Personalities

I feel like I'm finally starting to get a grasp on my kids' personalities.  I may have known before, but I'm finally seeing where they come from, and able to articulate what their personalities are like.

Bug is very serious minded.  I mean, he is a kid like any other and likes to have fun and be silly... but he isn't nearly as silly as his little brother.  I can't tell you the many times when Bug would take a joke of Pro Boxer's seriously and have to be reconciled by me to let him know that Daddy was just joking.  I still have to - many times over.  In this, I think Bug gets it from me.  But then he seems to also have some of Pro Boxer in him with how he likes to have things organized and gets frustrated at Goof Ball for the times when he messes things up.  Don't get me wrong, our house is far from clean - but in certain things, he likes to have it organized and set... even when he was a baby playing with blocks, he lined them up perfectly.  He didn't build things like I thought, but he would make sure everything was in its place.  Someone gave him crayons and a coloring book, and what did he do?  He lined the crayons up on the ground.  :)

As for Goof Ball... I think I had a bit of an understanding of his character and personality for a while.  I'm judging that off of his blog name.  I came up with that when he was probably 6 months or so... and it still hasn't changed.  But on top of his complete goofiness (that he clearly gets from Pro Boxer), he also is really stubborn.  Like me.  We have had many a meal battle, and I often won.  I have 24 more years of stubborn experience than him, so that is to be expected.  But he since has found a way to win in his own sneaky way, and it pisses me off. :)  "Eat or go to bed."  That's the rule I set up.  One time I set a plate in front of him, and he looked up at me and said, "I tired."  Its like he knew he couldn't win, so he just gave up from the get go.  I don't know what to do with him sometimes. :)  Though this knowing that he can't win against my stubbornness helped when we started potty training.  Pro Boxer couldn't do anything to get him to go pee on the toilet.  My school stopped, within a week later, he was peeing on the toilet.  It's like he said to himself, "Well, Mom's at it now, guess I can't win anymore... may as well give in."

(I have to insert here, what just happened.  He didn't finish his breakfast this morning, because he is still on the tail end of his food strike.  He came to me complaining about the wii remotes not having batteries.  But then he asked for juice.  I said he needed to finish his food before he got any juice.  He went over and looked at it then said, "I don't need juice."  And I said fine.  ..... little punk.)

Goof Ball gets one more paragraph, because this is one aspect of his character that I just started to realize.  So he is goofy, and stubborn.  But he is also stubborn with his goofiness.  When he wants to be silly, nothing can stop him.  In this, there is no way for me to win over his stubbornness.  I'm trying to get Bug to realize this as well, because sometimes Bug wants to be serious with something or other, but Goof Ball is being completely crazy, and no one can stop him.  My excuse to Bug when this happens is, "He's just four.  He doesn't understand rules or anything like that, so just try to play by his rules."  Which works for now. :)

I have to wonder how these two completely different personalities will continue to grow with each other... :)

Potty story:
So as Goof Ball has been really focused on potty stuff lately, this happened.  I told my mom about it on the phone and she said I should put it on here... I am just getting to it now.

I had a friend over, and she needed to use the bathroom.  So I stayed where I was as she left and Goof Ball followed her.  I heard him lay down in front of the bathroom (like he had many times when I went, I don't even really think about it anymore).  After a moment, he said, "Mom!  She's going pee!" because he could hear it.  My poor friend was so startled, that she stopped instinctively even though she had more to go.  The silence made Goof Ball say, "Mom!  She's going poop!"  Well that earned him an exasperated sigh from me as my palm hit my forehead.  Then he said, "I need to go pee."  So I took him to the downstairs bathroom.  Only to find a text a few moments later from my friend telling me to take him away. :)  I got the text a little late... but anyway, that's the story.

And since I told a story about Goof Ball, here is the latest interesting information from Bug:
Apparently when Goof Ball turns 5 then we are going to have another baby in the house.  This is not an official announcement from me trying to be creative in saying that I'm expecting (I'm not...) this is purely from the Bug's mouth.  But if that is the case, I guess I need to get my IUD out and get busy, because Goof Ball turns 5 in June...  This statement also shows just how calculating and serious Bug is.  He decided this at least a year ago - and he still hasn't wavered or forgot about it.  Let's just say... I have silly kids.