Getting to Know You

A few of people have told me that they don't really know Carl very well, not like they know Soren. I find this unsuprising since we have all had more time to get to know Soren. Still, friends and family ask me to describe Carl's personality and help them take the shortcut to knowing him as well as they know his older brother.

At first, I could only describe Carl as much as I could contrast him to Soren. Which is really only a way of saying what Carl is not, or at least what he is not like right now.

Comparing them both to the many other children out there in the world seemed more useful so I took a quiz that promised to define your toddler's personality. It said that Soren was "spirited" (translate as "a handful")and Carl was "touchy" (or "a whiner"), two labels I didn't want to apply to either of my kids and that I don't feel are particularly accurate either. I can think of situations when any number of contradictory adjectives would apply to my children; they are too wonderful and their futures are too flexible for me to pick only a few when helping you get to know them.

The best way to know them is to live with them and learn to love them for all of their indiscribableness. Carl is Carl and Soren is Soren; there are no words to sum them up. I invite you to come and form your own impressions of them.

In the meantime, I'd like to tell you about their interests, which are ever-changing but are certainly indicative of their personalities and daily activities.

Carl is excited about:
* footgear (he loves to take shoes and socks on and off)
* things that go (esp. cars and trains)
* balls
* Winnie-the-Pooh (with a special love for Tigger)
* robots
* dogs and cats (real live ones that he can touch, pet, and yank)
* potties and underwear (which we are not actually using with him)
* play-dough

Soren loves:
* puzzles (which he will spend hours on every day)
* the number 3
* music and dancing
* dragons (and the slaying thereof)
* weaponry (as it relates to the slaying of dragons)
* kung-fu
* the planets
* Pikachu

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