Polar Opposites

I am not going to lie...I always felt like I was going to have one girl and one boy. When I found out that Val, our second child, was a girl I was honestly a little sad. I knew we were going to have only two children, and deep down I was hoping that we would have one of each sex. I was afraid that our two daughters would be so similar and we would have the same experiences with each of them as they grew up. By the hammer of Thor (a little Anchorman reference) I was wrong!

M & Val couldn't be more different. I wrote a post about their differences a few months ago, but since then Val has developed this little spitfire independent personality that is totally new to me as a mom. I was used to having the quiet child, the introvert, who sat and observed everyone around her and shied away from anyone besides me and my husband. You could read books to M for hours if you wanted. She  would sit and watch an entire movie without moving. She can still to this day play by herself very quietly in the playroom - the point where I have to call in there every few minutes and say "M? Are you ok in there?" because she was is quiet.

Enter Val...

Val throws food on the floor.
Val likes to smack people, and the pooch.
Val is a screamer - and not just yelling, I am talking head-turning-ear-piercing screeching during the middle of dinner in a restaurant.
Val likes to go in the toy bins in the playroom and throw everything from the bin on the floor. And then move to the next bin and repeat.
Val likes to climb...on everything.
Val LOVES to pull her sisters hair. Her sister does not like it as much as Val does.
If Val doesn't like the book you are reading, she will smack that book out of your hands.

Val likes to test her parent's patience. She knows what the word "no" means, but likes to act like she doesn't.

I have this daily interaction with her...whether it is about the dog's food, or smacking her sister, or trying to pull down the gate at the bottom of the stairs...

Me: Val, no! Don't you crawl over to pooch's food.
Val crawls over to the bowl at the speed of light (this kid is FAST when she wants to be - and yes, I pick her up and move her away, many times, but Mama has to make dinner at some point!)
Me: Don't you stick your hand in the pooch's water.
Val looks at me, with the biggest grin ever on her adorable face, with hand hovered above the water bowl.
Me: No! Don't you do it Val.
Val raises her eyebrows and grins even wider, as she lowers her hand just a bit, still hovering over the actual water in the bowl.
Me: No! Mommy said no!
Val places her hand in the dog's water bowl and bursts out in laughter.

Val: 1

Who could resist that gapped tooth smile?

Mommy: 0

But oh my God - Val is the greatest too. She will get me so fired up one second, and the next she is crawling over to me and jumping in my arms, and letting me kiss her chubby cheeks and tickle her belly. I just want to eat her up!

She is so unbelievably happy-go-lucky. If M stumbles or falls it is immediate tears (most of the time fake ones) no matter what the severity of the fall (I am talking like tripping over a toy on the floor). If Val stumbles she laughs and she gets right back up and continues to do something that she probably isn't supposed to be doing.

I love that about her.

I know Val is going to be the daughter that gets into trouble. I know she is going to be the bruiser of the two...the instigator. But I hope that whenever Val does fall down as she gets older that she will still have that happy-go-lucky attitude, and laugh it off and move on.

She seems to follow Pete the Cats mantra - no matter what you step in, just keep walking along and singing your song, because it's all good.

She doesn't get that from me :)