Nature vs. Nurture

After neglecting this blog for a month, it feels like I have missed out on a whole year's worth of changes happening with our baby boy. So much changes in so little time, and I find myself wondering how much of Carson's advances are due to nature or due to nurture. This question concerns me even more because Carson is adopted, so I will attempt to make a list of things we can definitely take credit for as parents and things we cannot.

We cannot take credit for...

• his beautiful curls, except for the fact of leaving them uncut.


• the way he giggles, except for the fact that unknowingly we have taught him to giggle when he burps and proudly say "Burp", instead of ,"Excuse Me!"


• how much he likes to dance - I think he learned that at daycare.


• how adept he is at saying new words, except for the fact that he has learned to say, "Beer" and "sh_ _". It's all his daddy's fault, however, luckily, he only said them each once.


• how adorable his smile is on his angelic face, except I like to think that we have given him plenty of reasons to smile.


• how he learned to turn on the radio or a DVD, except for the fact that his daddy is the one to get him interested in "movies".


• how smart he is, except for the fact that we read to him and try to teach him new stuff every day - he learns what he wants to anyway (see "Carson's First Math Lesson").


• how charming he is, except for the fact that we find him charming and so hopefully are reinforcing good behavior (see bullet #2).

Look, he's my mirror image!

And the list could go on...but I guess the gyst of it all is this: Carson is his own person, and as parents we hope always that we are helping him develop and grow into the best person he can be. We have no preconceived notions of who he should be or who he is, except that he will be happy.