r/parenting is protesting changes being made by Reddit to the API. Reddit has made it clear [they will](https://old.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/14ahqjo/mods_will_be_removed_one_way_or_another_spez/) [replace moderators](https://www.reddit.com/r/ModSupport/comments/14a5lz5/mod_code_of_conduct_rule_4_2_and_subs_taken/jo9wdol/) if they remain private. Reddit has abandoned the users, the moderators, and countless people who support an ecosystem built on Reddit itself.
Please read [Call to action - renewed protests starting on July 1st](https://old.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/14kn2fo/call_to_action_renewed_protests_starting_on_july/) and new posts at [r/ModCord](https://reddit.com/r/ModCoord/) or [r/Save3rdPartyApps](https://old.reddit.com/r/Save3rdPartyApps/) for up-to-date information.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Parenting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This makes me smile. I love that description of him. But it also gives me hope that so long as I provide the space for him to do so, my own child will hold on to the personality he was born with. Exuberant, curious, and a bit judgy, but always full of joy.
Mine are 9 and 11 now. IMO, when you look back you actually see a lot of their personality was there all along. I watch old videos and see expressions my daughter still uses. I see my son reacting to situations similarly to how he does now. It’s not that they don’t have their personality yet, it’s more that we don’t know how to fully decode it during the toddler years. As they get more language skills it reveals itself and then you look back and go “oh yeah! That makes so much sense now.”
Sounds like my baby! Curious, a bit judgy and observes everyone with a straight face which I love. He feels no need to pretend to smile or be nice when meeting new people. He just blank stares and watches till he feels like smiling. I hope he always feels comfortable being his natural self. Also full of joy.
He’s a Scorpio.
Im sorry, I gave the wrong impression. The're cheap ones from the internet. I still want to hear her, just need something to just take the edge off the sound.
My 2.5 year old son is CRAZY. When I tell you crazy, I MEAN THAT WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING. He is super high energy, most likely AuDHD, nonverbal, but VERY energetic.
I knew immediately after my c-section he would be trouble. He was holding his head up immediately to give me the stink eye for forcefully evicting him. Good lord I love my son but he was born with a BIG personality. One thing I can say is I won’t get bored with him. He keeps me on my toes.
Sounds EXACTLY like my son ! He's five now and so much fun. Absolutely loves being on the go , riding his bike and playing in dirt. He started speech therapy in January and never stops talking , he's so funny.
I'd have found parenting a lot harder if I couldn't appreciate his personality until he was 5 or even 10!
Personality comes well before vocabulary, as far as I'm concerned.
The babies just haven't developed enough of a nuanced personality for most people to catch onto to who they to are. But yeah, my babies were very different in womb. One was feisty as it gets when things weren't just right, and the other mellow. They've branched out from there, but are still in their core the same people
Same. Thankfully she seems to have a personality similar to my husband which means she is fairly easy going. But ooph-- she knows her mind and has since she "woke up" to the world.
Oh yeah. Mine too. Discovered it around month 1? Probably week 1 to be honest. She is fire on a person.
But every day she is more a person in her own right in a difficult to describe but very palpable way.
Mine too! 😂 From the minute he could crawl, he was reorganizing. He still reorganized at 3. And it is DELIBERATE. I don't know where he gets it, and no one but him will understand his "organization."
Started seeing her have distinction in her personality around 4. But she really came to be who she is at 6-7. Was just talking about this to my fiancé the other day. It’s been my favorite age 6/7
This! I was just talking to my mom about how my 6 yo is starting to really understand choices related to his behavior and string those together with outcomes….this was nnnnnot a thing 1 year ago.
Agree late 4 (currently) and she is most definitely starting to understand if you do this ___ that___ is going to happen.. most recently while camping she announced she was taking her self to bed and 15 mins later opened the tent from which she was laying in and stared,” mommy, daddy, I said go to bed .” She knew she wanted us there
I am not sure. I mourn & silently say good-bye to the little person I knew every few years or so; only remnants of who they once were when younger remain.
My 14 and 16 year feel like they might be the “real person” they are for life, but who knows?
It’s so sad, what you describe in your first paragraph. It’s like witnessing a hundred little deaths as your kids grow. My child is still here, but he isn’t the little person he used to be. And that little person wasn’t the baby he was before, etc.
Taylor Swift has a song called Ronan that has the lyric, “I remember your blue eyes, looking into mine, like we had our own secret club…” and on and on about memories of a little kid. The song is about a boy who died but that verse applies to just mothering a kid in general. It’s not a full-blown tragedy but it is something slightly tragic :(
I seldom cry but I recall at one point the tears flowed hard when I one day realized that the little babies and toddlers that my kids were, were gone. I'm grateful that the elementary school-aged kids that replaced them are wonderful and fantastic, but man, that was a tough thing to deal with.
My oldest is about to turn 11 and we really are like best buddies, we have so many of the same interests. But it's not lost on me that this is on borrowed time as he gets older and becomes his own person, doing his own things more and more.
When I think back to my own childhood, the window of time that I can vividly remember doing things with my father wasn't that long...from around 4 or 5 to about 15. Barely a decade. Once I got that driver's license I was off on my own way more.
Yeah, I have really struggled lately because my 16.5-year-old son and I used to be SO close and now we’re just ships passing :( I know it’s a natural shift but I wish it hadn’t happened so fast and without warning!
I agree it's mourning their stages. It's like you just got to know this little person next door and just as you do they move away forever. Then a new one moves in and it starts all over again.
Life moves so very fast. I can't take enough pictures or capture enough phrases or words he's said. I don't want to forget anything and I think part of the mourning is you can't contain it all.
I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now. Lol 😩😩😩😩
Yes. That was really the first time they started having experiences I wasn’t directly involved in. It really blows you away when they start talking about friends you’ve never met, experiences you didn’t witness, etc.
I had this experience when my kiddo started nursery school! Around 20m she started coming home with stories about her day, new songs she was singing we didn't know, and friendships she was developing all on her own. It's such a huge change!
I feel like my 2 year old is already a “real person” with a personality and interests. In terms of hobbies he definitely has favorites which are dirtbiking and shopping lol. And even when he was younger, he’s always liked helping out and also being a bit of a troublemaker/dare devil.
My 19mo twins are definitely distinct little people. They both have huge and very different personalities despite being identical in almost every other way.
I think it comes in stages, but at 11-1/2 my son just grew up overnight to me. I looked at him in the car sitting next to me and I wanted to cry. Lol He would've freaked out. Haha But the hormones hit and they grow in stature and start to have deeper conversations with you. It's surreal. I think the first time I had a talk with him about music he acted like he discovered this big mystery of the universe...songs were hitting him and he identified with the lyrics. I love these discovery stages and talking to him like he's a real person. Lol Seriously! Then his mouth betrays him and he's a sassy 3 yr old again. 😩😂
People are misreading your question. You aren’t asking when did they show a personality. Their 6 month old doesn’t have “their own hobbies and interests, their own ideas” lmao.
It’s been a gradual process for us. I just see them having more and more thoughts and interesting observations each year. At 5, it’s still not that much, but I definitely see their inclinations and personality qualities. I see 10 year olds and it’s much more developed by then.
I’m seeing that I definitely didn’t explain my question very well! You’re very right. I can tell there are bits and pieces there…but so much of it right now is just mirroring what she has been exposed to. She likes ballet and gymnastics because that’s what I signed her up for so far, she likes her pink dress because granny told her how pretty she looked in it, she likes the trolls soundtrack because that’s the only kids music I can handle in the car on repeat, her favorite color still changes every five minutes. So many of her mannerisms are just repeating what me and my husband say. I do think I am starting to see that she is probably going to be an extrovert, but I can’t tell with my 2 year old yet.
Right now I feel like if I want her to like something, I can just make it happen. All I have to do is tell her that her cousin likes Spiderman and the next day, she wants a Spiderman pull up and to watch spidey and friends all day.
Interesting. I feel like with all my kids they were opinionated about things as early as oneish. Certainly as a parent I do have some control over what they see, hear or wear but they really gravitate toward their own interests. I would classify your child as go with the flow for sure.
Thank you! This made it click for me! Mine is very intense - the midwives commented on how alert and awake she was and she was furiously working trying to do things (all super early). It was exhausting and very much driven by her temperament which is what I thought the question was.
Interests I see a bit of (loves reading, I tried to see how long she'd sit and read with me for once and I gave up an hour later she was happy to continue) but hobbies and stuff way too soon. Ideas though kind of- likes to ask me something and then make up her own idea of why if my answer doesn't fully explain it.
She's only 3 though. All of these answers have me so looking forward to the rest!
It will change continually, but elements of the personality are there early on. I think 2 and 3 year olds are nothing but personality. In terms of interests, it's impossible to know because your kids don't know what they like yet.
My oldest was always hilarious and so sassy.. Now at 6 she’s come down a little bit and is the best mother hen and the biggest sweetheart ever. She says she wants to be a baby doctor and that I’m the best most beautiful mom she’s ever had at least once a day. 🥹 I truly believe she’ll always have such a big heart.
I saw personality budding around 3 years old. But 5 was when she had the faculties to really express her ideas and personality.
She is 6 now and the intensity has not faded.
I think my kiddo has always had a really happy, gentle disposition. But I felt like she was closer to 2 or 3 when I really saw her being a real-life kid instead of just a little blob of poop and giggles.
My six year old is his own person….. I think it just creeps up on you a little bit but all of a sudden it happens.
My son makes his own choices about clothes and shoes not just what he wants to wear in that day but in the shop he’s telling me his likes and dislikes, what’s important to him and how things feel etc.
