I’m curious, as the parent of two now (Boy 1.0 will be 4 in April; Boy 2.0 just turned 2 months), how much of an indicator infant personality is to older child/adult personality. In particular, I’m wondering what colicky babies were like personality-wise once a bit older.
Boy 1.0 has always been Mr. Sensitive, from the moment we brought him home. He wasn’t colicky, but he was easily upset and thus often in need of comfort. But, he was really an infant of extremes; when happy, he was the cutest, most smiley, happiest little adorable thing. When he started smiling, he smiled BIG; by 4mos, he would laugh so loud he cackled. But, when upset (like at his 2mos shots), he would go into hysterics, crying to a high pitch and becoming very difficult to console. “Sleep sobbing” became familiar. He often needed assistance to help fall asleep, and he would kick his feet to self-comfort.
As a child, he remains sensitive; he is prone to nightmares, and sometimes still needs middle-of-the-night comforting. He is disturbed by things seen on TV, like one for a child sponsorship charity; seeing the crying child onscreen bothered him enough to ask why the child was crying. When we told him the little boy didn’t have parents and needed help, Boy 1.0 was horrified and broke into choking sobs. When upset about something, sometimes gets himself so wound up he can’t stop sobbing. He will then request between sobs, “Mommy, help… me… stop… crying… I… can’t… stop…” Some rocking and singing quiets him. But, he’s also hilarious and loves to laugh and giggle.
Boy 2.0 is our colicky one (sigh). He was, however, very quiet and easy going for the first three weeks (unlike his brother, difficult from day 1). I was also stunned at how differently he responded to his first set of shots. Whereas Boy 1.0 was hysterical, Boy 2.0 angrily screamed and cried–then was quiet on his own within minutes. He ate fine and slept most of the day, both in startling contrast to his older brother.
So how about yours? How were yours as infants, then as children?