I took the picture on the bottom last month while in the boys' bedroom. The light in the room was awesome and the boys were lying on the bed talking when I walked in. I immediately ran to get my camera. As soon as I snapped the photo, I was reminded of the top picture - it was a picture I took in December 2007 and used on our Christmas card that year. Davis was just learning to set up like that. He was on the floor - belly time! - and I was taking pictures of him. Andrew, recognizing that I was putting attention on his younger brother, lay down next to him and wanted his photo taken too. It seems like only yesterday.
Davis Tilghman is completely different from Andrew. And but for the first hour of his life, that's been clear. When Davis was brand new and the doctor put him on my chest, he looked EXACTLY like Andrew. It was uncanny. It was deja vu. It was bizarro. But within an hour, his appearance changed completely. In fact, I remember Christopher being on the phone with my sister-in-law, telling her we had given birth, and we were both looking down at the new baby in the recovery room, and it was almost right before our eyes that his appearance changed.
Aside from appearance, though, Davis is completely different. While they do have some similarities - both are shy (at the onset, I'm not sure for how long that remains), both are handsome, both are boys - they have two completely different personalities. We've known this since forever. But it's taken us 4 years - almost 5, I guess - to realize that in addition to the different personalities, Davis also needs to be handled differently than Andrew.
Andrew is all about doing right. He does NOT like to get into trouble. When Andrew was 4, if he misbehaved and was put into timeout, it was the worst. Thing. EVER. He would cry, feel guilty, feel remorse, apologize, cry some more, and eventually, timeout was over. If Davis is put into timeout, he's mad. Real. Mad. And that makes it only worse. And Davis has some lip to him that catches you off guard. You know you shouldn't be laughing, because he really shouldn't be saying it, but sometimes you just can't help it.
So it's taken Christopher and me 4 years to learn that we need to discipline Davis differently. We need to talk to him differently. What worked with Andrew for the last 7 years doesn't work with Davis. You can't make Davis stop doing something wrong just by making him feel bad about doing it. You have to tell him not to do it. Because we have two very different little boys, we have to be two very different parents. Four years later ... I get it.
I love Davis more than beer. I love Davis more than the air I breathe. I love Davis more than anything in the world. He tries my patience. He tests my hearing. He tests me every chance he gets. But I can think of no better little brother for Andrew. I can think of no better kisser at 4:45 in the morning when he wakes me up with that sweet, sweet kiss to ask to be tucked back in ... and I can think of no better pay back for me.
