Boys vs. Girls (A guest post by Brett)

Don’t worry, this is not going to turn into a sporting event where we intentionally put one team at a disadvantage.  Having one of each now I have really started to think about the real differences between the sexes.  Each man that finds out that he is going to have a daughter handles the situation differently.  Some experience paralyzing fear while others express cautious optimism.  I like to think I was one optimistic ones.  Knowing my mother helped me understand that a girl could do anything a boy could do short of using a urinal.  When my mom used to beat up a would-be-bully to use the ally way on the way home from school rather than take the long around the block… yeh, girls can be fun too. 

Having little firsthand experience with female siblings Laura and I have talked a lot about growing up.  I was really young when my Heather went off to college, so all I remember of her living at home was sneaking down stairs together to get ice cream after everyone had gone to bed.  When we compare notes I am surprised how few of Laura’s arguments from elementary school were solved with physical altercations.  There were lots of situations that ended with both parties walking away with pent up frustration.  I never remember being too angry the day after the argument.  So when does it all start?  When do we tell little girls to internalize everything and tell little boys to duke it out?  On the nature vs. nurture argument I have always been firmly in the nurture camp until we had kids.  My Dad always told me we came with some of our personality hardwired in.  So, let’s compare the two kids in the first month of life.  I can’t have influenced the boy too much at this point, right?

Amy:

·        - Screamed on arrival, while being weighed, and basically the whole time she was in the birthing room.

·         -Woke up to eat, went back to sleep.

·         -Slept through the night almost from the beginning.  Started with 5-6 hours at night and went up from there.

·         -Seemed annoyed about being unable to move.  Constantly tried to move around by using her head.

·         -Wanted to be swaddled any time a nap was involved and had little use for a binky.

David:

·         -Had to be encouraged to cry.  Stopped soon after starting.  Cried when unwrapped because he was cold.

·         -Doesn’t seem to be too concerned about keeping a regular meal schedule.

·         -Slept all day.  Woke up every night around 3 and decided to test his lung capacity.

·         -Wants to be held as much as possible.

·         -Wants layers to keep warm and doesn’t care about swaddling.  Wants the binky even thought he can’t keep it in.

Both of the little ones had lots of hair and were a little bit jaundiced.  So far Amy has shown that she is strong willed and will stop at nothing to get what she wants.  David has proven to be laid back as long as he has someone that will pay attention to him.  The two could not be any more different.  Maybe we will have a little girl that wants to play contact sports and a little boy that like to hang out in the drama department.  I will try to keep an open mind and not get caught up in gender-roles and stereotypes.  I’ll tell you this, the idea about boy diapers being easier to change than girl diapers is a myth.  Amy may have peed on the changing mat a few times but I never got the feeling I was staring down the barrel of a loaded gun. (his aim is deadly)  I will continue to watch David as he gets older to see how his first year differs from his older sister’s.  It is a good thing that he will have a weight advantage because he’s going to need all the help he can get.