Four months in, and having a boy is…exactly like having any other baby. Obviously, things work a little differently in the diaper department than I am used to, but I adjusted to that quickly. I have noticed that in children’s clothing stores the boys’ section is disproportionately smaller than the girls’ section, which is crap. It is a LOT harder to find cute boy clothes. Oh, the injustice!

Last week James and I went to the grocery store while Annie was at preschool. An older women started cooing over him, and when she heard James had an older sister at home she said, “Make sure you pick up some footballs and trucks and let that boy be a boy!” I was polite, but I made a face as I walked away.

Madeline never really gravitated to the girlie stuff, but Annabel was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. I fell onto the tomboy side of the spectrum when I was growing up and really resented when people implied I was wrong because I wasn’t a girl who liked dresses and dolls. So, while it’s fun and different to have such a girlie-girl in Annie, I’m making sure she doesn’t feel like her interests are right or wrong.

I will make sure James has access to “boy” stuff as well as “girl” stuff, but mostly he’ll just have access to stuff and we’ll let the chips fall where they may. With Annabel as his sister, he’s going to know all about Disney princesses and cake decorating (her latest obsession), but also bike rides and baseball and playing pretend. I don’t really buy into the whole, “boys will be boys” thing. I just want my kids to be kids

buddies