Although I fully understood that Luke and Savannah would be different from each other, I kind of thought they would be similar. Honestly, they came from the same two parents - they should resemble one another somewhat!
But they are different. Savannah is shy, empathetic, and clever. Luke is just plain happy and outgoing - constantly.
Savannah amazes me with her ability to care for others. I saw some of her kindness before Luke came along. If I was ever upset or crying (death of a pet, miscarriage, etc.) she would see me, say "Oh I know!", then go and get all of her favorite toys and put them in my lap. She wanted so badly for me to feel okay. When she sees someone sad at the store, she appears so concerned. She just cares for other people so much. I love that she is naturally empathetic. I would like to say some of it is learned, but I don't know. I kind of think she was born to care for others. Recently Luke has been fighting naps. On several occasions I will sit in the nursery trying to get him to sleep while Savannah plays in her room. Multiple times she has brought her "wee rabbit" to Luke. She walks in without a word, hands him her lovey, walks out, and closes the door. I never, ever have or will ask her to share lovey with Luke. It is hers. That is the one thing that is for her only. Luke has his own lovey bear. But she knows that lovey makes her feel better and helps her...so she is sharing it to care for her brother.
She loves Luke. Although I know there will be days of fighting over toys and attention, there are so many moments that make my heart sing. Anytime someone teases about keeping Luke, she says that he is her brother and no one can have him. When we took her out for a big girl night without Luke, I asked her if we could just go home. She said, "No! We have to go get Luke!!". She just loves him. She loves hugging and kissing him. She loves feeding him. She loves tickling him. She loves everything about being a big sister and having Luke in her life. When she heard me tell him that he was getting a tooth in, Savannah said, "Now he can talk to me! Yay! Yay! Yay!". She is just as excited as we are for them to be able to converse and play together.
She does her have shy and stubborn side. She uses Carl and I as a crutch when she can to hide from being the center of attention. She is getting better, but there are times that I think she'd be fine if we just dropped her off at gymnastics and walked away. At the places she has to do things alone she is completely fine...but then when she's been allowed to hold our hands the whole time she is clingy. So she has an amazing heart, but is going to have to learn how to share it with the world.
Luke is just so different. He is constantly happy. He grins at everyone. He giggles over the smallest things. He is full force, in your face curious. He climbs on everything. He puts everything in his mouth. He has a hot temper for the occasions he's mad. He is a charmer. He isn't quite old enough for me to tell if he has the same feelings about helping others as Savannah does...but he certainly will be nice to everyone. (He's going to be a politician!)
Luke is going to cause more trouble and worry than Savannah ever did. We could tell her not to do something, leave something alone, sit down, eat this, etc. and she did it. She was just so acceptable to being good. Luke is different. He isn't going to intentionally be bad, but he is going to choose curiosity over the rules. He is going to push the limits and test our resolve to keep him safe and well-behaved. And he's going to be so darn cute that we're going to have a hard time sticking to our guns.
They are truly amazing. Babies and children are amazing, amazing gifts. Someone recently "unfriended" one of their friends because that friend posted a picture of her newborn "before it was cleaned up". Now I don't want to be the facebook police, but I was offended by her comment. It hurt. So while she is entitled to her opinion, I did share my thoughts (as a mother - she is not yet a mother). I just think that being able to share the images of a newborn baby with the world is a joy, honor, and praise to God for the miracle they are. I know what it feels like to have that anticipation and then lose the child. Babies are not guaranteed to make it here safe, so when they do, it is an amazing day to shout thank you to the heavens.
No comments:
Post a Comment