Ds 1 is not a typical first at all. Not type A, not a rule follower, not academic. He is challenging, quirky, and beats to his own drum. Very wry sense of humor. Hyper-rational.

Ds 2 is very easy to get along with (in contrast to brother). Has more friends. More of a rule follower. He might be my most typical kid birth-order wise, the easy going middle child.

Dd 3 seems to be more driven than her brothers (to the extent that a 6 yo can be). Learned to ride a bike, swim, and read years before her bros did.

Anonymous wrote:Dd #1 Type A personality, very social, highly motivated academically, athletic, rule follower.

Dd#2 Very sensitive and sweet but so very stubborn, hardest kid to raise, not motivated academically, overly emotional and her world is ruled by the heart.

Dd#3 Very laid back, sporty, goes with the flow, social, extreamly bright but lazy.

This describes my 3 DDs exactly.

I only have two - but they align to your 1&3 which makes sense, oldest and youngest. Mine are both "strong-willed" to put it nicely which is precisely why there is no #3.

At least half the families I know with three kids have a very chill third child. The other half have crazy ones. What does birth order theory say about the third child? Is it a response to the existing two?

I did some research on birth order for grad school. It is definitely a thing. It gets a little wonky past 4 kids but up through four it's a pretty reliable indicator of personality and achievement.

1- sensitive, clingy, whiny, not affectionate, shy

2- not affectionate, very goofy, loves people, dare devil

3- still in the womb but with my pattern, I can predict not affectionate