Daughter of Mine

As our daughter approaches age 1, some of the major differences about having a girl are becoming more pronounced. I’ve previously mentioned how different it has been for me. But I’m starting to see how different it’s going to be for her than for her six older brothers.

For starters, shoes are an entirely different proposition for baby girl. Not only did none of the boys want to wear shoes at age 1, it was a fight to get them to wear them at age 3 (still is!). But as soon as our daughter was walking, she was interested in shoes. To the point that she brings her pretty little pink shoes to you and sits down wanting to have them put on to wear around the house.

Given the vast majority of people she sees every day (her brothers) go barefoot 90% of the time, it strikes me the desire for shod feet isn’t something she’s getting from daily experience. She even brings my wife her sandals to wear in the house like she’s a 2-foot-tall fairy trying to retain some sense of civilization in this house full of barefoot boys.

Once she has shoes on she starts looking for a bow to put in her hair and purse, clutch, or bag to carry. This sounds so “sugar and spice and everything nice” you think I’m making it up, but she really does this. My wife says she’s accessorizing. I say that’s ridiculous…but what else do you call this sort of precocious preoccupation with style?

Now, there are some things that I always assumed were boy baby things that she’s proving are just baby things. Eating food off the floor would be a big one. I really thought she was going to show her brothers up with her table manners and eating habits from an early age, but she throws food off her highchair onto the floor so she can go down and eat it from the floor later just like her brothers.

She also attempts to climb things and attempts to open cabinets and drawers in a way I thought was specific to the male pseudo-savages we’ve raised so far. Apparently not.

But her interest and affection for baby dolls at age one is something very specific to her. The boys would pick up or hold baby dolls (like a football) when they came across them, but she seeks out dolls and caresses them and puts them in toy strollers and takes them for walks in the house like an attentive mother hen.

The boys think it’s hilarious but she’s not in on the joke and just goes about taking care of her babies.

It’s too early to tell if the influence of so many older brothers will lead to the stereotypical tomboy streak. However, the early signs are pointing in the opposite direction. As a matter of fact, I think we may have a little princess on our hands.