This has been such a great outlet to connect with other moms and moms-to-be, as well as a way for family living far from me to keep tabs on everything going on.
And of course, now I use it to inundate you all with adorable photos of the kiddos, along with the ups and downs of sleep training, baby-led weaning, and just general day-to-day life.
Thanks for sticking with me over the past year. I definitely plan on continuing blogging, and I hope to branch out a bit and make some posts a bit more universal for other moms. Are there any topics you want me to discuss? Any burning questions about raising twins? About baby-led weaning or baby sign language (I'm still new at those so those might require more time to answer)? Ask and I shall try to answer!
Also, the DietBet now has 29 participants and the pot is over $1k! It's not to late to join in over here!!
Here is Periwinkle enjoying her hamburger for dinner!
Also, a wreath I made tonight because Zumba was cancelled and I found myself finally having the time to do it. The stuff has been sitting in my car for two weeks. It was super easy. I bought three flowers from Michael's that shared a color scheme (green, pink, white) and jammed them into a premade stick wreath, also from Michael's. I added a ribbon that came on a stack of goodies my dad sent me for Mother's Day (awww...need to call him and thank him tomorrow!) and voila! Springtime wreath! How's that for crafty?
I love reading your blog, it's just super hard to comment on my phone and I no longer have regular access to a good laptop. But I'm definitely still reading, so keep writing!
ReplyDeleteWhat are your expectations for each gender? Have you noticed yourself parenting differently at all based on your gender ideas? I'm very fascinated by that :)
I don't know that I have any expectations, per se. Based on their personalities, more than anything, I expect Periwinkle to hit milestones earlier, which has proven true on most things (smiling, babbling, eye contact, rolling over). Indigo is just more laid-back and Periwinkle is more independent and determined. Indigo has led the way on eating milestones though, and has been much more open to solid food and eating with/holding the spoon. But I don't think those are gender-based things, just their personalities. What expectations would you think I'd have based on gender?
DeleteAlso, what's MLB?
ReplyDeleteMLB would be Major League Baseball, but I'm guessing you mean BLW, which is baby-led weaning.
DeleteHahaha! That is indeed what I meant.
DeleteAnd the gender question was more of a prompt for future entries per the request ;) It seems from your letters you do already have some expectations/observations about how they're going to behave that seem to stem from gender ideas, so I was just curious to read your thoughts on that.
I will be sure to give that some thought. And reread my letters to see what the heck you are talking about lol. I probably see it as personality driven where you see it as gender driven. But in any event, I will ponder for a future post! Thanks for the prompt!
DeleteOkay, I reread my letters and I still don't see what you mean. Other than calling Indigo "such a boy" and "mellow man" I don't see any "expectations" relating to gender. To me, it's all just based on their personalities. If Indigo were the high-strung one I'd treat him as such. Periwinkle is more high-strung, easily overstimulated, and more upset when tired. I don't see it as being because she's a girl (but I do call her a little diva as a result) but because that's the way she is, perhaps as a result of her NICU time, who knows. And I'm not sure what expectations you mean either. I'm fascinated by why you're so fascinated so please do explain!! And in case I sound defensive or anything, that's not it at all, I'm just baffled that I'm not seeing what you obviously do. So enlighten me! :-)
DeleteIt's not so much specific gender phrasing - it's not like you write "Oh, you're a boy so you'll definitely act like this." It seems to be more just little things based on your ideas of how little girls act versus little boys.
ReplyDeleteI see it more with your letters to Indigo - here's an example from his ten week letter:
"Never be embarrassed about loving your sister... be her older brother, protect her..."
In later letters, you talk about him being "the cool guy" versus Peri being the adoring one. (I was going to find more quotes but baby got fussy so forgive me if my memory is off.)
So it seems like you expect Indigo to be the initiator/leader/protector and also to be more aloof than his sister because he's the boy. It's totally possible that I'm reading into it too much (and/or that you consider him those things because he came first, not because he's the boy) so I'm glad you're not feeling defensive because I could be way off base! But I do find those to be pretty prevalent gender ideas and I find that interesting and that's why I wanted to hear you say more about it :-)
I guess I see what you mean. I told him not to be embarrassed by her because he IS more aloof (and not just with her, he's just mellow dude), and I think it's sweet when brothers look out for their sisters, so I guess that is a gendered expectation. I guess some of this might be from my having an older brother.
DeleteBut the way they are acting, she'll probably end up as the toughie lol because she don't take no sass from anyone. And she just IS so adoring of him. She watches his every move, calms down around him, grins at him, tries to hold his hand. That is just a result of her personality, not gender. If it was two girls and she was acting that way to her sister I'd write the same thing.
He just isn't as interested in her yet. He seems annoyed when she tries to hold her hand. Which yes, does translate to "cool guy" who doesn't want any PDAs with his sister, to me. I'm hoping he comes around though.
But guys and girls DO act differently. I'm definitely not pushing anything on them. But they do often just really fit common gender roles. She LOVES bling. He loves punching her in the face. She hates touching mushy stuff, and he wants to mash it all over the place. Just the way they are! I fully expect her to run around climbing trees and getting dirty, too, and he might be into knitting for all I know. I'll support any and all of it (within reason. No football for him. Or her.)
Thanks for giving me examples! I'll think more on it all and do a post because I'm sure people aren't seeing this.
Well, that's why I wanted to hear more about it. I think you have the perfect control group, since you have twins haha.
ReplyDeleteBasically, I wonder how much of gender is based on society expectations and how much is innate. I've often said that Kinley is "all girl" - she LOVES shopping, haha (even picks out her own clothes already!) and also, some of her gestures are so feminine. I obviously didn't teach her that- no one did.
But what if she grows up liking pink? Will that be truly because she likes the color or because she thinks that's what she's SUPPOSED to like?
Anyway, so I wasn't trying to criticize at all. This is fascinating to me because I have a daughter (and wanted a son very badly, by the way, if that tells you anything!) and I wanted to hear about it from your perspective :)
I guess it's just so hard for me to see because I'm IN it, you know? But they do seem to just BE girl and boy innately. From day one, ya know? It's fun getting your perspective from reading my blog.
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