Different

At least a couple times a day, I marvel at how different Ayla and Aubree are.  It's crazy.  They are so different in just about every possible way.  Ayla is the typical first child.  She is a perfectionist.  She likes every thing just so.  If she's done something one way, that's how it needs to be done every time after.  She's very particular...borderline OCD, I'd say.  Lately, she has been stuffing random things under her door after she's supposed to be in bed because they (according to her), shouldn't be in her room.  She must scan the room after we close the door to make sure her room looks exactly as it did the day before.  She hates to be dirty or messy and as you all know, she is a girly girl.  She tends to be a bit more on the serious side and even a little shy sometimes if she doesn't know you well.  Aubree on the other hand, doesn't have a care in the world.  She tramples through life with a big 'ol smile on her face.  As long as she has a full belly and a good nap, she is as happy as can be.  She tends to be less apprehensive about new people.  Quite often, she walks right up with a grin and puts a hand on their lap.  She falls, bonks, trips, and crashes all day long and doesn't seem to mind one bit if there's a whole turkey sandwich smeared in her hair.  Ayla eats like a bird...Aubree would eat a bird.  No joke.   And this little lady has an a-t-t-i-t-u-d-e.  She throws her head back and flings herself to the ground when she doesn't get her way. (Ayla never did this.)  When I tell Aubree "no", not only does she not listen, the closer I get to her while saying "no", the louder the giggles get and the bigger her smile gets and the more she does what she shouldn't be doing.  For example, she thinks Kody's water bowl is a splash park made especially for her.  Three times in a row today, I had to drag her away from it completely soaked and happy.  Lil shit.  Cute lil shit, though.  When Ayla was this age, when we had to tell her no, which wasn't too often, it would break her little heart and she would never do it again.  Again, so different.

Different or not, they are both so amazing and it's so fun to watch them grow and change day to day.  I have days where I'm pushed to the max and don't think I'm going to make it to bedtime but then I have one of my Mommy Moments, as I like to call them, where I'm in complete awe of them and can't believe they're mine.  I get that feeling every night when I go into their rooms to check on them before I go to bed.  It's like a reset button to see them sleeping so sweetly no matter how tough the day was.  And in that moment, I am floored and I know I am meant to be on this earth to be Ayla and Aubree's mommy.

Love, love, love this one