I'll be the first to admit that there can be definite differences when raising girls and boys. Perhaps these differences are not solely gender related, but since we have only raised daughters who act the opposite of Thatcher in many behavior instances, we can only assume its his Y chromosome. Thatcher has certainly proven more resilient, much more independent, and by far more danger prone than all three of his sisters put together. We try to gently modify a few of the less desirable behaviors that appear with these particular traits. Don't get me wrong. In our opinion we have observed these traits to have an even larger upside that will be a benefit and help to Thatcher throughout his life. Especially being surrounded by girls.
Thatcher's "independent" behavior is the theme we dedicate in this particular post. Understanding that he is already two and a half I still find it an amazing accomplishment that this child has single handedly potty trained himself. Honestly, it hadn't even crossed my mind to begin the task of potty training. Our pediatricians always commented that boys on average were potty trained between three/three and a half.
Credit Thatcher, and Kadyn for his recent success. Kadyn you ask? Yes. About three weeks ago Kadyn came running into our room proclaiming, "Mama, Thatcher went potty in the potty." I go to see what all the excitement is about and sure enough Thatcher had gone potty in the tiny chair that's usually stored under the bathroom sink. Kadyn had decided to pull it out and while she went on the big potty she said, "Hey Thatch. Why don't I go in this one and you in that one. That way we can go at the same time!" Apparently Thatcher thought this was a great idea because that is exactly what happened.
I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't take him very seriously at first. I continued to strap on a diaper and didn't exactly push the, "do you have to use the potty" question. When a few days passed and he was now scaling the big toilet in hopes to go, I figured I'd better hop on board and offer any additional help and incentive I could.
Congrats to Thatcher on this great accomplishment and to independent children everywhere who continually proclaim, "No, I do it".
I had to add these. With all his independence he is the kindest little boy I know.
He walks himself daily into his room to take a nap.
He LOVES his sisters more than ANYTHING. He loves to play whatever they want and they love that he is old enough now to join in their games and make believe. Now they can both be dogs and forever have a constant "dog owner".
At times he loves his sisters perhaps a little too much- I left the room to change out some laundry and upon returning noticed Haley J was even quieter than her normal little babbles. I glance over and realized that Thatch had decided to share his sucker. Wasn't that nice! The next day we were all eating lunch and he attempted to sneak her a fishy cracker. Apparently he feels bad for her. We are always eating good things in front of her and all she gets is milk. We are now in the stages of explaining babies needs and he doesn't seem quite as concerned since we began feeding her baby cereal.
