Beyond the Red Hair

If you look beyond the fact that both my boys have red hair, they are actually quite different.  It's so interesting to me to compare Ryan to how Tyler was at his age.  There are so many differences, I just felt compelled to capture them on a post so that I don't forget!

Non-Explorer vs. Explorer
Tyler gave Josh and I a very easy time in terms of child proofing.  While we had child locks on most doors and cabinets, we never saw him once explore in one.  He never tried to play with outlets either.  Ryan, on the other hand, is the complete opposite.  He has not only broken through child locks in the kitchen (luckily just the pots and pan cabinet), but I will walk in to him unplugging and replugging cords into outlets!  Just the other day, Ryan came into the kitchen chewing something brown like it was food.  I discovered he took a large bite out of a brown crayon and was just walking around eating it like it was nothing!  There is no doubt in my mind that he has probably swallowed small Lego pieces. 

Mickey Mouse vs. "Choo Choo!"
Tyler was obsessed (repeat it with me...obsessed) with Mickey.  There was a brief time period where it looked like Ryan was too, and he does enjoy it, but his real love is the "choo choo!"  He will walk over to the TV and say "choo choo!"  He loves the opening songs of both the Thomas the Train and Chuggington shows. I will say he also really loves Elmo!

Lack of Speech vs. Speech
Tyler did not use two-word phrases until he was well into his twos.  His speech in general was behind, and we often didn't know what he wanted.  Ryan, however, is completely opposite.  He is talking much more than Tyler ever did at this age.  He says "hi, daddy!"  or "nite nite, daddy!"  He will repeat most anything you say fairly well.  He communicates so good to us what he wants and needs.  It's been nice!

No Terrible Twos vs. We Already See the Terrible Twos
Tyler had moments of tantrums before he turned two, but I don't ever remember it being like we see with Ryan.  Ryan is such a happy baby, but he is also very opinionated too!  When he doesn't want something for dinner, he will throw it clear across the kitchen.  The same goes with a toy.  He chucks a ball across the living room when he's mad.  I'm convinced his favorite word is "no."  However, he takes a timeout like a pro.  He will sit down very quietly almost like he's thinking "no biggie, whatever."  I'm not exactly sure if that's good or bad!

In addition to these, Ryan also favors coloring more than Tyler did.  He loves to color...and unfortunately loves to eat the crayons too.  Tyler loved riding on his little power wheels at this age, but Ryan won't go near it.  Last, Tyler has never thrown up a day in his life.  Ryan has already done it twice.  Clearly, Tyler saw me throw up for months while pregnant with Ryan, but when he saw Ryan throw up several months ago, he cried because he didn't even know what was going on.  I choose to say that Ryan has my stomach and Tyler has Josh's.  I guess Ryan and I will stick together with our vomiting tendencies! 

There are a few other sickness-related comparisons I could share, but I'd rather not jinx myself!