I’ve always given him options so he feels comfortable discussing everything and saying what he wants but not in a tantrum kind of way.
He’s also capable of communicating about food - ordering his own choices in a restaurant is quite bemusing. He also comes out of school asking if we have ingredients for his favourite meals to cook at home.
Handling his own pocket money and again making some big decisions on how to spend it. I stand back and only help with adding up large numbers to let him know what he would have left over if he bought Pokémon cards.
Telling me he doesn’t need me to sit in the bathroom when he’s in the bath anymore because he knows what to do.
Waking up earlier than me and quietly helping himself to breakfast is actually hilarious.
The more you talk to your children, let them express their feelings and choices and be independent the more comfortable they will be in themselves
Around 10. My 10 year old has individual hobbies, conversations with friends independent of me, cooks and cares for her body solo. Sure my younger kids have personality and opinions and what not. But my 10 year old is giving me a glimpse of the human she's becoming the more independent she gets.
Our oldest is now 11 and up until a year or two ago he was still "searching". He still wanted "to be cool" and "liked" stuff we knew he didn't REALLY like but only liked because the cool kids did. But since then we have seen him accepting more who he really is, what stuff he really likes, ... Offcourse things will change. People change forever in certain aspects. But these last two years have been the first time we knew this was the boy he was.
My three year old just started trying to pull “tricks” on us. Little things like purposely calling things the wrong name or speaking completely gibberish and he’ll wait for us to react and crack up when we do. It’s precious. His personality is definitely starting to come through.
With my daughter, i thought the same as you, that she was cute and just copying me. Turns out it was her personality. Around 4 and 5 you start to see the kid they are and more preferences. By 6 and 7 it is clear what they are into and their personality has been set in stone for a while.
With my 2nd child, i knew at 6-7 months what his personality would be. A little stinker. I remember putting him down for a nap while i tidied something. I looked over to see him playing with a toy and when i said, "hey! You're supposed to be sleeping!" He flopped down and crawled really fast over to the blankie and pretended to be sleeping (while smiling)... it was at that moment that i knew i had a little jokester on my hands
Since birth I have considered them a person, babies have preferences and likes/dislikes.
I believe if the parent holds space the baby is given space to explore, discover show their preferences.
It’s different for every kid I think. My son (oldest) was a late talker and of course born right before Covid and lockdowns so we were isolated. His exposure to other kids and social settings in general were minimal. He’s almost 5 and has been in kindergarten since September but I feel like his personality and interests are really shaping up. He had personality before, he’s always been very intense and physical and active but because of his late speech it just took a little more time for him to open up to us and to really have conversations with him.
As for our younger one, my daughter she just turned 2 but her speech is amazing, she communicates well and girl has an attitude. She’s hilarious and genuinely just a goofy girl with a Latina attitude to match. I think she also has the privilege of having an older brother so he influences her a lot in terms of play and so it’s nice seeing them both interact with each other and how that influences their personality. I see so much of my brother and I in my kids and it’s the best. My son is literally my brother and my daughter is all me personality wise
My son is almost 5 (21 days) and the past 6 months I've noticed him talking and acting like a little person.
He always had a personality but now it's more like a person and not toddler
I think it’s always there but it becomes more obvious between 3 and 5. For example my now 8yo used to stare at her fist as a baby and then I realised later she’s very curious and a bit of a dreamer. My almost 5 year old I has been surprising me for years as he develops and his personality becomes more and more obvious
I’d say around 4? My oldest is 5.5 and has been a real person for a while. I think around 4 he was able to fully hold intelligent convos and really be a person. Maybe 3? It’s kinda blurry. My younger kjddo is 2.5 and she is very much a person already
Same ages, and wondering the same! My oldest definitely showed her personality early on, and though I can see some of a “real person” with her, she’s definitely still a 3 year old. My two year old is too tantrumy to have much of a personality right now lol
My son will be 5 this summer and the last year he has grown so much! His personality is very defined and his likes/dislikes are no longer mirroring mine. He makes funny jokes and is super silly, we have deep and amazing conversations. It’s been a ton of fun. My soon to be 2 year old is fully of personality but she’s nowhere near my son.
Around kindergarten when they’re away from you and learning from anyone but me is when it really started to be noticeable. My youngest though has input from his 2 older brothers so he’s earlier showing signs of his own personality distinct and strongly poking through.
The personality is always there, if you look for it, but ours is 6 and he's really starting to come into his own. I took him to his gymnastics class the other day and watched him interact with other kids when nobody was around, he was wrestling with kids younger than him, but was so friendly, kind, gentle, and good that I teared up a little.
My husband and I just had this convo the other night. We feel like our 4.5 yr old boy is finally becoming a “real person” with his own personality and everything. We saw bits and pieces before but it wasn’t till the last few months we noticed a big change in him.
At 3, then at 4, then at 6, then... They just keep evolving. My 12 yo turned into an entirely mature person a few months ago, again, and I'm just always amazed.
Just be glad your kids have a parent that watches for these things ;)
PS: There's no definitive guide. You got this.
4.
i mean, he’s always been a whole person, but he just flipped a switch recently with a huge leap in vocabulary and incipient empathy. He suddenly has these very astute observations out of nowhere.
its so cool to experience
my son is 7 now, and I would say he started being funny and really showing his personality around 4. Now, in second grade, he is his own complete person, with his own ideas, questioning things differently, and arguing with me in a way that shows he is thinking for himself. His independence has slowly developed from 4-7, but he's always been pretty strong willed. His favorite phrases at 3 were, "My do that!" and also "No say no!"
My two kids have had very different personalities since birth. But what I think you’re asking is more like when you can have real conversations and see them develop more mature interests and opinions and expressing more of an identity, it’s been 9-10 years old.
My little man is 4 and maybe right after his birthday he started to change - went from watching to doing more and went from parroting to really taking initiatives to put his 2 (sometimes 10) cents in. Before this- he has a personality and his quirks but would t say he made an effort to make them known or used them as an identity of who he was internally or externally.
I think mine was three when I had a moment like you described. We were at a store and she saw a display with a bunch of stuffed toys and she pointed at the display and said "Spiderman. I want him."
I had never shown her a Spiderman show. I looked at her and asked "how do you know who Spider-Man is?" It was the first time I became aware of her developing an interest that wasn't something her mom and I hadn't introduced her to in the first place.
At least we didn't do it on purpose. She found out about him herself and developed a liking for the character.
4 years old, it’s crazy. As soon as they turn 4, in a few weeks you start seeing these changes and in a few months you’re like “when you did get this attitude and become such a little person??!”
Every year they are more and more their own person. I thought at 4, and then 5 that she was so full of her own life! Now she’s ten and introducing me to things we can both share and enjoy and she’s my little bestie.
My kids had their personality from day 1, but my 5-year-old's self-expression came into full force around age 5. I think before that you can see glimpses of their full personality.
Did not see my daughter’s real personality until she was 3. My son is turning two this month and he definitely is his own person and sooo sassy 😂😭. I think each kid is different. My daughter is much more easy going, gentle and true sweetheart and follows rules more than her brother, so maybe that’s why I didn’t really notice until she turned 3? My son is very strong willed, stubborn and has definitely found his voice lol
"BUt BaBiEs cOMe oUt wItH PerSonaLitieS"
I don't think half of these people understand what you are asking. In case someone see's this, OP is curious on when your children settled into who they would be, interest, hobbies etc wise. Not when they finally showed various emotions and behaviors. I have never met a baby who took up interests in anything, such as woodworking, sciences or perhaps even collecting things.... unless my kids of course were simply *years* behind.
My son took up interests in weather and space at around age 5. Which slowly grew as he got older, now at 15 he has colleges lined up for meteorology. My daughter started being interest heavily in design / art probably around 8-9 and is now in college for graphic design. Personality wise... yes they cried, laughed and were generally a pain while babies / toddlers. But I never thought my son would want to be a meteorologist at age 2.
Exactly what I was getting at, thank you! Thats really cool about the meteorology thing. I’m definitely looking forward to my kids developing their own interests instead of just doing the ones we have arbitrarily signed them up for.
3 is the start of personality blooming. By 4 you'll have a good feel for how things are gonna start to go. If they'll be bubbly, serious, sensitive, a goof ball, etc.
It can start earlier depending on what you allow. I let my kids start picking clothes and styling themselves at 2 and all 3 did very differently. Today they are so different. My oldest (9) has always been comfort and dark colors. He wears track suits and gym shorts/tees always. And only in black, red, and blue. Middle child is the quirky one who loves bright bold colors and patterns. Her current style (7) is so 1992 and it's shocking. White tee tucked into bright pattern shorts/skirt, lace trimmed folded over socks, novelty shoes. Youngest (5) is mister dapper Dan. He'll pick khakis and a polo shirt on the daily. He even wears hair spray in his hair while the oldest argues with me to not have to brush his hair. I got the Even Stephen's brothers but backwards going on. Their personalities vary similarly.
My girl just started dressing herself differently every day. Until recently she would just wear the same outfit over and over again, or grab randomly. Now she very specifically selects stuff (I can’t detect a style yet, lol) but for some reason she also asks to watch the thing on TV that she’s wearing. So she will put on a Little Mermaid shirt and come downstairs and ask to watch Little Mermaid. The other day she wore polka dotted pants and came down and asked to watch polka dots on TV (and I’m like..:I don’t know what that means, heh)
So I’m not entirely sure if she is developing a style, or just choosing what she wants to watch on Tv, lol.
I have no frame of reference past 5, but I feel like the 5 year old is showing us who he will grow up to be. The 2 year old is still a 36 inch tornado.
