The Challenge Rambles and riff raff about all this and that

What having 2 boys can teach you about yourself

I recently had my second child. As recently as 11 days ago, on October 23rd. Felipe weighted a healthy 9 ponds, 4.15 oz (4.2kg for those of us who use more modern measurement systems).

Felipe, 3 days old.

The new member of the family couldn't be more different from his brother. Whereas Agustin was quite prone to cry -and still is, to an extent-, Felipe is hardly ever heard. Agustin has always been quite active. At only 20 months he sleeps almost as little as I do; goes to bed at 10:30, wakes up at 6:30am and naps from 1pm till 3pm, he's always getting himself into trouble, climbing things and falling down from every conceivable and inconceivable place. I've seen him hit the ground hard and not shed a single tear, whereas if he wants me to hold him he can cry me a river.

Although it is too early to tell Felipe appears to be a lot more relaxed. He sleeps and stares, always quietly, and he prefers to be in his chair than being held in arms (except when his stomach hurts, which only happens quite seldom).

Truth is my youngest seems to be easier to raise than the eldest. Yet I found myself more "useful" with Agustin. The thing is I can quite handle a noisy boy and a chaotic situation, but when facing a seemingly-perfect scenario I'm stalled. I'm too afraid I'll break something.

My children have demonstrated something I already knew: I'm a fixer, not a maintainer. I prefer tough situations to settled things.

I wonder if this is something that will change with time or if it is wired into my system.