So Different

I never realized that having a boy is sooooooooooo much different than having a girl.  Having Kaitlyn and Tyler has opened my eyes to gender differences being nature, not nurture in a big way.

~Kaitlyn LOVED to be swaddled.  She was swaddled for most of the day and all night until she learned how to roll over and even then I just took her arms out and swaddled her bottom half.  I stopped swaddling her around 6 months because by then she could wriggle out of it at night and I didn't feel that was safe.  Tyler HATED it.  He hated having his arms pinned and would fidget like you wouldn't believe.  I still swaddled his lower half and left his arms free at night, but abandoned the swaddle around 3 months.

~Kaitlyn was content in her 5x5 area and played happily and quietly.  As soon as Tyler figured out he could roll, he was out of his playroom.  He had to explore every part of the house even though he had to climb up to get into the next room.  (Our rental house had a lot of sunken areas because it was built on a hill, so every room had a "step up".)

~Kaitlyn was a quiet observer.  She watched very contently to what people were doing and saying, and then would mimic everything.  Tyler is loud!  You know when he's coming and going.  When you try to teach him something, he jumps right in before you finish and it come out half right and half wrong.

~Kaitlyn did not want anything to do with Peanut.  He was a happy dog back then.  She really could have cared less.  Tyler seeks him out and will crawl at lightening speed to get him.  He pulls his fur, ears and tail all the time and constantly head butts him or lays on him.  Peanut spends most of his time on the run.

~Kaitlyn was very cautious.  She really didn't start playing on the playground until she was 2.  She hated to get hurt and tended to stay away from things that could potentially hurt her.  She still freak out if she's even a little bit hurt.  Tyler looks for pain.  He runs head first into everything.  If you tell him to find someone, he spots them in the room and then puts his head down and crawls toward them till he hits them with his head.  He even throws himself on the floor because he thinks it's fun!  I think he's getting a helmet from my mom for Christmas because she HATES that he uses his head as a bettering ram.

~Kaitlyn was always a sound sleeper.  Once she fell asleep, she stayed asleep until it was time for her to wake up in the morning.  She never fussed or really made a peep once she started sleeping through the night at 1 month old.  Tyler moans and groans in his sleep.  He doesn't wake up, but boy is he a noisy sleeper.  Jerry constantly goes in his room to check up on him at night to make sure he's alright and not smashed into his crib rails.  (He usually always is and Jerry will pull him to the bottom of his crib.)  He still sleeps for 10 hours, but it's a restless 10 hours.

There are many other differences, but I don't know how to explain them without talking in circles.  I just never knew how many innate gender differences there are with boys and girls.  I thought it was how children were raised by their parents.  I know now that some things are just programmed into us because of our chromosomes.  Interesting, no?