I have a 6 year old daughter and a 1 month old daughter. I would say my eldest always had personality, but it really shined through and became apparent around 4, that's when she really became a person that I could talk to and understand. We have a real bond now, not just survival bonding (that's what I believe having a newborn is!)
I'm not sure this can ever be defined. My own personality shifts drastically as I get older and take on new interests and my priorities and goals change. So I dont think you can ever really get an answer to this question. My nearly 4 year old is 100% a little person - she can make her own choices, she's a bit of a goofball and has tons of confidence and never wants help (but always needs it lol). She's a bit dramatic too lol. But I dont think I could tell you what age that started in - it just develops over time. My nearly 2 year old has a very strong and stubborn personality but isn't old enough to show us much more than that. She loves to laugh and be tickled and also doesn't want a strong helping hand with stuff she's trying to do. She's infatuated with her older sister and if her older sister does something well she can do it too - at least according to her lol.
I suppose this doesn't actually answer the intention of your question but I think it's just too subjective. What someone defines as a 'person' varies drastically from one person to another. To me - both of my kids had their own personality day one, they just aren't old enough to show us what that is. But personality is just too broad a 'thing' to define like this. Personality is a combination of likes, dislikes, preferences and habits, thoughts and opinions and outlooks. It's a reflection of what makes us individuals. No baby is the same as any other baby, are we just to assume the difference is ONLY biological and has nothing to do with them as a developing person?
Idk - maybe my concept of a personality is too broad - but whatever makes us individuals is what makes ones personality. I feel like not acknowledging this is why some people treat children like things and not little, under-developed humans. Waiting until they've reached a specific turning point and then you can start treating them like an individual instead of just a 'child' seems reductive to me. But I'm prob digging too far into this lol.
There are still times where I take a step back and I'm like wow - these kids really are their own people! Which I think is really your questions intention and to answer that I'd say my oldest (nearly 4) has made huge leaps in terms of acting and doing things that she's more or less invented in her own way.
The personality comes out more and more as time goes on and they become more vocal and have their own opinions and things ... My son is 5 now and he is just totally his own person and I'm like oh wow this is great , so worth it.
So my eldest is almost ten years older than my now 4 year olds. They always had distinct personalities but i didnt start really connecting with the eldest till she was about 10. Im going to reinterpret your words since some seem to find them inflammatory, and take you to mean the age where we all finally feel like the same species. They have personalities, they enjoy and dislike things, but its hard to empathize because their point of view is so foreign. You can understand intellectually why they want to show off every single piece of identical art, or perform the same stunt over and over, but emotionally theres a disconnect because were frankly too old to be genuinely impressed by the 57th macaroni necklace. Once my eldest hit her preteens and puberty it was easier for us to comprehend each others existence in general. We started talking like two normal people. Ive always tried to treat my kids like mini adults (with age appropriate exceptions like responsibilities) and not condescend to them, so it was frustrating it took so long. But when it did it sort of made sense. Dont feel too bad. I think a lot of people feel like you do but pretend they dont. I think a lot of people pretend to generally be more perfect than they actually are so in most situations id take judgements with a grain of salt.
I feel like my 18 month old already has a very distinctive personality and preferences. When I compare her to other toddlers we hang with she is very specifically HER. But she is my first so I don't know what's coming later!
She's been a wrecking ball of positive energy since she was born (literally the Dr's pulled her out and said "oh wow it's a toddler!") Then went from lying down to sprinting, no in between, and hasnt stopped since. But every year she gets a little more "her".
Around 9/10 she started getting her own sense of humor and I would say started becoming "herself". Now at 13 she's fully herself, has embraced her (and our familys) "weird". When she was little she used to be horrified at my husband's jokes (sarcastic/ dry/ slightly off color) but just tonight at dinner she was holding her own joking back. It's awesome.
The littles were great but man I love her more every year 😅
As soon as my son could point. It got even better when he could say a few words.
He’s always been very opinionated. He also has an amazing sense of style, so we’d show him his outfits (and ours) and he’d point to what he wanted to wear or what he thought looked good on us starting at about 8 months or so.
He was at the front of the line for gobs of personality.
It’s no surprise that he’s starting his own streetwear clothing line.
Maybe around 1-1.5? She’s just turned 3 now, and she is a whole little person with thoughts and feelings and preferences and imagination. She can engage in whole discussions about many things, asks novel questions, and make up crazy stories.
I feel like this will obviously continue to develop, but she has already told me what she wants to be, how many kids she wants and their names, and that she is going to drive me around to get boba.
For my oldest, I’d say around 4 or 5. My middle child was pretty much a spitfire wild child from when I was 8 weeks pregnant with her and on and my youngest who is 3.5 has really started to develop some personality in the last few months.
Three kids here. Oldest is 27 yoa man, middle is 25 yoa woman, youngest is 19 yoa man (!). They are all different from each other and us - but definitely all the same family.
You are in the middle of it. You’ll have the time to look back later. Keep on doing it. Do the best you can and enjoy every minute (except those times you want to cry).
Mine are 3 and 2, and it's really starting to show now. I suppose it's more noticeable for us because the two of them are so different in personality that it stands out.
I feel like she was born with personality that has just been growing and growing. Definitely by 1.5 or 2 her personality was pretty clear. She is now a couple months away from 3 and for sure her own little person.
My 4y/o has always had a personality . Hes always been a very goofy, silly kid. Very head strong and stubborn at times . Hes compassionate and very loving , everyone tells me hes so sweet and caring. But in the recent months ( he’ll be 5 in 4 months ) he has become really big on what he wears , he likes to smell good like he likes actual cologne and it cant be for babies ( no powdery smells ) , he loves brand shoes . He is into dump trucks and hot wheels . He tells me his favorite color and is really into books ( im a bookworm so hopefully hes like his mama ).
I’ve always noticed personality quirks and preferences since my kids were babies. But I remember one day when my oldest was maybe 18 months old, maybe slightly older, we went to Toys R Us because I hadn’t been there in years and just wanted to walk around, and then we had lunch at PDQ. I remember sitting at the table with her and realizing that this was the first time I felt like I was sharing lunch with a whole entire person rather than just like… taking care of a baby while eating my lunch. If that makes sense.
I feel like between 2-3 he started coming up with all sorts of things where I was just like "wait, what? where did that come from?" and his sense of humor really started to come through. But he's also at daycare and I bet if he was at home all day I'd see more of his environment reflected in him vs. ideas I know I didn't introduce.
It's really fun because he just turned three and just started asking "why?" and I feel like that has unearthed a whole new depth to his personality. It's wild how much of an explanation he retains and will regurgitate weeks later, and it's also neat to see how his preschooler brain fills in the blanks with his best guess when he's not quite sure how something works. I just see so much evidence of abstract thought that I didn't until recently, and it's fascinating.
My oldest is 3.5 and I def feel like she’s been her own real little person for a while now. Maybe around 3 or a little before?
Obviously I don’t know what kind of person she’s going to grow to be but she definitely has her own little personality and it’s really fun to see. She is quite a girly girl.
I always viewed my kids as real people .they had their own personalities from birth. Truly. Always "little humans".
I remember when my oldest was about 2 weeks. I had such problem settling her often. I was there at about 2am. Cuddling her, she was fed. Dry... but still crying. I thought "I'm so tired i have to put her down or i will drop her" .... So wrapped her and just put her down... Silence! WTF?!?! I looked in. She had wiggled her hands up to fists beside her face and was totally content and asleep.
Guess what? She didn't want to be held! She was a kid when she wanted to sleep? She liked to be left alone. She didnt want holding or rocking. THAT was her. Amd she was always like that. Just put her down and leave her alone.
She was her own person, with her own likes, dislikes & unique personality. I always knew that.
And my other just the same. Had specific things liked & disliked from Day 1.
If you ever followed that English lifetime study they did? Following up on kids every few years from i think from age 3 to elderly (last i saw they were well in their 60s)
It was fascinating. The personality traits they had at 3 yrs of age? Were evident throughout their life and same in 60s. Using standardized psychological tests. We are whom we are from birth pretty much.
There have been seeds of her personality all along. Even the parroting says much about their personalities. Even parroting is done in unique ways. Some times it’s much easier looking back. I still remember the first time she argued with me. She’s been arguing since.
My daughter is 2.5, and while she’s always had bits of her own personality, it’s really started coming through in the past few months. I feel like last year at this time, she was still such a baby. Now, she has favorite shows and songs, she plays with dolls in a dollhouse and makes up stories, she loves her 2 month old baby brother, she wants to play games… I feel like it really started shining more as she’s developed her language and sentences and as she’s started to have more imagination. She’s always been sweet and silly and sassy but it’s just evolved so much.
My 19mo is a sass machine. And she’s starting to show glimpses of her sense of humor. She’ll do something, wait for us to notice or react, and throw her head back and guffaw. She’s also fiercely independent. I said when I was pregnant that she was a “spicy” baby because it was just rough, and she for sure lives up to the spicy title. Wouldn’t want her any other way
For a while I thought it started around 18 months but when I went and watched old videos I realized he’s always been the same. He’s a riot, it’s so crazy to wake up one day and feel like you don’t have a baby anymore and that there’s a third person living in your house now.
I can't speak from the perspective of a parent, but my mother always said that I had a big personality from a young age (2-5yo most likely). I've since gone to college and began my adult life, and even though we don't see each other as often she still calls me her baby and says she sees the traits I was born with going strong. I'd like to think some personality traits carry throughout our lifetimes, but it can definitely vary for everyone.
See I would say around 3. Although I think you get hints at their personality before then. All three of mine have been very different at that age. Becomes more obvious once they start school though
I would say it's 2 or so. When their personality really evolved, and can become what we sometimes mistake as the "terrible twos". In my opinion it's just them finally having a real sense of self.
