What differences do you see in how Benedict developed at the same age [as the littles].

My LJ from when B was 3 is not very helpful, but as I remember, when he was 3, he was a quiet child. He liked to pattern match, was astonishingly good at jigsaws, liked to talk to people, as many different people as possible, and figure out the world. If he wanted to cross an obstacle, he would sit back, look at it intensely, and work out the best way through before starting.

A at 3 is also good at jigsaws, but he mostly dives in. If there's a thing to climb over and under, he'll do it for the joy of climbing; if there are people, well, he mostly wants to be left alone to do his own thing or stick to people he knows. He throws himself head first at the world, and hopes nothing breaks.


At 7, our world had changed. I got married and stopped living with his Dad over the course of the previous year, his Dad and I had a better relationship than we'd had for years, he was much happier at school. In general, B at 7 was a happy, sunny child who liked Lego and games and read a lot.

I think that's the differnece between B at 7 and J at 7 - she tends to be more physical, football and ballet and running games, whereas he tended to be more cerebral, more nose deep in a book at all times.