tree-hugging hippie?
One of her favourite pastimes at the moment is snuggling next to daddy on the laptop, and googling pictures of Octopus.  Real or toy, doesn't matter.  You Tube Octopus are a hit.  She's going through an Octopus phase.  I find them quite ugly and horrible to look at, but she's fascinated.

The other day we spotted a grasshopper on the outside of the loungeroom window, while we were inside. We spent a large amount of time talking about the grasshopper, and then TO the grasshopper, and then when mummy produced the camera, having our photo taken with it. Then she tried several times to give the grasshopper a hug – from the other side of the glass!

Look mummy, a grasshopper on the other side of the window!

 Can I give him a cuddle?

This is how you hug something that's on the other side of the glass, apparently.

I love this about my girl. She has inherited her parents love of all creatures, great and small. The only thing she fears is spiders, due in no small part, to her mothers hysterical reaction whenever one is found in the house.
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Koby on the other hand, although he’s not quite 1, is already showing us he’s a typical boy. He inhales any food put in front of him, and instead of playing with Skye’s "girly" toys, prefers instead to bash things, and throw balls. 
One day I spotted him playing with a small box. He was stuffing small plastic toys in the box, and the last thing didn’t quite fit. Instead of taking it out, or giving up, he proceeded to pick something else up and bash the crap out of the offending item, until it DID fit. Yes I cracked up laughing. I told daddy about it later, and his response?

“That’s my boy”.

Indeed.

Father and son already share a love of pushing and shoving each other on the lounge (all while laughing hysterically) - oh, and fart humour. Seriously, dude, he’s not even 1 yet.  He thinks farts are the funniest thing ever.   Oh and he quite likes grinning and fluttering his long eyelashes to any female within striking distance, too.  Charmer, much?  Doesn't take them long to learn, does it?

Hard to resist those big brown eyes

They were in testosterone heaven the other day when hubby's mate brought over his new bike.  Don't worry, daddy was holding onto Koby tightly from the other side (10 points if you can spot daddy behind the bike)

He has his daddy’s short temper and just a smidge of an attitude already. But he has my hazel eyes, and seems to love musical instruments like his uncle John. Much to my delight, he’s also as affectionate as his daddy. Sometimes when he’s sitting on my lap, I hear him make a “mmmmmm” sound. When I look down at him, he’s got his lips pursed together in a kiss, face upturned, waiting for me to plant a big fat smoochy kiss on him. Then he wraps his arms around me, and places his head gently into the crook of my neck… Awww…

Whats the best thing about watching your kids grow up?