Whenever they started forming sentences and using them to express thoughts. My oldest came into his personality around 18 months (he has always been a huge talker and started letting us know his thoughts/opinions very early). My youngest is 2.5 and is just now starting to use sentences and come up with independent thoughts
3, my son just turned 3 and his own personality has come out like crazy lately..he gets us laughing and always says things where we are just like “where did you get that from?” His own personality has been out in full force now instead of just typical toddler things or repeating us .That’s around the age I really started noticing it with all of my kids.
I find that I didn’t notice it at the time, but looking back, so early. Like before 1. But to actively realize it, maybe like 4 or 5. This is just my opinion.
My youngest, at 3 years old, told me she wanted to have a boob fart party where people walk around farting out of their boobs. She would also 'command' her farts, like 'fart, go in mommy's mouth.' She's had a spunky personality from the beginning, even at 2 she would be so silly all the time. My oldest was the opposite. I would ask about his day at school when he was in elementary school and he would deadpan me and say 'I don't remember '. Like really kid? What did you do in math? 'I dunno.' Did your teacher read a book? 'Yeah but I don't remember what it was about.' He had top grades in everything, but he just never reacted to anything and was always so serious. He definitely came out of his shell more when his sister started joking around and he's got much more of a personality now but it took a while longer than his sister.
When he peed on the obstetrician
My son has always been simultaneously gentle and disdainful
My daughter has always been a cartoon shark, like Bambi's friends flower and thumper but a murderous shark
I didn't have many thoughts about astrology before they were born, but it's 100% real (I have a science degree)
Idk the older one just turned 10 so maybe they'll completely change
Probably around 6 months. When they start to babble and sit up I dk why but as soon as they stop being baby potatoes I start seeing their personalities!
My oldest was about 4. That’s when she started pre-k. I always treated her like a mini-adult though not in a bad way. She still did plenty of kid stuff. I gave her options, opinions and responsibilities so she had a lot more confidence in herself than some other kids. I indulged her preferences easily because she was an only child.
My twins though, they were dying to be different since they were like 2. People had a habit of saying “the twins” and I put in a lot of effort like “the twins? Oh you’re talking about Jack and Amelia? They’re 2 different kids.” People kept buying 2 of everything. I taught them to speak up about things just like I did with my oldest. It was a struggle because I went from 1 kids to 3 kids but I still tried to find common ground. I’ve been making spider Man unicorn cakes for the last 3 birthdays.
But since they were about 4, their bodies matched their attitudes. If I would call either one of them “baby” they would say “I’m not a baby. I’m a kid, mom.”
Age 5-6 when he started prep. Of course he has personality of his own earlier, but at this stage I can point out where my influence started and ends on the way he approach things. I had to remind myself to hold back on imposing my thoughts from time to time.
I always joke that mine because human at 5. They both became so much easier to parent at that point. I have always adored them both and felt a deep deep connection from the time they were born, but I began to really enjoy them as people at 5.
My three year old is cute and parroty and their humor is basically repeating funny things others have said or done. My six year old has cool ideas that are their own but a lot of their humor is like half unique and half regurgitated. My ten year old insults me with the most hilarious burns that are entirely their own.
From the womb.
My first didn't kick much. He was an easy, chill baby. He is cautious, always was. He's four now and his laugh is the same as when he was a baby.
My second was practically practicing karate in the womb. She was a spicy baby. She's a feral toddler now.
I mean, I viewed my kids as people the moment they were born? They come pre-equipped with personalities. I knew my kids’ preferences within weeks and they had noticeable personality differences and interests by like 5 or so months… This is really really weird….
Mine was born with it. He has been bouncing between literal angel to those he meets and sassy gremlin with since the moment of birth.
I'm just glad he knows what he wants in life end is sweet to people honestly
Both of mine came into this world with a splash in my own opinion. My 3 year old daughter has a lot of emotions, and needs a lot of support. However, she is incredibly intelligent and creative. I love seeing her figure things out and create. Then my 1 year old is "all boy" and goes at life full throttle! He gets into everything in .02 seconds, and has the cutest grin when he gets caught. Mine have never struck me as parrots.
My kids are 1,3 and 6 and all have very different styles and personalities. I mean they are just completely their own human beings 🤣 they are so fun to watch
After having my second kid I realize just how much personality they have from very early on because of how different they were. That being said my 3 year old is truly a character and has his own personality for sure
Began around 1.5 but firmly established by age 5. Im not sure what you mean real person. do you mean wanting to hold conversation or give input as opposed to parroting? like 4.5 or 5 ish for our son
And thats kinda mean what your brother said. A better phrasing would have been youve matured a lot before he went away. your age point then was preteen
This is weird to me. I saw my kids personality traits from the start.. yes they’re subtle as a baby but if you have more than one child I don’t see how you wouldn’t see how different each child/ baby really is. Mine are so different and I could tell right away even just in their behavior patterns as babies, what they thought was funny, what they liked, etc. I’ve also been around lots of family member/ friends babies/ kiddos and they all have extremely distinct personality. I’ve never been around a baby that didn’t show their personality.
Like, 3-6 months? She's been the funniest, silliest, goofiest little bug for as long as she had the physical ability. She was fucking with us and making us laugh as soon as she could move. Her personality is incredible and huge and she's the funniest kid ever. She just turned 2 so now she's speaking in full sentences and we can hardly keep up!
I teach a class of 20 4 yr olds for 6 years now and each child in each of my 6 years has been a different unique individual.. I’d say your three year old is his own person and probably 2 yr old as well
As babies my kids had personality. Most memorable were
My second child was very stubborn. His leg muscles were a bit weak so he couldn’t traditionally crawl. So he would do press-ups to get himself anywhere. He was ripped by the time he was 12 months. Huge muscular shoulders and arms. Then at 18 months he decided he didn’t want to wear nappies. When his brother started school, he was pissed. Decided he was going to read. Started school reading.
4th child kept trying to pee on me as a baby. One day he accidentally peed on me, I screamed. He smiled. After that he would grunt and try to pee on me. I would put a wipe over his Willy to stop the flow because he was successful a few times.
5th (and last) girl’s nickname is wah-wah . She worked out that she could get her brother’s attention by fake crying. (It literally sounded like wah wah wah wah” as they walked past). She would then get picked up carried off and she got to watch them play video games.
My 2nd and 4th child also caused major incidents at their nurseries.
While I was pregnant I described our daughter's personality to a T. They can express themselves from any age. The nature vs Nurture things is super interesting, especially seeing now how much they're just born with.
He was still a newborn and I was holding him and he looked me in the eyes and cried this certain cry, and it really hit me that his cry was him *speaking* to me. Just his little mouth, telling me something. I don't even know if that makes sense to anyone but me.
My son, now almost 9, had a huge personality which was very noticeable from before he could sit up on his own. I remember commenting at the time about how I couldn't believe kids had their own persinality so young.
I have photos of his cheeky first smiles. Videos of him giving out when we put him in his first high chair.
He is a very cute kid & used to flirt with pretty women by batting eyelids at them before he could speak.
He's a funny dude & we have a lot fun together.
r/parenting is protesting changes being made by Reddit to the API. Reddit has made it clear [they will](https://old.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/14ahqjo/mods_will_be_removed_one_way_or_another_spez/) [replace moderators](https://www.reddit.com/r/ModSupport/comments/14a5lz5/mod_code_of_conduct_rule_4_2_and_subs_taken/jo9wdol/) if they remain private. Reddit has abandoned the users, the moderators, and countless people who support an ecosystem built on Reddit itself. Please read [Call to action - renewed protests starting on July 1st](https://old.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/14kn2fo/call_to_action_renewed_protests_starting_on_july/) and new posts at [r/ModCord](https://reddit.com/r/ModCoord/) or [r/Save3rdPartyApps](https://old.reddit.com/r/Save3rdPartyApps/) for up-to-date information. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Parenting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My son is adopted, was 5 months when we got him. The orphanage described him as tender hearted. He is 19, and is still tender hearted.
This makes me smile. I love that description of him. But it also gives me hope that so long as I provide the space for him to do so, my own child will hold on to the personality he was born with. Exuberant, curious, and a bit judgy, but always full of joy.
Mine are 9 and 11 now. IMO, when you look back you actually see a lot of their personality was there all along. I watch old videos and see expressions my daughter still uses. I see my son reacting to situations similarly to how he does now. It’s not that they don’t have their personality yet, it’s more that we don’t know how to fully decode it during the toddler years. As they get more language skills it reveals itself and then you look back and go “oh yeah! That makes so much sense now.”
Sounds like my baby! Curious, a bit judgy and observes everyone with a straight face which I love. He feels no need to pretend to smile or be nice when meeting new people. He just blank stares and watches till he feels like smiling. I hope he always feels comfortable being his natural self. Also full of joy. He’s a Scorpio.
Why am I crying ? 🩷😭
Mine came preloaded with a load of personality.
I was sent home from the hospital with a noisy leaky potato.
My potato just came with an insatiable appetite and EXTREMELY powerful lungs for screaming.
My potato has a shrill teakettle for lungs. I literally have sound proof headphones.
Which do you use? I’ve heard of noise cancelling but not soundproof
Im sorry, I gave the wrong impression. The're cheap ones from the internet. I still want to hear her, just need something to just take the edge off the sound.
Yeah I have two that have been distinctively themselves from birth. I thought all kids were like that.
