All Girl

When the twins were in the NICU I made the comment one day that Allie was surprisingly "girlish." I had just assumed that all babies came out characteristically the same and then sort of evolve into being "boyish" or "girlish" as they get older, but every noise she made was soft and sweet while Ryan made lots of loud grunts. She loved to throw her hand up against her forehead like a damsel in distress and purse her little lips. There were so many, some indescribable, attributes that were so incredibly "girlish" - especially compared to Ryan's similar "boyish" characteristics - that I was dumbfounded. The nurse just commented to me "You would be surprised how much of that is innate." She was right.

Friends, I am not the girliest girl. My clothes are not what anyone could consider fashionable. In fact I often stick to neutrals (a.k.a. black & khaki) with a few pops of color so I don't have to worry about matching. I don't often wear accessories (I LIKE them, I just don't often have time for them), or makeup, or do my hair. I don't necessarily like shopping. I can't figure out what I would possibly do with more than 1 or 2 handbags (and have 6 or so in my closet that I try to remember to rotate through, but often forget). I do love shoes, but have never had the money to spend and so generally avoid their siren call. And this is how I can attest to the fact that my daughter has not had a particularly fashionable or accessory laden example to emulate.

This said, my daughter has an intense love of all things accessory. The first thing she does in the morning is find shoes to wear (usually her rain boots or her new boot-like slippers since her few other pairs are kept in the mudroom). She is convinced that just about everything can be turned into a hat, and (in fact) her very first sentence was "isa hat!" Mixing bowls, building blocks, felt shapes, and even her almost empty oatmeal bowl all become hats on a daily basis. And bracelets are the new thing. The links that were once purely practical, and primarily used for me to attach toys, snack traps, or sippy cups to the stroller are now purely ornamental as they make perfect bracelets. Daily she brings me headbands and bows to put in her hair. She will choose shoes over toys in a heartbeat, carrying them around and hugging them. Necklaces, scarves, even stickers ornament my daughter daily.

"But," as the Cat in the Hat would say "That is not all, oh, no! That is not all..." She loves to dance

and twirl - often on dainty tiptoes. She loves to sing in a soft, high voice. Her sounds of excitement are squeals and trills. She is drawn to all things sparkly, and the other day she got so excited when she saw a picture of Tinkerbell and some other fairies (although, as far as I know, she had never seen a picture of Tinkerbell, or any fairy, before). I certainly wasn't keeping her from these things, I just didn't think she would have an interest quite yet, but now I'm wondering if I should be suggesting princess dresses and play jewelry for her for Christmas... She is, most definitely, ALL girl!

I must confess that her love for accessories has made me want to wear them more often, and she certainly has begun to influence my daily appearance...slightly...and for the better. But, I'm not sure that I will ever be able to keep up with her intense love for accessories. I think we may be calling on auntie Min for backup in the future :)