Monkey See, Monkey Do.

When Ben and I found out that we were going to have a girl, everyone told us how different it would be. She'll be into different things, need you in a different way, and just be well...different. I assumed they were correct, after all, they all had girls.

Then we had Sophia, and it was...different. But, it wasn't different in a she's a girl kind of way. It was different in a here is a child that doesn't cry for hours on end, and here is a baby that craves your affection, she wants you to hold her kind of way. We were pleased by these differences and decided that Sophia was going to have a much better temperament than her challenging, but wonderful brother.

Then Sophia hit 16 months and we noticed some different, as in this child is definitely a girl, kind of things. I had an Aha! moment when I realized this is probably what all my friends with girls were telling me about. For those of you who have daughter, you might be able to relate, and for those of you who don't, well....maybe your day will come.

Sophia is girly. She walks around the house carrying bags or, if she can find it, my purse. She pushes babies around in a stroller constantly, she kisses all her dolls in her crib before she gets out of bed in the morning, she brings me dresses to put on instead of the shorts and a t-shirt she is wearing. I think back to my childhood and wonder if I ever was this girly.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then I will consider myself highly praised, because now when I tell Sophia it is time to go bye bye she runs to her room, grabs a "purse", puts something in it (a book, a necklace, a cracker that she has been hiding in there for two days), grabs my old Cabbage Patch Kid, blows me a kiss, and walks out the door.

Oh...and as for the better temperament thing, that isn't what my friends meant when they said girls are different. I figured that out when in the car yesterday. I told her to stop yelling at Connor, she looked at me, pointed a finger in my direction, and firmly said "No!". I guess that is some more of that flattery stuff.