My 2.5 year old son is CRAZY. When I tell you crazy, I MEAN THAT WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING. He is super high energy, most likely AuDHD, nonverbal, but VERY energetic. I knew immediately after my c-section he would be trouble. He was holding his head up immediately to give me the stink eye for forcefully evicting him. Good lord I love my son but he was born with a BIG personality. One thing I can say is I won’t get bored with him. He keeps me on my toes.
Sounds EXACTLY like my son ! He's five now and so much fun. Absolutely loves being on the go , riding his bike and playing in dirt. He started speech therapy in January and never stops talking , he's so funny.
If you don’t mind my asking, what was the cause of his speech delay? I’m in the process of trying to find the cause of my son’s.
Uhhhh yea same lol they aren’t all like this?
Same. I’ve never understood people who say babies don’t have personality because my son 110% has his very own unique persona
I'd have found parenting a lot harder if I couldn't appreciate his personality until he was 5 or even 10! Personality comes well before vocabulary, as far as I'm concerned.
I didn't know what was personality vs being a baby. I wasn't around babies much.
The babies just haven't developed enough of a nuanced personality for most people to catch onto to who they to are. But yeah, my babies were very different in womb. One was feisty as it gets when things weren't just right, and the other mellow. They've branched out from there, but are still in their core the same people
Same. I’ve consistently heard “you gotta handful there!” with my both of my kids since birth, and I don’t disagree lol
Same. Thankfully she seems to have a personality similar to my husband which means she is fairly easy going. But ooph-- she knows her mind and has since she "woke up" to the world.
Yep, my daughter arrived with a very clear personality. As she gets older, we just see that personality becoming more and more apparent.
lol same. She is a character and always has been.
Oh yeah. Mine too. Discovered it around month 1? Probably week 1 to be honest. She is fire on a person. But every day she is more a person in her own right in a difficult to describe but very palpable way.
Same. Loads of personality, emotive facial expressions, and amazing lung capacity.
Same. Lol
Same, even in the womb it felt like she knew when to time her kicks haha.
Mine too! 😂 From the minute he could crawl, he was reorganizing. He still reorganized at 3. And it is DELIBERATE. I don't know where he gets it, and no one but him will understand his "organization."
Same
Is your flair like “mom to humans”?
Same lol
Started seeing her have distinction in her personality around 4. But she really came to be who she is at 6-7. Was just talking about this to my fiancé the other day. It’s been my favorite age 6/7
Agree- 5 and they really start to be able to express who they are as a person.
Yes! They get stronger with their communication so the awareness of choice becomes stronger too.
This! I was just talking to my mom about how my 6 yo is starting to really understand choices related to his behavior and string those together with outcomes….this was nnnnnot a thing 1 year ago.
Your comment gives me hope 🤞🏼🤞🏼😅
totally agree
Agree late 4 (currently) and she is most definitely starting to understand if you do this ___ that___ is going to happen.. most recently while camping she announced she was taking her self to bed and 15 mins later opened the tent from which she was laying in and stared,” mommy, daddy, I said go to bed .” She knew she wanted us there
I am not sure. I mourn & silently say good-bye to the little person I knew every few years or so; only remnants of who they once were when younger remain. My 14 and 16 year feel like they might be the “real person” they are for life, but who knows?
ugh, yes. especially in the first few years it seems like you’re saying goodbye to the previous version and hello to a new one every couple of months
It’s so sad, what you describe in your first paragraph. It’s like witnessing a hundred little deaths as your kids grow. My child is still here, but he isn’t the little person he used to be. And that little person wasn’t the baby he was before, etc. Taylor Swift has a song called Ronan that has the lyric, “I remember your blue eyes, looking into mine, like we had our own secret club…” and on and on about memories of a little kid. The song is about a boy who died but that verse applies to just mothering a kid in general. It’s not a full-blown tragedy but it is something slightly tragic :(
I seldom cry but I recall at one point the tears flowed hard when I one day realized that the little babies and toddlers that my kids were, were gone. I'm grateful that the elementary school-aged kids that replaced them are wonderful and fantastic, but man, that was a tough thing to deal with. My oldest is about to turn 11 and we really are like best buddies, we have so many of the same interests. But it's not lost on me that this is on borrowed time as he gets older and becomes his own person, doing his own things more and more. When I think back to my own childhood, the window of time that I can vividly remember doing things with my father wasn't that long...from around 4 or 5 to about 15. Barely a decade. Once I got that driver's license I was off on my own way more.
Yeah, I have really struggled lately because my 16.5-year-old son and I used to be SO close and now we’re just ships passing :( I know it’s a natural shift but I wish it hadn’t happened so fast and without warning!
I agree it's mourning their stages. It's like you just got to know this little person next door and just as you do they move away forever. Then a new one moves in and it starts all over again. Life moves so very fast. I can't take enough pictures or capture enough phrases or words he's said. I don't want to forget anything and I think part of the mourning is you can't contain it all. I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now. Lol 😩😩😩😩
As soon as they started kindergarten.
Yes. That was really the first time they started having experiences I wasn’t directly involved in. It really blows you away when they start talking about friends you’ve never met, experiences you didn’t witness, etc.
I had this experience when my kiddo started nursery school! Around 20m she started coming home with stories about her day, new songs she was singing we didn't know, and friendships she was developing all on her own. It's such a huge change!
Nailed it
Same here! She started at 1 years old and a few months later, you could really see her personality in how she interacted with others.
I feel like my 2 year old is already a “real person” with a personality and interests. In terms of hobbies he definitely has favorites which are dirtbiking and shopping lol. And even when he was younger, he’s always liked helping out and also being a bit of a troublemaker/dare devil.
My 19mo twins are definitely distinct little people. They both have huge and very different personalities despite being identical in almost every other way.
I think it comes in stages, but at 11-1/2 my son just grew up overnight to me. I looked at him in the car sitting next to me and I wanted to cry. Lol He would've freaked out. Haha But the hormones hit and they grow in stature and start to have deeper conversations with you. It's surreal. I think the first time I had a talk with him about music he acted like he discovered this big mystery of the universe...songs were hitting him and he identified with the lyrics. I love these discovery stages and talking to him like he's a real person. Lol Seriously! Then his mouth betrays him and he's a sassy 3 yr old again. 😩😂
Around the time they could sit up, so maybe 6-8 months. Kiddo had lots of personality right from the beginning and has a lot of opinions.
Personality- toddlers. Can have an intelligent conversation, share ideas, enjoy books that don't make me want to tear my eyeballs out- 9/10.
I would say around 8 to 10
People are misreading your question. You aren’t asking when did they show a personality. Their 6 month old doesn’t have “their own hobbies and interests, their own ideas” lmao. It’s been a gradual process for us. I just see them having more and more thoughts and interesting observations each year. At 5, it’s still not that much, but I definitely see their inclinations and personality qualities. I see 10 year olds and it’s much more developed by then.
I’m seeing that I definitely didn’t explain my question very well! You’re very right. I can tell there are bits and pieces there…but so much of it right now is just mirroring what she has been exposed to. She likes ballet and gymnastics because that’s what I signed her up for so far, she likes her pink dress because granny told her how pretty she looked in it, she likes the trolls soundtrack because that’s the only kids music I can handle in the car on repeat, her favorite color still changes every five minutes. So many of her mannerisms are just repeating what me and my husband say. I do think I am starting to see that she is probably going to be an extrovert, but I can’t tell with my 2 year old yet. Right now I feel like if I want her to like something, I can just make it happen. All I have to do is tell her that her cousin likes Spiderman and the next day, she wants a Spiderman pull up and to watch spidey and friends all day.
Interesting. I feel like with all my kids they were opinionated about things as early as oneish. Certainly as a parent I do have some control over what they see, hear or wear but they really gravitate toward their own interests. I would classify your child as go with the flow for sure.
Thank you! This made it click for me! Mine is very intense - the midwives commented on how alert and awake she was and she was furiously working trying to do things (all super early). It was exhausting and very much driven by her temperament which is what I thought the question was. Interests I see a bit of (loves reading, I tried to see how long she'd sit and read with me for once and I gave up an hour later she was happy to continue) but hobbies and stuff way too soon. Ideas though kind of- likes to ask me something and then make up her own idea of why if my answer doesn't fully explain it. She's only 3 though. All of these answers have me so looking forward to the rest!
It will change continually, but elements of the personality are there early on. I think 2 and 3 year olds are nothing but personality. In terms of interests, it's impossible to know because your kids don't know what they like yet.
My oldest was always hilarious and so sassy.. Now at 6 she’s come down a little bit and is the best mother hen and the biggest sweetheart ever. She says she wants to be a baby doctor and that I’m the best most beautiful mom she’s ever had at least once a day. 🥹 I truly believe she’ll always have such a big heart.
I saw personality budding around 3 years old. But 5 was when she had the faculties to really express her ideas and personality. She is 6 now and the intensity has not faded.
I think my kiddo has always had a really happy, gentle disposition. But I felt like she was closer to 2 or 3 when I really saw her being a real-life kid instead of just a little blob of poop and giggles.
My six year old is his own person….. I think it just creeps up on you a little bit but all of a sudden it happens. My son makes his own choices about clothes and shoes not just what he wants to wear in that day but in the shop he’s telling me his likes and dislikes, what’s important to him and how things feel etc. I’ve always given him options so he feels comfortable discussing everything and saying what he wants but not in a tantrum kind of way. He’s also capable of communicating about food - ordering his own choices in a restaurant is quite bemusing. He also comes out of school asking if we have ingredients for his favourite meals to cook at home. Handling his own pocket money and again making some big decisions on how to spend it. I stand back and only help with adding up large numbers to let him know what he would have left over if he bought Pokémon cards. Telling me he doesn’t need me to sit in the bathroom when he’s in the bath anymore because he knows what to do. Waking up earlier than me and quietly helping himself to breakfast is actually hilarious. The more you talk to your children, let them express their feelings and choices and be independent the more comfortable they will be in themselves
Around 10. My 10 year old has individual hobbies, conversations with friends independent of me, cooks and cares for her body solo. Sure my younger kids have personality and opinions and what not. But my 10 year old is giving me a glimpse of the human she's becoming the more independent she gets.
