Common Interests

When I was pregnant with Hayden I was scared to find out we were having a boy.

I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to handle a boy.

I thought I could relate much easier to girls:

The hair,

The nail polish,

The cute shoes.

I remembered back to those gender anxieties when I first found out Ella was going to be a girl.

Now, I had become so used to having a little boy decorating the house with mini cars and plastic dinosaurs that I wasn't really sure how I was going to adjust to having a girl:

The emotion,

The emotion,

The emotion.

(anyway)

One of my favorite things has become watching my kids play together. Hayden is always quick to entertain Ella, and Ella thinks everything Hayden does is the funniest, most fascinating thing she has ever seen. Considering she only has eight months of experience, perhaps it IS the mst fascinating thing she has ever seen. Yesterday they designed a dinosaur zoo together in the hallway and ended up playing for an hour, which reassured me that it would all work out.

* * *

In this scene, the part of the "King of the Dinosaurs" will be played by Hayden:

The part of the Dinosaur Zoo Keeper will be played by Buzz Lightyear:

...and the part of the "Giant Gorilla Baby" (Hayden's idea) will be played by Ella:

Eventually, Ella lost interest in chewing on plastic dinosaurs and headed for the bathroom toilet paper roll (to do some unraveling).