The Baby Dude Abides

When we had Ruby, she was such a good baby that everyone told us not to have a second one.  “When you have a good first baby, the next one will be a hellion,” they warned us.  We heard countless stories of nice, happy first babies, followed up by siblings closer in temperament to Rosemary’s Baby, or an angry yeti.  Who could have ever guessed that Ruby was the “difficult” one?

Edward is the most laid back baby I have ever seen.  Ruby was happy and funny and total joy, but Edward just…abides.  He is almost too happy.  He has had several double ear infections this winter, and honestly, it took us a long time to notice, because even when he is sick he is smiling.  Sure, he is fussy when he is super tired or super hungry, but almost nothing fazes this kid.

I think that this has also contributed to his (on target, but slower than Ruby) pace at learning to move.  He’s getting it now, crawling a bit, pulling up a bit, cruising around the furniture a bit, but he doesn’t have a huge desire to walk or move around.  This is because wherever you put him, he is happy.  Here Edward, let me plop you down in the middle of the floor.  “Sounds good to me, I like it here,” his grin seems to say.  Edward, let me move you over here, out of the way.   “Great, it’s chill over here too.”  Hey Edward, crawl across the floor to Daddy!  “No thanks man, I’m cool right where I am.”  Now, Edward, don’t you want to learn to crawl and walk and stuff?  “Don’t harsh my vibe daddy-o, I like sitting on the floor.”

Now, we’re probably not going to have a third one (that is not a challenge, baby gods), but if we did, I wonder what that child would be like.  Would baby number three be the hellion, or is it possible to be even more easy going and laid back than Edward?  Would Pirate Boat just exist as a smiling puddle of babyness, unable to even wave or roll over, lest she disturb her inner balance?  Who knows, but let me close by saying that, while I am surprised at the Edward’s level of peace and happiness, I am also very, very grateful.