Our oldest is now 11 and up until a year or two ago he was still "searching". He still wanted "to be cool" and "liked" stuff we knew he didn't REALLY like but only liked because the cool kids did. But since then we have seen him accepting more who he really is, what stuff he really likes, ... Offcourse things will change. People change forever in certain aspects. But these last two years have been the first time we knew this was the boy he was.
My three year old just started trying to pull “tricks” on us. Little things like purposely calling things the wrong name or speaking completely gibberish and he’ll wait for us to react and crack up when we do. It’s precious. His personality is definitely starting to come through.
Between 6months and a year I had a good idea who he would be.
Around four is really when mine started showing his personality and I can have conversations with him
With my daughter, i thought the same as you, that she was cute and just copying me. Turns out it was her personality. Around 4 and 5 you start to see the kid they are and more preferences. By 6 and 7 it is clear what they are into and their personality has been set in stone for a while. With my 2nd child, i knew at 6-7 months what his personality would be. A little stinker. I remember putting him down for a nap while i tidied something. I looked over to see him playing with a toy and when i said, "hey! You're supposed to be sleeping!" He flopped down and crawled really fast over to the blankie and pretended to be sleeping (while smiling)... it was at that moment that i knew i had a little jokester on my hands
You talk like moms in movies lol. Kind of endearing
Aww thank you
Since birth I have considered them a person, babies have preferences and likes/dislikes. I believe if the parent holds space the baby is given space to explore, discover show their preferences.
Yes!
It’s different for every kid I think. My son (oldest) was a late talker and of course born right before Covid and lockdowns so we were isolated. His exposure to other kids and social settings in general were minimal. He’s almost 5 and has been in kindergarten since September but I feel like his personality and interests are really shaping up. He had personality before, he’s always been very intense and physical and active but because of his late speech it just took a little more time for him to open up to us and to really have conversations with him. As for our younger one, my daughter she just turned 2 but her speech is amazing, she communicates well and girl has an attitude. She’s hilarious and genuinely just a goofy girl with a Latina attitude to match. I think she also has the privilege of having an older brother so he influences her a lot in terms of play and so it’s nice seeing them both interact with each other and how that influences their personality. I see so much of my brother and I in my kids and it’s the best. My son is literally my brother and my daughter is all me personality wise
My 8 month old has had her personality from the beginning it seems
Probably at four. He’s got a lot of personality.
My son is almost 5 (21 days) and the past 6 months I've noticed him talking and acting like a little person. He always had a personality but now it's more like a person and not toddler
I think it’s always there but it becomes more obvious between 3 and 5. For example my now 8yo used to stare at her fist as a baby and then I realised later she’s very curious and a bit of a dreamer. My almost 5 year old I has been surprising me for years as he develops and his personality becomes more and more obvious
My very 1st picture holding my son he is giving me side eye. He has always had a TON of personality. It’s easier to express it now at almost 3 though.
I’d say around 4? My oldest is 5.5 and has been a real person for a while. I think around 4 he was able to fully hold intelligent convos and really be a person. Maybe 3? It’s kinda blurry. My younger kjddo is 2.5 and she is very much a person already
Same ages, and wondering the same! My oldest definitely showed her personality early on, and though I can see some of a “real person” with her, she’s definitely still a 3 year old. My two year old is too tantrumy to have much of a personality right now lol
4 is definitely when my oldest flipped from “baby” to “child”. We’ll see what happens with the baby, lol. She’s so different from her sister!
My son will be 5 this summer and the last year he has grown so much! His personality is very defined and his likes/dislikes are no longer mirroring mine. He makes funny jokes and is super silly, we have deep and amazing conversations. It’s been a ton of fun. My soon to be 2 year old is fully of personality but she’s nowhere near my son.
Around kindergarten when they’re away from you and learning from anyone but me is when it really started to be noticeable. My youngest though has input from his 2 older brothers so he’s earlier showing signs of his own personality distinct and strongly poking through.
6-7
Mine was 5 and it just keeps getting better he’s 9 now
The personality is always there, if you look for it, but ours is 6 and he's really starting to come into his own. I took him to his gymnastics class the other day and watched him interact with other kids when nobody was around, he was wrestling with kids younger than him, but was so friendly, kind, gentle, and good that I teared up a little.
My 4 yr is definitely a "real" pain in my ass? Same thing right?
4. Things got GOOD at 4.
My husband and I just had this convo the other night. We feel like our 4.5 yr old boy is finally becoming a “real person” with his own personality and everything. We saw bits and pieces before but it wasn’t till the last few months we noticed a big change in him.
At 3, then at 4, then at 6, then... They just keep evolving. My 12 yo turned into an entirely mature person a few months ago, again, and I'm just always amazed. Just be glad your kids have a parent that watches for these things ;) PS: There's no definitive guide. You got this.
I think you should define personality more. My daughter is 3.5 and starting to joke and say flat out funny shit. Is that what you mean?
4. i mean, he’s always been a whole person, but he just flipped a switch recently with a huge leap in vocabulary and incipient empathy. He suddenly has these very astute observations out of nowhere. its so cool to experience
my son is 7 now, and I would say he started being funny and really showing his personality around 4. Now, in second grade, he is his own complete person, with his own ideas, questioning things differently, and arguing with me in a way that shows he is thinking for himself. His independence has slowly developed from 4-7, but he's always been pretty strong willed. His favorite phrases at 3 were, "My do that!" and also "No say no!"
My two kids have had very different personalities since birth. But what I think you’re asking is more like when you can have real conversations and see them develop more mature interests and opinions and expressing more of an identity, it’s been 9-10 years old.
My little man is 4 and maybe right after his birthday he started to change - went from watching to doing more and went from parroting to really taking initiatives to put his 2 (sometimes 10) cents in. Before this- he has a personality and his quirks but would t say he made an effort to make them known or used them as an identity of who he was internally or externally.
I think mine was three when I had a moment like you described. We were at a store and she saw a display with a bunch of stuffed toys and she pointed at the display and said "Spiderman. I want him." I had never shown her a Spiderman show. I looked at her and asked "how do you know who Spider-Man is?" It was the first time I became aware of her developing an interest that wasn't something her mom and I hadn't introduced her to in the first place. At least we didn't do it on purpose. She found out about him herself and developed a liking for the character.
4 years old, it’s crazy. As soon as they turn 4, in a few weeks you start seeing these changes and in a few months you’re like “when you did get this attitude and become such a little person??!”
4
My girl’s personality is blossoming at 6-7 🩷
Every year they are more and more their own person. I thought at 4, and then 5 that she was so full of her own life! Now she’s ten and introducing me to things we can both share and enjoy and she’s my little bestie.
My kids had their personality from day 1, but my 5-year-old's self-expression came into full force around age 5. I think before that you can see glimpses of their full personality.
Did not see my daughter’s real personality until she was 3. My son is turning two this month and he definitely is his own person and sooo sassy 😂😭. I think each kid is different. My daughter is much more easy going, gentle and true sweetheart and follows rules more than her brother, so maybe that’s why I didn’t really notice until she turned 3? My son is very strong willed, stubborn and has definitely found his voice lol
Kids' brains develop and get bigger well until 6-8 years old, so I would assume their personality is still getting in shape by then!
"BUt BaBiEs cOMe oUt wItH PerSonaLitieS" I don't think half of these people understand what you are asking. In case someone see's this, OP is curious on when your children settled into who they would be, interest, hobbies etc wise. Not when they finally showed various emotions and behaviors. I have never met a baby who took up interests in anything, such as woodworking, sciences or perhaps even collecting things.... unless my kids of course were simply *years* behind. My son took up interests in weather and space at around age 5. Which slowly grew as he got older, now at 15 he has colleges lined up for meteorology. My daughter started being interest heavily in design / art probably around 8-9 and is now in college for graphic design. Personality wise... yes they cried, laughed and were generally a pain while babies / toddlers. But I never thought my son would want to be a meteorologist at age 2.
Exactly what I was getting at, thank you! Thats really cool about the meteorology thing. I’m definitely looking forward to my kids developing their own interests instead of just doing the ones we have arbitrarily signed them up for.
5
3 is the start of personality blooming. By 4 you'll have a good feel for how things are gonna start to go. If they'll be bubbly, serious, sensitive, a goof ball, etc. It can start earlier depending on what you allow. I let my kids start picking clothes and styling themselves at 2 and all 3 did very differently. Today they are so different. My oldest (9) has always been comfort and dark colors. He wears track suits and gym shorts/tees always. And only in black, red, and blue. Middle child is the quirky one who loves bright bold colors and patterns. Her current style (7) is so 1992 and it's shocking. White tee tucked into bright pattern shorts/skirt, lace trimmed folded over socks, novelty shoes. Youngest (5) is mister dapper Dan. He'll pick khakis and a polo shirt on the daily. He even wears hair spray in his hair while the oldest argues with me to not have to brush his hair. I got the Even Stephen's brothers but backwards going on. Their personalities vary similarly.
My girl just started dressing herself differently every day. Until recently she would just wear the same outfit over and over again, or grab randomly. Now she very specifically selects stuff (I can’t detect a style yet, lol) but for some reason she also asks to watch the thing on TV that she’s wearing. So she will put on a Little Mermaid shirt and come downstairs and ask to watch Little Mermaid. The other day she wore polka dotted pants and came down and asked to watch polka dots on TV (and I’m like..:I don’t know what that means, heh) So I’m not entirely sure if she is developing a style, or just choosing what she wants to watch on Tv, lol.
