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One Of Each

We have a boy and girl. One of each.

My daughter looks like a Gottlieb. My son, if you can find a way to look past the shock of red hair, looks like me. One of each.

I can predict Jane’s actions. She is eleven, and I remember eleven well. She wants to be bad, she sticks her hand on her hip, rolls her eyes and tries with all her might to glare at us, but typically crumples into a pile of giggles. Jane wants to rebel, but she’s too busy being happy and skipping through the house, and through the world. Because I understand her so, I love her just a little more.

Alexander is a mystery to me. I don’t understand his need to stomp through every puddle. I can’t comprehend how it is fun to play catch for three hours in the same spot, with the same boys. Every Day. Just watching him search things out in his bedroom has me scratching my head. Because he surprises me so much, I love him just a little more.

When it’s time to tuck them in at night, Alexander isn’t wearing his glasses, and I look into brown eyes. Just like mine. He lays on his left side, grabs me around the neck with his right arm every night and smiles at me with his eyes. I know his mouth is smiling too, but we are nose to nose and I can’t possibly see it.

The nighttime smile with his eyes carries me through the day. Every day.

11 thoughts on “One Of Each”

  1. I have one. He is each of us. I understand him deeply and he confounds me every day. And his smile and the way he pulls my arm around him as he is brushing his teeth each morning is one of the little things I live for.

  2. i have one of each.
    she is me with better judgement.
    he is me without the volatility.
    they are both the happy parts of their dad.
    we are very lucky indeed.
    lovely post, my friend.

  3. Don’t have one of each. (I have two girls.) But they are so different it’s scary. I have a girl with red hair who is so much like me it’s scary. I have a sunshine and starlight little girl who is so different than I am it amazes me.

    This parenting thing is pretty cool. Thanks for making me smile…

  4. Awwww, this post warms my heart cuz I can feel the love you have for each of your kids. I have only been blessed with one, but everyday I am amazed by the depth of that love and the small things that make my heart swell. Thank you for sharing this…

  5. This makes me smile so much, I can see both my husband and I in our girls. But with him deployed I see him in them more than ever. It makes me smile and frustrates me at times, but oh how I love getting to see what amazing people they are everyday. And I know while my husband is thousands of miles away that there are two little people who resemble him in so many different ways.

  6. I have one of each too. But I understand my son better than my daughter. I know what he is going to do and why. She throws me for a loop, but it is a hell of a lot of fun and I’d never be the same without them.

  7. Now that the little one is developing such a strong personality at the brink of turning two, I see just how different she is from her older 3.5 yo sister. The older one listens and doesn’t want to ever be in trouble. The little one practically laughs in my face if I say the words “Time Out” and does the exact opposite of anything I tell her to do, or not do. She is going to be my hellion and will challenge me to no end, but the older one is so much like me that she will challenge me in an entirely different way. Children are truly amazing, and such a blessing.

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