Boys and Girls

I remember telling my mother, shortly after Luke was born, that I didn't feel like I was connecting with him in the same way I had with Lily. Her response was "that's because he's a boy". I couldn't figure out how being a boy would make much difference--he was, after all, a newborn baby--my baby--and other than the obvious I didn't see many differences between the sexes at that point. I found myself thinking about the issue again the other day, as I realized that I sense that same difference in my relationship with Mark as compared to how I remember feeling with big sister Esther just a couple of years ago. Talking with my sister it occurred to me that part of what I am sensing really might lie in innate male/female differences, specifically differences in social interaction. Both Lily and Esther, even as tiny newborns, were very social--they would meet your eyes, mimic facial expressions, initiate and maintain social interactions from the very beginning. Mark isn't like that. He will meet my eyes, but I can't keep his attention, even by talking or making faces at him (he was a bit intrigued by my repeatedly sticking my tongue out at him...) When Mark is awake, his eyes and his head are always moving, scanning the room. He can track motion--I tried moving one hand slowly back and forth in front of his face, and he would follow it first with his eyes, then by turning his head. I remember reading somewhere (maybe in James Dobson's book on raising boys?) that boys' eyes are physically different from girls--they have more rod cells, which are particularly good at detecting motion. That might have something to do with little boys' interest in everything that moves--balls, cars, airplanes, etc. Girls have more cone cells, which are sensitive to color and texture...

Just some intriguing thoughts to keep me busy while I enjoy my baby :-)