One of these things is not like the other

My daughters could not be any more different. Besides the fact that they don't look anything a like, they have different personalities, appetites, gross motor skills...you name it, it is different. At 10 months old, I can already tell what kind of person Val is going to be, and it is nothing like her older sister. Val is going to be my little bruiser. She will be my athlete, and the one that is always on the move, or into something she shouldn't be. Whereas M is our introverted princess, who can sit for hours (in a princess costume, with wig, tiara and wand, of course) and play by herself, Val is going to be the one climbing the furniture and breaking things or just causing chaos in general.

M was born 5 weeks early, and Val was pretty much right on time. M didn't breastfeed, and Val took to the boob like she was born to do it. Val sat on her own before she was 6 months old, and started to crawl last week. M didn't sit unassisted until almost 10 months, never crawled, only scooted on her butt, and didn't walk on her own until almost 20 months old.

The only thing similiar on these two is their pajamas

Someone I was talking to recently told me, and I quote "it's your fault she didn't walk until so late." I was totally taken aback when they said this to me, so I said, "how do you figure I am to blame?" and she then explained that she meant that with your first you carry them around so much that they do things later than they should. This could not be more untrue, as I actually carry Val around much more than I did M, and she cannot sit still! M had other factors that led to her being so far behind in gross motor skills; severe reflux, a helmet for 4 months, very long skinny legs and feet with a giant head (with aforementioned helmet) and of course her early delivery.

Val seems to have gotten her physical shape from my side of the family - this girl has some serious junk in the trunk and thighs to match. I think the circumference of Val's thighs today at 10 months is bigger than M's waist at 3.5 years. Val has had no trouble in the gross motor skills, as her center of balance is right where it should be, while M is a human Blow Pop (but a beautiful one at that!) I always say that Val is the Serena to M's Venus.

As I mentioned, Val started crawling last week. This whole crawling thing is totally new to me. I never had to chase a baby around a room, redirecting them away from the gas fireplace 10 times in 5 minutes. Sure, we have those babyproof plug covers, but that was about the extent of our babyproofing for M. She was never into anything! She barely moved when she was little - Val I cannot keep still for 5 seconds to change a diaper. All she wants to do is flip over and crawl away.

And now she is pulling herself up on everything! Seriously I feel like I need to redecorate my house to make it a safe environment for Val now that she is so mobile. And this kid loves to eat things off the floor, which has caused me to vacuum my living room carpet twice today.

We also had our first "mobile baby" accident today when Val shut a drawer on her little chubby baby fingers. It is the first of many to come with this kid for sure. I see myself coming into the living room one day and her being up on the mantle, smiling that devilish little smile she does.

Better stop typing and start moving some stuff around so we don't have another accident today!