Yes, they are different children

I have NEVER met someone with as high of a pain tolerance as John. If he falls and scrapes his knee so that it is bleeding, I might not find out until I notice the blood on his pant's knees. He can bite his lip open while falling and stop crying within twenty seconds, then point at the table edge he fell on as if to ask, "You think I look bad? You should see the table!" This has been an consistent pattern in his life and I just figured it was because of the laid back attitude Dan and I took in recognizing hurts.

Then God gave us Anna. We're the same parents (although we do point out if John has hurt her so that he'll be more careful) yet she has responded differently. She FEELS pain and TELLS you about it.

With John, I didn't know about teeth unless I saw a rash, after which I would search for a tooth and usually find a new one. With Anna, it is totally different. She has had a fever for the past few days. No redness in her throat, no enlarged lymph nodes, perfect ears, or so the doctor said this morning. If I put her down, she SCREAMS. I felt her gums and, yes, she's working on a tooth.

Her lower pain tolerance is evident in everything, although I don't know how much of it is due to earlier movement than John. At Anna's current age, John was usually just sitting up with a Boppy behind him. Anna, on the otherhand, can pull herself up to standing, fall down, and then scream about it. Some of it might be frustration and suprise, but some of it is hurt, as her poor little first tooth is showing!