Allen vs. Ivan

Even though Allen is not even three months old yet, he is already so different from Ivan, both in appearance and temperament. For many things, I just assume that he will do and behave as Ivan did but it's not true so it constantly surprises me.

Until Ivan started crawling, he was a rather quiet and mellow baby. Allen, however, is much more alert. Allen doesn't like to be in the cart seat when we're at home while Ivan loved it. I basically kept Ivan in the car seat sitting next to me on the table bench until he could crawl. The same thing for the swing. It was our most used and prized possession for the first few months with Ivan. He loved swinging and loved sleeping in it. It really worked well to calm him down and stop him from crying. Allen, on the other hand, isn't so thrilled. It's only been the last few days that he's OK being in the swing for a short period of time. Before that, he's crying would actually intensify as soon as we would put him in. The swing has definitely not been a calming tool, like with Ivan. Yesterday, Allen actually fell asleep in it and slept for a while. Today, however, he spent about one hour in it (a record) as I was hoping that he'd fall asleep. But no, he spent the entire time "talking" to the swing.

Ivan was literally born with a frown, and he kept up that frown for the first year (although the frown would dissolve when he would smile, laugh, giggle and "talk"). Allen, on the other hand, seems to have this surprised, startled expression on his face. Also, overall, he seems to be more startle-y than Ivan was. For example, if he's sleeping even relatively mild noises startle him.

Both of them started "talking" about six weeks or so. But while Ivan's noise repertoire mostly consisted of a "goo" sound, Allen's range of noises seems much wider, although they're predominately variations on the "ahh" sound.

Both of their faces light up when they "talk" and they engage you with their entire face, especially their eyes, but Allen also talks with body. If I recall correctly, Ivan lay mostly still, while Allen's arms and legs are also part of the conversation. He's very eager to communicate.

If these early observations are any indications of what Allen will be like as he gets older, I imagine he'll be a much more physical child than Ivan has been. Unlike Ivan, who's been very cautious on the playground and is definitely not an aggressive, daring, daredevil like some of his peers, I can see Allen becoming one---and be the first one to climb, jump, etc...

But who knows. I may be totally off.