brother differences

Lately I’ve been thinking about how different my boys are from each other. I thought it would be fun to do a post of those differences as I may want to look back on them as they get older (sob).

Sleep

Monkey slept in a co-sleeper for the most part from the time he came home from the hospital until around 3 months old. At that point, he would start the night in the co-sleeper and at some point end up in bed with us 🙂 When we brought the MM home, I tried over and over and over for the first 2 nights to get him into the co-sleeper. He would last maybe 5 minutes and then wail. My mom, DW and I took turns over that two night period being up with him. I was so exhausted, that on night 3, I clipped the old Snu.za breathing monitor onto his diaper, ensured that pillows and blankets were safely away, and climbed into bed with him. He slept soundly for 4 hours, nursed, and slept another 4 hours. And from then on, he’s been in the bed with Mama.

Monkey loved being swaddled. We swore by the Swaddle.Me as the velcro kept him snug and secure and he had a hard time getting himself unswaddled (as when that occurred, he was up). The MM HATED being swaddled with a passion. I’d heard that some babies resist but that they really do want it, so I tried repeatedly with various wraps and blankets and was always met with resistance and struggle. He slept just fine without being swaddled. He would turn onto his side facing me, nurse, and go right to sleep. That side-sleeping was scary to me at first, but it was what he wanted (and we had the trusty Snu.za) so I was just extra watchful.

When Monkey was too big for the swaddle, we switched to sleep sacks. He was nice and cozy in his sleep sacks and seemed to sleep well in them. The MM? Hates them. Doesn’t want anything constricting his movement at all. When he gets the sheet put over his legs in bed, he immediately kicks it off. All those adorable, cozy sleep sacks sit unused, waiting to be given/sold to a baby who wants them.

Monkey’s sleep issues are well-documented on this blog. He loved getting up in the middle of the night for an hour (or three) and has always been up EARLY. He is almost 5 and the early rising trend continues. The MM has never in his 18 months awakened for any length of time in the middle of the night. He has consistently slept until 6-7AM. Mama and Mommy are so thankful as I’m not sure what we’d do if both of them were sleep maniacs.

Food

Both boys were exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of their lives. Monkey’s first food was rice cereal with breastmilk and he loved it. He took to eating like a pro and loved pretty much everything we put in front of him. The MM’s first food was also rice cereal with breastmilk and he HATED it. In fact, he had very little interest in solids until close to a year. He would try things, but never really had a meal or anything until around 1. Monkey loves breakfast and has oatmeal and applesauce pretty much every day. The MM is not really interested in much food at breakfast time. He eats lunch and dinner much more readily.

It took Monkey quite a while to figure out sippy cups, but the MM had it down quickly. He can drink out of a regular cup, too (though he spills a bit).

Play

Monkey has never been much of an independent player. He wants someone to play with him, help him build, etc. The MM can keep himself occupied for long periods of time. He loves his toys and will go in search of specific items to play with.

Clothes

Monkey has never really cared about what he wears. We pull out clothes and he wears them. The end. The MM is only 18 months old but he has Opinions on what he wears already. His favorite shirts are Paul.Frank shirts featuring Julius the monkey (we have several from when Monkey was little) and an Elmo shirt. He will open his drawer and rifle through until he finds one of these shirts, pull it out, and push it towards us. He cries if you try to put another shirt on him. Often it’s not an issue, but some days it simply MUST BE A MONKEY SHIRT! Hahahaha.

Frivolous

We “discovered” a new show that we got hooked on with each boy. With Monkey, it was Keeping Up with the Kardashians. I know, I know – what can I say? At 2AM, it was all I could find that was halfway watchable, E! ran them back to back overnight, and I found those girls entertaining in their warped ways. We stopped watching a couple of years back, but we were on-board for a while there.  With the MM, the only thing that was on in the middle of the night was 48 Hours. My mom, DW and I all watched it overnight (OWN ran them back to back all night long) and would even update each other on the outcomes in the morning (LOL). We still DVR 48 Hours and even added Dateline to the mix. There is some seriously crazy sh*t going on out there, people.