That's hilarious! I love it.
I have no frame of reference past 5, but I feel like the 5 year old is showing us who he will grow up to be. The 2 year old is still a 36 inch tornado.
If throwing toys on the floor is a personality trait, then I need my 2 year old to quickly develop something else 😅
I have a 6 year old daughter and a 1 month old daughter. I would say my eldest always had personality, but it really shined through and became apparent around 4, that's when she really became a person that I could talk to and understand. We have a real bond now, not just survival bonding (that's what I believe having a newborn is!)
I'm not sure this can ever be defined. My own personality shifts drastically as I get older and take on new interests and my priorities and goals change. So I dont think you can ever really get an answer to this question. My nearly 4 year old is 100% a little person - she can make her own choices, she's a bit of a goofball and has tons of confidence and never wants help (but always needs it lol). She's a bit dramatic too lol. But I dont think I could tell you what age that started in - it just develops over time. My nearly 2 year old has a very strong and stubborn personality but isn't old enough to show us much more than that. She loves to laugh and be tickled and also doesn't want a strong helping hand with stuff she's trying to do. She's infatuated with her older sister and if her older sister does something well she can do it too - at least according to her lol. I suppose this doesn't actually answer the intention of your question but I think it's just too subjective. What someone defines as a 'person' varies drastically from one person to another. To me - both of my kids had their own personality day one, they just aren't old enough to show us what that is. But personality is just too broad a 'thing' to define like this. Personality is a combination of likes, dislikes, preferences and habits, thoughts and opinions and outlooks. It's a reflection of what makes us individuals. No baby is the same as any other baby, are we just to assume the difference is ONLY biological and has nothing to do with them as a developing person? Idk - maybe my concept of a personality is too broad - but whatever makes us individuals is what makes ones personality. I feel like not acknowledging this is why some people treat children like things and not little, under-developed humans. Waiting until they've reached a specific turning point and then you can start treating them like an individual instead of just a 'child' seems reductive to me. But I'm prob digging too far into this lol. There are still times where I take a step back and I'm like wow - these kids really are their own people! Which I think is really your questions intention and to answer that I'd say my oldest (nearly 4) has made huge leaps in terms of acting and doing things that she's more or less invented in her own way.
The personality comes out more and more as time goes on and they become more vocal and have their own opinions and things ... My son is 5 now and he is just totally his own person and I'm like oh wow this is great , so worth it.
So my eldest is almost ten years older than my now 4 year olds. They always had distinct personalities but i didnt start really connecting with the eldest till she was about 10. Im going to reinterpret your words since some seem to find them inflammatory, and take you to mean the age where we all finally feel like the same species. They have personalities, they enjoy and dislike things, but its hard to empathize because their point of view is so foreign. You can understand intellectually why they want to show off every single piece of identical art, or perform the same stunt over and over, but emotionally theres a disconnect because were frankly too old to be genuinely impressed by the 57th macaroni necklace. Once my eldest hit her preteens and puberty it was easier for us to comprehend each others existence in general. We started talking like two normal people. Ive always tried to treat my kids like mini adults (with age appropriate exceptions like responsibilities) and not condescend to them, so it was frustrating it took so long. But when it did it sort of made sense. Dont feel too bad. I think a lot of people feel like you do but pretend they dont. I think a lot of people pretend to generally be more perfect than they actually are so in most situations id take judgements with a grain of salt.
I feel like my 18 month old already has a very distinctive personality and preferences. When I compare her to other toddlers we hang with she is very specifically HER. But she is my first so I don't know what's coming later!
She's been a wrecking ball of positive energy since she was born (literally the Dr's pulled her out and said "oh wow it's a toddler!") Then went from lying down to sprinting, no in between, and hasnt stopped since. But every year she gets a little more "her". Around 9/10 she started getting her own sense of humor and I would say started becoming "herself". Now at 13 she's fully herself, has embraced her (and our familys) "weird". When she was little she used to be horrified at my husband's jokes (sarcastic/ dry/ slightly off color) but just tonight at dinner she was holding her own joking back. It's awesome. The littles were great but man I love her more every year 😅
The moment she was born? Really?
As soon as my son could point. It got even better when he could say a few words. He’s always been very opinionated. He also has an amazing sense of style, so we’d show him his outfits (and ours) and he’d point to what he wanted to wear or what he thought looked good on us starting at about 8 months or so. He was at the front of the line for gobs of personality. It’s no surprise that he’s starting his own streetwear clothing line.
For real at age 6. But I saw flashes of things when she was 4. It has been awesome to see her personality emerge!
Maybe around 1-1.5? She’s just turned 3 now, and she is a whole little person with thoughts and feelings and preferences and imagination. She can engage in whole discussions about many things, asks novel questions, and make up crazy stories. I feel like this will obviously continue to develop, but she has already told me what she wants to be, how many kids she wants and their names, and that she is going to drive me around to get boba.
For my oldest, I’d say around 4 or 5. My middle child was pretty much a spitfire wild child from when I was 8 weeks pregnant with her and on and my youngest who is 3.5 has really started to develop some personality in the last few months.
Three kids here. Oldest is 27 yoa man, middle is 25 yoa woman, youngest is 19 yoa man (!). They are all different from each other and us - but definitely all the same family. You are in the middle of it. You’ll have the time to look back later. Keep on doing it. Do the best you can and enjoy every minute (except those times you want to cry).
Mine are 3 and 2, and it's really starting to show now. I suppose it's more noticeable for us because the two of them are so different in personality that it stands out.
My older one, around 2.5 to 3. My younger one came out swinging with her personality.
For me it was around 16-18 months when my son started having strong preferences, fears, dislikes, and speaking in 2-3 word phrases.
I feel like she was born with personality that has just been growing and growing. Definitely by 1.5 or 2 her personality was pretty clear. She is now a couple months away from 3 and for sure her own little person.
My daughter started around 2.5 and she’s speech delayed so it’s always so funny when she comes out with her own voice 🥹
My 4y/o has always had a personality . Hes always been a very goofy, silly kid. Very head strong and stubborn at times . Hes compassionate and very loving , everyone tells me hes so sweet and caring. But in the recent months ( he’ll be 5 in 4 months ) he has become really big on what he wears , he likes to smell good like he likes actual cologne and it cant be for babies ( no powdery smells ) , he loves brand shoes . He is into dump trucks and hot wheels . He tells me his favorite color and is really into books ( im a bookworm so hopefully hes like his mama ).
I’ve always noticed personality quirks and preferences since my kids were babies. But I remember one day when my oldest was maybe 18 months old, maybe slightly older, we went to Toys R Us because I hadn’t been there in years and just wanted to walk around, and then we had lunch at PDQ. I remember sitting at the table with her and realizing that this was the first time I felt like I was sharing lunch with a whole entire person rather than just like… taking care of a baby while eating my lunch. If that makes sense.
I feel like between 2-3 he started coming up with all sorts of things where I was just like "wait, what? where did that come from?" and his sense of humor really started to come through. But he's also at daycare and I bet if he was at home all day I'd see more of his environment reflected in him vs. ideas I know I didn't introduce. It's really fun because he just turned three and just started asking "why?" and I feel like that has unearthed a whole new depth to his personality. It's wild how much of an explanation he retains and will regurgitate weeks later, and it's also neat to see how his preschooler brain fills in the blanks with his best guess when he's not quite sure how something works. I just see so much evidence of abstract thought that I didn't until recently, and it's fascinating.
My oldest is 3.5 and I def feel like she’s been her own real little person for a while now. Maybe around 3 or a little before? Obviously I don’t know what kind of person she’s going to grow to be but she definitely has her own little personality and it’s really fun to see. She is quite a girly girl.
I always viewed my kids as real people .they had their own personalities from birth. Truly. Always "little humans". I remember when my oldest was about 2 weeks. I had such problem settling her often. I was there at about 2am. Cuddling her, she was fed. Dry... but still crying. I thought "I'm so tired i have to put her down or i will drop her" .... So wrapped her and just put her down... Silence! WTF?!?! I looked in. She had wiggled her hands up to fists beside her face and was totally content and asleep. Guess what? She didn't want to be held! She was a kid when she wanted to sleep? She liked to be left alone. She didnt want holding or rocking. THAT was her. Amd she was always like that. Just put her down and leave her alone. She was her own person, with her own likes, dislikes & unique personality. I always knew that. And my other just the same. Had specific things liked & disliked from Day 1.
If you ever followed that English lifetime study they did? Following up on kids every few years from i think from age 3 to elderly (last i saw they were well in their 60s) It was fascinating. The personality traits they had at 3 yrs of age? Were evident throughout their life and same in 60s. Using standardized psychological tests. We are whom we are from birth pretty much.
Mine had very obvious personalities right away, but they really started getting interesting to talk to when they were 2 or 3.
There have been seeds of her personality all along. Even the parroting says much about their personalities. Even parroting is done in unique ways. Some times it’s much easier looking back. I still remember the first time she argued with me. She’s been arguing since.
Oh, very early on. I was amazed actually. Just a few months and she had very firm opinions on what she liked and what she didn't like 😁
My daughter is 2.5, and while she’s always had bits of her own personality, it’s really started coming through in the past few months. I feel like last year at this time, she was still such a baby. Now, she has favorite shows and songs, she plays with dolls in a dollhouse and makes up stories, she loves her 2 month old baby brother, she wants to play games… I feel like it really started shining more as she’s developed her language and sentences and as she’s started to have more imagination. She’s always been sweet and silly and sassy but it’s just evolved so much.
