Nature vs Nurture

I spent the first few semesters of college as a Psychology major. I'd taken an AP Psychology class in high school and decided that was the major for me. In all the beginning Psych courses you learn a lot about nurture and nature when it comes to how much it influences the personality of kids. It was fascinating to read both sides reasons for thinking one influences behavior and ultimate personality more than another. I find myself claiming to be right down the middle of the two arguments. I really think they influence personality about evenly. However, I'm also a "book" mom, who reads all kinds of parenting books in order to learn how to raise the best possible kid. I'm reading a great one right now called, "Mothering with Spiritual Power," which I really like. So I think that I probably really lean a little towards the nurture side. But then there is my nephew, Hunter, who is teaching me that maybe there is more to this genetic thing. Alex and Hunter don't share much in common. Big surprise! They rarely see each other, and they have very different mommies. Hunter sleeps like an angel, Alex does too but it took months of teaching to get him to go down for a nap by himself. Alex doesn't eat much of anything... Hunter is a pig. Alex is a skinny little thing and Hunter is kind of a chunk. Alex is like his dad's side of the family. He looks more like them and he eats like them, and he and his dad share a lot of personality traits. Why wouldn't they, they live together. Well, then there is Annie, who came out looking like a Taylor. We found out at our last family get together that her baby pictures look remarkably like her Aunt Sheri (Hunter's Mommy). Annie eats like a pig, and she's kind of a chunk, and she sleeps great. Sound familiar? But more than that, she shares all kind of characteristics with her cousin. They both throw their head back the same way in frustration, but more when they are trying to be cute. They both have this thing for eating paper and anything else they can find on the ground. And there are all kinds of other behavior similarities. It could be that they are just both babies, but there have been little things that make me think it's more. I'm interested to see if they share other personality traits as they get older.

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Hunter and Annie both 8 months old