Who’s your papa?

One of the things which continues to fascinate me about Maggie is how different she is from Sophie. I feel like we’re living a version of “nuture vs nature”, and I’m starting to come down on the side of nature.

We thought we were ready for what to expect with Maggie, since we had already gone through it all. Of course not. With Sophie, we approached her sleep with the mantra “Sophie sleeps in Sophie’s bed in Sophie’s room.” She felt the same way, since she was never really wild about sleeping with us. The few times we tried (in desparation when she was not sleeping), she would have none of it. Sophie was no happier sleeping in our bed than she was in her own.

So, imagine our surprise when Maggie wanted nothing more than to be cuddled nice and warm in bed with her mother. We still try to follow the “Maggie sleeps in Maggie’s bed” philosophy, but we also need peace and quiet. Certainly we didn’t think we treated them any differently.

They also have different favorite grandparents. Sophie is a Mimi’s (grandma’s) girl, but Maggie is Papa’s (grandpa’s) little one. She’s most comfortable sleeping on Papa’s chest. We were very happy when Mimi and Papa were here for Sophie’s birthday, and very sad when they left. For me, it’s selfish – Mimi takes care of Sophie, and Papa takes care of Maggie…leaving Betsy & I to take care of…each other.

Of course, we still have some of the same problems – Maggie is no better at sleeping than Sophie (despite my earlier hopes), it’s just she can be calmed a little bit easier. We know (now) that holding her close will settle things down. In fact, Maggie has been in the Baby Bjorn more so far (in the first 5 weeks) than Sophie was during her lifetime. In addition, we now have swings and bouncy seats in every room in the house. We could probably host a baby convention with all these things. Of course, all the babies would be rockin and vibrating and swinging so the conversation would be a little tough.

So what’s my dream? That though Maggie is different, she is able to be as happy and energetic as her older sister.