He's got - personality!

I've been watching with great interest, the burgeoning personality of Owen. My fun new pastime has actually been to dissect all it's different aspects.
Is he outgoing or is he shy? A thinker or a doer? Will be sensitive or insensitive (and therefore - like his mother or like his father?)? At this rate, this unhealthy parental obsession will bag him about 16 personalities.

Believe it or not, I've figured a few things out and here is the running list of my observations and theories.

1. Owen is a thinker. His mind wants to figure out how everything works. He doesn't want to crash his toy police car into his fire truck (also toy of course). He wants to figure out how the wheels move and what you have to do to make the sirens go off. Even with books, he's not interested as much in the content as much as the mechanics of the pages. Predicted career: Engineer

2. Owen is fearless. I've never seen him hesitate before doing anything (and that includes going down a flight of stairs when mom leaves the baby gate open). He plunges head first into everything - literally. Is that just him being a baby? Maybe? I think it's a little glimpse into future trouble. Consequently, we are staring a bail fund now. Predicted career: Wee Man's replacemnt on Jackass

3. Owen is fiercely independent. Owen wants to do it on his own (catchy isn't it?). You can see in his eyes his desire to be totally self-sufficient. I believe this is the reason he has excelled in the area of gross motor development. As a little person, this trait is going to be his best friend. I hope it will drive him to conquer the world on his own terms. Predicted career: Billionare mogul.

4. Owen is innovative. If he cannot get to something he wants, he will figure out a way to get there. If he can't go in, he'll go around. If he can't go around, he'll go under. If he can't go under, then he will whine and cry until mom or dad help him (uuggg!). This is probably the most fascinating thing to watch develop and another trait that will fair him well throughout life. Predicted career: Inventor of the cure for cancer.

5. Owen is hilarious. Owen isn't just funny. He's funny in a refined way. He has a very sophisticated sense of humor and seems very tuned into comic timing. He will sneak up on you at times when he knows all the focus will be on him, and surpise you with a well places peek-a-boo. Owen's understanding that he can command a rooms attention by being funny amazes me. Predicted career: The next Will Farrell (hopefully the refined part will skip the "We're going streaking!" stage...despite it's hilarity)

Now, never having parented a 16 month old before, I am willing to believe that these traits may also show up in other 16 month olds. However, as the mother of a future Reality TV star who engineers a cure for cancer by way of laugher making a billion dollars in the process, I think I have a right to believe that my child is a unique genius.