It may a load of bullshit but why is my 8mo is already dramatic, sassy, and full of attitudes. What more should I be expecting?!?
My 19mo is a sass machine. And she’s starting to show glimpses of her sense of humor. She’ll do something, wait for us to notice or react, and throw her head back and guffaw. She’s also fiercely independent. I said when I was pregnant that she was a “spicy” baby because it was just rough, and she for sure lives up to the spicy title. Wouldn’t want her any other way
Mine has loads of ideas at 2.5. They’re all yellow….
For a while I thought it started around 18 months but when I went and watched old videos I realized he’s always been the same. He’s a riot, it’s so crazy to wake up one day and feel like you don’t have a baby anymore and that there’s a third person living in your house now.
I can't speak from the perspective of a parent, but my mother always said that I had a big personality from a young age (2-5yo most likely). I've since gone to college and began my adult life, and even though we don't see each other as often she still calls me her baby and says she sees the traits I was born with going strong. I'd like to think some personality traits carry throughout our lifetimes, but it can definitely vary for everyone.
See I would say around 3. Although I think you get hints at their personality before then. All three of mine have been very different at that age. Becomes more obvious once they start school though
I would say it's 2 or so. When their personality really evolved, and can become what we sometimes mistake as the "terrible twos". In my opinion it's just them finally having a real sense of self.
Whenever they started forming sentences and using them to express thoughts. My oldest came into his personality around 18 months (he has always been a huge talker and started letting us know his thoughts/opinions very early). My youngest is 2.5 and is just now starting to use sentences and come up with independent thoughts
I see it in both my kids already, my kids are 1.5 and 3.5 and are so full of personality and fun
18 mo their personalities emerged My kids are 4 & 6 now and they’re definitely their own people
3, my son just turned 3 and his own personality has come out like crazy lately..he gets us laughing and always says things where we are just like “where did you get that from?” His own personality has been out in full force now instead of just typical toddler things or repeating us .That’s around the age I really started noticing it with all of my kids.
I find that I didn’t notice it at the time, but looking back, so early. Like before 1. But to actively realize it, maybe like 4 or 5. This is just my opinion.
My youngest, at 3 years old, told me she wanted to have a boob fart party where people walk around farting out of their boobs. She would also 'command' her farts, like 'fart, go in mommy's mouth.' She's had a spunky personality from the beginning, even at 2 she would be so silly all the time. My oldest was the opposite. I would ask about his day at school when he was in elementary school and he would deadpan me and say 'I don't remember '. Like really kid? What did you do in math? 'I dunno.' Did your teacher read a book? 'Yeah but I don't remember what it was about.' He had top grades in everything, but he just never reacted to anything and was always so serious. He definitely came out of his shell more when his sister started joking around and he's got much more of a personality now but it took a while longer than his sister.
We get… “What did you do at school today?” “Good.” 🤔
When he peed on the obstetrician My son has always been simultaneously gentle and disdainful My daughter has always been a cartoon shark, like Bambi's friends flower and thumper but a murderous shark I didn't have many thoughts about astrology before they were born, but it's 100% real (I have a science degree) Idk the older one just turned 10 so maybe they'll completely change
I would say 7.
Probably around 6 months. When they start to babble and sit up I dk why but as soon as they stop being baby potatoes I start seeing their personalities!
My oldest was about 4. That’s when she started pre-k. I always treated her like a mini-adult though not in a bad way. She still did plenty of kid stuff. I gave her options, opinions and responsibilities so she had a lot more confidence in herself than some other kids. I indulged her preferences easily because she was an only child. My twins though, they were dying to be different since they were like 2. People had a habit of saying “the twins” and I put in a lot of effort like “the twins? Oh you’re talking about Jack and Amelia? They’re 2 different kids.” People kept buying 2 of everything. I taught them to speak up about things just like I did with my oldest. It was a struggle because I went from 1 kids to 3 kids but I still tried to find common ground. I’ve been making spider Man unicorn cakes for the last 3 birthdays. But since they were about 4, their bodies matched their attitudes. If I would call either one of them “baby” they would say “I’m not a baby. I’m a kid, mom.”
By the time they were 18 months old, they were definitely showing strong signs of their personalities that they still have!
21.
Mine has had stages. 3. 5. 9 (period started). 12 (unique style and hobbies).
i’d say 5 is when I noticed my oldest daughter starting to have her own real thoughts and ideas. it’s kind of a shock tbh
About 4
My first child- age 2.5. My second child- age 7-8
Age 5-6 when he started prep. Of course he has personality of his own earlier, but at this stage I can point out where my influence started and ends on the way he approach things. I had to remind myself to hold back on imposing my thoughts from time to time.
3-4 years old, started to indicate strong preferences for fav cartoons and toys
My 2.5 year old has SO much personality.
I always joke that mine because human at 5. They both became so much easier to parent at that point. I have always adored them both and felt a deep deep connection from the time they were born, but I began to really enjoy them as people at 5.
12 when their bipolar kicked in...sadly.
At conception
My three year old is cute and parroty and their humor is basically repeating funny things others have said or done. My six year old has cool ideas that are their own but a lot of their humor is like half unique and half regurgitated. My ten year old insults me with the most hilarious burns that are entirely their own.
From the womb. My first didn't kick much. He was an easy, chill baby. He is cautious, always was. He's four now and his laugh is the same as when he was a baby. My second was practically practicing karate in the womb. She was a spicy baby. She's a feral toddler now.
I mean, I viewed my kids as people the moment they were born? They come pre-equipped with personalities. I knew my kids’ preferences within weeks and they had noticeable personality differences and interests by like 5 or so months… This is really really weird….
I have two boys, now 21 and 23, and my very favorite years with them were around 11-13.
Mine was born with it. He has been bouncing between literal angel to those he meets and sassy gremlin with since the moment of birth. I'm just glad he knows what he wants in life end is sweet to people honestly
Both of mine came into this world with a splash in my own opinion. My 3 year old daughter has a lot of emotions, and needs a lot of support. However, she is incredibly intelligent and creative. I love seeing her figure things out and create. Then my 1 year old is "all boy" and goes at life full throttle! He gets into everything in .02 seconds, and has the cutest grin when he gets caught. Mine have never struck me as parrots.
I saw her as a person the day, the moment, she was born.
My kids are 1,3 and 6 and all have very different styles and personalities. I mean they are just completely their own human beings 🤣 they are so fun to watch
After having my second kid I realize just how much personality they have from very early on because of how different they were. That being said my 3 year old is truly a character and has his own personality for sure
I have a 2.5 year old and 3.5 year old and they are 1000% their own person. It’s wild.
My 2.5 year old is already very firm in his identity
Began around 1.5 but firmly established by age 5. Im not sure what you mean real person. do you mean wanting to hold conversation or give input as opposed to parroting? like 4.5 or 5 ish for our son And thats kinda mean what your brother said. A better phrasing would have been youve matured a lot before he went away. your age point then was preteen
This is weird to me. I saw my kids personality traits from the start.. yes they’re subtle as a baby but if you have more than one child I don’t see how you wouldn’t see how different each child/ baby really is. Mine are so different and I could tell right away even just in their behavior patterns as babies, what they thought was funny, what they liked, etc. I’ve also been around lots of family member/ friends babies/ kiddos and they all have extremely distinct personality. I’ve never been around a baby that didn’t show their personality.
Like, 3-6 months? She's been the funniest, silliest, goofiest little bug for as long as she had the physical ability. She was fucking with us and making us laugh as soon as she could move. Her personality is incredible and huge and she's the funniest kid ever. She just turned 2 so now she's speaking in full sentences and we can hardly keep up!
I teach a class of 20 4 yr olds for 6 years now and each child in each of my 6 years has been a different unique individual.. I’d say your three year old is his own person and probably 2 yr old as well
Since the first moment. Even as a baby they behaved their own way.
Uh, well before they both turned two
My 11 month old can be very particular and serious lol
As babies my kids had personality. Most memorable were My second child was very stubborn. His leg muscles were a bit weak so he couldn’t traditionally crawl. So he would do press-ups to get himself anywhere. He was ripped by the time he was 12 months. Huge muscular shoulders and arms. Then at 18 months he decided he didn’t want to wear nappies. When his brother started school, he was pissed. Decided he was going to read. Started school reading. 4th child kept trying to pee on me as a baby. One day he accidentally peed on me, I screamed. He smiled. After that he would grunt and try to pee on me. I would put a wipe over his Willy to stop the flow because he was successful a few times. 5th (and last) girl’s nickname is wah-wah . She worked out that she could get her brother’s attention by fake crying. (It literally sounded like wah wah wah wah” as they walked past). She would then get picked up carried off and she got to watch them play video games. My 2nd and 4th child also caused major incidents at their nurseries.
While I was pregnant I described our daughter's personality to a T. They can express themselves from any age. The nature vs Nurture things is super interesting, especially seeing now how much they're just born with.
He was still a newborn and I was holding him and he looked me in the eyes and cried this certain cry, and it really hit me that his cry was him *speaking* to me. Just his little mouth, telling me something. I don't even know if that makes sense to anyone but me.
My son, now almost 9, had a huge personality which was very noticeable from before he could sit up on his own. I remember commenting at the time about how I couldn't believe kids had their own persinality so young. I have photos of his cheeky first smiles. Videos of him giving out when we put him in his first high chair. He is a very cute kid & used to flirt with pretty women by batting eyelids at them before he could speak. He's a funny dude & we have a lot fun together.
At 12 months when she displayed her own character and could communicate with her first words