On the Move

When Nicholas was born, I continuously received advice and comments on how difficult boys were and how different they were from girls. People would say, just wait, you will see... It used to annoy me that there was such a stigma surrounding boys. There couldn't possibly be that much of a difference. My girls are not these prissy little things that never did anything naughty or dangerous. I felt like everyone was welcoming me to this big club of "Boy Mothers", and frankly, I didn't want to be a member. I received a card from someone and she had written, "get out your roller skates". All I thought was, whatever!! I have to be honest, when I was pregnant, I did not want a boy. I was happy with my girls and I wanted to remain a mother of all girls. I had visions of our 4 girls all prim in their dresses for our family photos; my husband surrounded by a bunch of women his whole life and loving it; the two littlest girls taking ballet classes together and playing for hours with their dolls and barbies. Well.......to my enormous surprise, out came Nicholas. All I could think was, what am I going to do with him??? In a matter of minutes, I was so attached to my son and so in love with him that my heart hurt.

However........He is completely mobile now, and DOES NOT STOP! He is into everything and anything he can get his hands on. The more dangerous the item is, the more appeal it has. The edge of the fireplace, the edges of the coffee table, the corners of the baseboards, etc. I think he assesses his surroundings, and determines what can harm him the most and he goes for it. My sweet little girls were all very content as babies to sit in the center of the living room floor and play with whatever toys I presented to them. Isabella did not venture onto the slate floors for months because it hurt her delicate little knees too much. Nicholas does not care if it hurts. It's worth the pain to get out of the living room and explore the rest of the house.

OK all you Boy Mothers, I concede. There is a difference between boys and girls, and this one has me running!