In the last two weeks, the same question kept popping up from our friends, and it got me thinking about it as well, ‘How different were the girls from each other?’
Most people who have only seen the girls briefly and do not know them that well would likely conclude that Joey is a hyperactive, cannot-keep-still and very eloquent girl, whereas Jayne is demure, quiet and very smiley.
The truth is yes, Joey is indeed hyperactive, cannot-keep-still and very eloquent, but Jayne sometimes surpasses her in all that. Hard to believe? I know. On the surface, she looks like she can sit quietly for hours without making a fuss and doesn’t make that much noise. But in reality, she’s super hyperactive and curious, and she is constantly on the move.
The two may look like each other physically, but they have quite different personalities and characters, which is expected anyway. Every individual is created uniquely and special. In fact, after having Jayne, I started to appreciate what an easy baby Joey was! =P But of course, even though it was tougher taking care of Jayne, I love them both with all my heart. Both are my sweethearts no less!
As their mother, I thought of how different they are, and here was what I derived:
1) Joey could sit in the pram/stroller for hours without fussing but Jayne gets irritable after barely 15 minutes.
Those who have been following this blog since the beginning of times would remember that I pushed Joey in a stroller to the MRT station every morning and evening back home. The journey was long, yet Joey sat obediently in her stroller everyday and it lasted for more than 2 years! I could bring her shopping anywhere I want and she’d sit in her stroller for hours. Baby Jayne? Virtually impossible. She screams and struggles to get out of it in no time at all.
2) Joey falls asleep the moment we go on a car journey. Jayne hates car journeys and almost always whines and cries in the car.
Joey sleeps super well in the car as a baby. The rocking and soft motor sounds are all lullabies to her. If we have difficulties getting Joey to fall asleep, we take her on a car ride for a sure-win! Strangely though, this doesn’t work for Jayne! In fact, she gets all restless and irritable whenever we are caught in a long car ride. I usually get all exhausted and worn out after entertaining her after a long car journey. :(
3) Joey loves to bathe but is scared of shooting water while Jayne hates bathing but runs excitedly towards big jets of water!
Joey can soak and bathe in her bath tub for hours if we let her! And she enjoys going to water playground and the swimming pool, but she’s so super scared of the shooting jets of water that she’d not even go within 10 metres from the water! I’ve yet to fathom why this is so, because the water playground always looks so fun! Jayne, on the other hand, would run towards the large jets of water and if we don’t restrain her, she might get hit by the jets of water anytime! Not that she minds though, she laughs happily even after getting shot!
4) Joey tears when she poos. Jayne doesn’t even tell me when she poos.
It’s super easy to know whenever Joey poos. Large tear drops come down her cheeks. That’s why Joey almost never has bad diaper rash problem. We detect the poo-ing like instantaneously. Jayne does not have a single expression when she poos. When she was even smaller, it was worse. Now that she could express herself better, she sometimes bothers to tell me that she has poo-ed, or her sister’s sharp nose would pick up the smell and tell me. Otherwise, most of the time, it goes undetected for a while.
5) Joey lets me change her diapers peacefully. Jayne struggles like I was going to murder her.
When my parents used to tell me that they have difficulties changing their kids’ diapers, I cannot fully understand what they mean. Joey has never given me any problems before. She just lies there quietly for me to get the job done and she’s ready to go. Plus, I have quite the reputation of being a lightning speed diaper changer. It makes things that much easier. When it came to Jayne though, I realised that my lightning speed was not fast enough, and I’ve had my fair share of having poo fly through the sky and end up on my bedsheet or the floor, or having her tiny hand grab a handful of her poo goodness before I could stop her. She either struggles and shakes right and left, or uses both her hands to grab the soiled diaper. Either case, it makes the whole diaper-changing process a very traumatic one for me.
Notice I’m only talking about behavioural part of the differences and not the personality part of the differences yet. They’re after all still such young kids, and nobody really knows what their personalities are yet! But can you see even in terms of behaviour, they are already vastly different??!
I say, motherhood is a new learning process every single day!
BTW, aren’t my girls adorable??? =D
