(no subject)

[ailbhe]

http://ailbhe.livejournal.com/314666.html

Linnea was 20 months old then. Emer is 19 months old now.

I really didn't realise how unusual Linnea was.

I truly appreciate how relaxing Emer is.

Emer is the kissingest love.

Comments

[tiggsybabes.livejournal.com]

It's hard work with bight children. Kate has now been put in the 99th percentile for intelligence & I'm very grateful that she's social & popular at school. Holly is actually ahead of Kate at the same age, so that's a wee bit scary if I dwell on it, which I try not to.

I don't like hot housing, so only teach them if they ask, which they do most days, but nothing too onerous. I would like to buy them a good children's encyclopedia though, that might be my next mission.

[k425.livejournal.com]

I would like to buy them a good children's encyclopedia though

Well worth it. I have found my 15 year old visual dictionary and YoungBloke loves it. He wants to see the volcano and the dinosaurs and the earthquake and the bloody man (the picture of a person beneath the skin). It's all fascinating at this age. Breakfast today was a discussion of dinosaurs and what happened to them, and early mammals and what they evolved into.

[tiggsybabes.livejournal.com]

I must get one. I don't want an adult one as I'd like pictures in it, but don't want one that is too babyish. We used to get these really good reference books from the library with very details drawings of things like castles. Must get them all out again, as I liked them too :)

[cangetmad.livejournal.com]

Aaah, the constant energy of a "forward" kid. I suspect I might have a similar pair, in that 11-month-old Gnome had a fair few words, while the Gnipper has none I can make out, yet.

[biascut.livejournal.com]

I wonder how much of that is aptitude and how much is the difference between the first and second born? Firstborn is surrounded by adults who are just desperate for them to talk, constantly communicating with them, and liable to get frustrated when the child can't express what they need. Secondborn has at least one other child in their lives, slightly less focussed adult attention, and the adults themselves are a bit more relaxed. There's not as much reason for Secondborn to talk, and presumably not quite as much positive feedback for every word-like thing they produce.

Though, obviously, it sounds like Linnea and Emer are poles apart, way more than just birth order. I do like it when you post about Emer, Ailbhe. She was such a cipher for a while, because you didn't have time to write as much as you did with small Linnea, and it's lovely to hear about her gentleness and humour and her much quieter curiosity about the world.

(And hurray! Will meet Gnipper and Gnome again in ten days!)

[cangetmad.livejournal.com]

In our case, possibly so. Gnipper's been hitting each milestone a bit later than Gnome did, but no more than a couple of months, I think. I get the impression that he just spends more time being pleased with his achievements rather than pressing on to the next thing, but I may be projecting.

[ailbhe]

Well, Emer was less startling, too, because I'd already had one, and I knew more about what babies do.

Emer knows EVERYTHING though. She knows all about what works how and when, and which order things go in, and where things live. She's cuddlier than Linnea ever was, and almost but not quite as climby.

I don't know her as well as I knew Linnea; she's more inward-focussed and I can't tell what she's thinking a lot of the time. With Linnea it was often obvious. But Emer needs me much more than Linnea did so I actually spend more time immersed in her - but it's all one way!

[hfnuala.livejournal.com]

Well, Aisling isn't as vocal as either Linnea or the Gnome were at this age. Kids just develop at different rates, though birth order does make a difference too, I'm sure.