The Prospect of Raising a Girly Girl

I think it has begun to dawn on G that he is indeed the father of a girl. Though we have tried (not as religiously as some people) to raise our baby in a manner that is not gender specific (giving her toys that suit boys and girls, dressing her in yellow, green, red, blue, etc) I guess that no matter the nurture, the nature will have its say. Case in point - for the first birthday, her ninang (godmother) bought her twin baby dolls and a stroller. Well, before I could even remove the wire twist-ties that held the twins to the packaging, g took one of the little ones (packaging and all) and gave it a kiss on the head. After I have finally released one child, she took the baby, cradled it in her arms, moaned (I think this is her version of singing) and rocked it. When I gave her the little baby bottle that came with the set, she "fed" the baby. Nature?!!

Before this, we have never given her any dolls to play with not even stuffed animals (mainly because we thought that they were dust magnets.) Even in toy stores, she had never showed interest in the dolls on the stands. I was pretty impressed that she knew instinctively what to do with this little doll.

Recently she had begun to ask for her hair to be done. One can construe this as a mere practical measure. Up until recently she never had much hair, so clips and barrettes were impractical and fussy. Now that she has had some hair growth and some of this ends up in near her eyes, it would seem reasonable that she asked that the hair be pulled up into a ponytail.

She is developing the common female fascination with shoes. Not just adult shoes, but any shoe. She loves trying them on and walking around in them. She has already been successful in putting on her sandals. Yesterday I bought her a pair of party shoes. She was taking a walk outside when I returned home from the store. When she saw the shoes, she promptly dropped to a seating position (on the sidewalk) to put them on. Again, this could be construed as a move towards independence rather than a tendency to be girly.

What is the disappointment for G? I think he had thought that this little one was going to take after him, be a little adventurer, play softball and run around. He has thus far resisted her entreaties to get him to do her hair (I think though it is his inability to do a simple ponytail.) He shakes his head quietly when she has shown devotion to her little dolls.

I think it is difficult for any parent to realize that this small being that you have nurtured since 7 lbs has decided to be different from what you have expected. Although I still believe little g might surprise us yet. Her new favorite toy is her backpack and once the backpack is in position, she heads for the door. Now that sounds like a chung to me.