K and X snapshot

I wrote this in an email to a friend about two months ago, in response to a question about what the boys are like:

How can I describe X? He is like an adorable little hurricane. He has this toothy grin that he flashes at everyone he meets. He is incredibly resilient -- even if he gets really hurt, he'll cry for five seconds, then get right back up and give you that grin. He does what he wants to do. If you tell him not to do something, he will laugh and do it deliberately. His favorite words are "shoe" and "circle." He will sit in your lap for an hour while you read him every book within reach. If something is on a flat surface, he will push it onto the floor. When he wakes up in the morning, he immediately starts jumping up and down and singing.

X and K are opposites in many ways. K wants to sleep with the lights on and the door open, X needs it to be dark and quiet. K loves to eat mangoes, X will only gnaw on the pit. I think the best way I can explain how different they are is by saying that when something bad happens to K, he gets upset and cries. When something bad happens to X, he gets mad and yells.

K is definitely more like me. I was also an overly sensitive little kid. Xis more like how I wish[ed] I could be. I don't think either one of them is really like JW in terms of personality.

But K is really fun and silly, and is a very curious little boy. He thinks about things and asks great questions. He loves to hear and tell jokes. He can't go five minutes without a hug.

They are both awesome kids, but very different from day one.

I wrote this a month ago:

X at 20-almost-21 months:

LOVES "Hop on Pop" and can recite long sections. Loves "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See," which he requests by saying, "At me! At me!" And in general loves books, books, books. But still cannot be trusted to keep them intact. Pats the floor next to him and says, "Sit." Still says no a lot, but occasionally grins and says, "YES." Still calls me Daddy most of the time, but calls K "GEE-YAH" and will shout for K when he hasn't seen him for a while. Does not care about the bedtime routine. He just wants to be put in his bed and he will take care of the rest. But he does need at least two pacifiers, and takes turns sucking on each one until he falls asleep.

K at 5.5:

Has grown out of his 4T clothes, but swims in his size 5 clothes. Loves kindergarten! And has been asking me some very sophisticated questions about the things he learns. Is obsessed with Lego Star Wars. Loves hugging his little brother. (K: "I hugged him so much he ran right into the couch!" Neighbor: "Are you sure you weren't wrestling him?" K: "No, we were hugging!") Just started playing with the little girls next door. Can't wait for more snow.

And here are some updates from now:

X: I already think of him as being 2. He has those screaming tantrums when he doesn't get something he wants, but he distracts himself and calms down quickly. (Yesterday when I took him to his room for a diaper change instead of reading him "Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late," he started to yell, but as we walked away he quickly resigned himself to his fate and began a running stream of, "Bye-bye pidgie. Bye-bye hot dog [the pigeon wants to have a hot dog party]. Bye-bye book. Bye-bye Daddy Kee-o. Bye-bye tree. Bye-bye ammals [we have an animal poster at the base of the stairs]," all the way upstairs.) Current favorite books are still "Hop Pop" and "At Me," plus "New Hat, New Hat," "Doggodoggodoggo," and one of K's National Geographic books about migration habits of zebras, crabs, and walruses. Favorite song is "EIEIO" (all one word).  He waves his hand at me and says, "Come, come." He started calling me Mommy! But now he sometimes calls K "Daddy Kee-o" even when JW isn't around. He copies everything K does, and chases K around the house. He says, "Night night" when he wants to hang out in his crib with his pacifiers for a while.

K: Got an "Encyclopedia of Good Guys and Bad Guys" as a present from Aunt Trousers (a blank journal with some instructions and a few guys drawn in -- thanks, Aunt Trousers!) and is determined to fill it up. So excited to spend Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Thinks it's hilarious to say "butt" (and tries to trick us into saying "underwear" by saying, "Can you put that under there?") When I went to his classroom this morning to decorate a gingerbread house with him, he showed great willpower in not eating any of the candy, until the very end when I secretly encouraged him to sneak a gumdrop. Every kid needs a little rule-breaking in his life.