Tempermental toddler

I love that my kids are uniquely themselves.  I find it interesting how two kids raised in the same household can turn out so different.  Obviously, nature has a strong argument in the nature vs. nurture debate.  Its one reason I'm quick to deflect credit when I get compliments about how sweet of a child Brady is.  He is for sure, I'm just not sure how much of a part I play in that.  "Sweet" probably isn't the first word that comes to mind to describe me.  Or even the 10th word.  And if I take credit for the good, that means I have to take responsibility for the bad.  And that might be some coming.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, I but I can't remember a tantrum that Brady threw before the age of 3.  He'd get upset, sure, but anyone who's had a toddler knows the difference between upset and UPSET.  Even when he turned 3 and got more willful, his episodes tended to be pretty mild compared to some cases I've seen.  I have a hunch that Jackson's temperament might make the 2's a different experience.  The video below is a fairly typical moment in our house when Jackson is upset.  We were playing in the playroom and he flipped out when I suggested he shoot a different ball (the one he had was too heavy).  So I turned on the camera so he could see himself, mostly just trying to distract him.  You can see the moment when the switch is flipped and he remembers that he is supposed to be mad.  You'll have to take my word that I did not pinch him.

One of Jackson's most strong qualities is persistence and I will hold on to the hope that this quality will pay off in the future.  He doesn't say much, but he makes his desires known.  Yesterday, we were in Eric's office before the game and some friends were visiting with their little boy.  Their son was shooting on the hoop and the dad, Jeremy, was watching.  Jackson, who was holding a ball, appeared below him and had backed up into his legs.  Not knowing what he was doing, Jeremy took a step back, and Jackson took a step back.  I had to explain to Jeremy that Jackson expected him to lift him up so he could shoot the ball. And predictably, after one shot, he backed him down again.... and again.

The list goes on forever.  Jackson loves books and will pick one up and thrust it at the person he wants to read to him.  A few days ago he was with me in the doctor's office and as I was checking out, he wandered over to a lady reading TIME magazine.  He crawled up on the chair next to her and next thing I know, he's making ferocious animal noises.  He loves animals and is pretty serious about his noises.  He hit the jackpot and found a picture of a lion in TIME. He loves (LOVES) food and expects that everyone who is eating food should give him some of theirs.  Which they usually do.  I suspect that people think I don't feed him.

The contrast between the two kids works, and I'm glad my lower-key child is the oldest, since he is well equipped to deal with Jackson's high drama.  He usually concedes when Jackson wants something and will share his sucker with his brother because like me, he probably doesn't want to deal with his wrath if he withholds it.

But besides the sleeping problems and the occasional tantrum, I am loving this age and loving this kid.  He's got a load of personality and while his crying grates my soul, his laughter lights up my life.