(Actually, come to think of it, this is about the same age when Nathan started showing a real interest in trucks and planes and things that go -- his one real streak of stereotypical boyishness.)
Anneliese is newly prone to a maternal streak in taking care of Hattie, she frequently pulls diapers out of her bins and tries to put them on a variety of stuffed animals, and now she's apparently craving the world of dress-up. Any shirt or dress (or hey, Daddy's underwear, why not?) that she can find in a laundry basket or drawer or bin comes out rapidly and goes over her head.
She's also exhibiting some behaviors that make us nervous for her teenage years: a flirty streak, a well-practiced art of playing hard-to-get (her favorite response to almost anything is to shake her head no, but she grins sweetly the whole time and clearly wants to be asked again), and shows no hesitation in using her "feminine wiles" (she's not even two!) to get what she wants. And you'd be surprised at how many people it works on.
This is stuff we've never seen from Nathan, and might be more indicative of her second-child personality than any true girly streak. Maybe. I mean, she's still not overly girly. But still, I think we're on the verge of a trip down a girly lane we've not been on yet as parents. And this one will be complete with airplanes. :)
4 comments:
Cute, Anneliese! I think she'll be the right balance of girly and boyish. It's good to have a girl who is somewhat maternal and girly - even if she did grow up on GIJoes and Micromachines. :)
Just, please, NO princess!!!
Hey, Marmie, there is nothing wrong with a princess... as long as she can also build with blocks, roll in the mud, possibly kick or throw a ball (or swim or play a musical instrument) as well as any boy one day! This princess (that would be me) ended up pretty well-rounded. I'm just so glad, Erin, that you can say that your little girl came about her girliness naturally instead of being forced into ridiculous tutus, gigantic bows, vomitous pink everywhere, etc... Oh, how our culture tries to force our children into specific roles... It must make your heart go pitter-pat when she loves on Hattie - knowing that she learned those skills from all the love she has received. =)
@marmie - yeah I'm not a fan of princess culture, as you know. I'm trying not to view it as inherently evil, but I'm definitely keeping it at bay (read: out of our house) for as long as I can. If at some point it's what Anneliese really likes, though, I'm totally going to cave, bearing in mind she's well rounded and knows we'll never TREAT her like a princess.
@Sarah - thanks! :) You're sweet.
@Merritt - I know right! For now I'm just happy to let her develop into whastever she's going to be. So hard not to put our own desires and preferences on them (especially for a control freak like me), but I'm really trying not to.
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