The boy

My son is all boy. I mean, isn't every boy? I never understood this until recently. I had always been afraid of having a boy. I know nothing about them. I can barely manage domestic life with the one I married. How would I teach him to pee? Would he expect me to play boy games.... I don't know any boy games! Would he be smelly and have dirt under his finger nails? How could I care for this person without gagging?

I can be a bit tightly wound so when I did finally give birth to a boy I was pleasantly surprised to see he was a delightful good smelling baby. He didn't seem very "boy" at all. He was a cuddler and so happy. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to bond with my boy. He was all mine and I was fine with that. This year he is turning 5 and some of those boy attributes are starting to show up. I guess they have been creeping up on me all along. He isn't as hygiene minded as the girls. He does quite often have dirt under his finger nails. He makes noises and sound effects for super battles with his toys. He adores cars and anything with wheels. All of this is fine, I mean its all harmless, but where did my cuddler go?

He used to jump into my lap on command and sit for as long as I wanted, sometimes unsolicited. Now he is too interested in playing wii or watching spiderman. I stretch my arms out and if he even notices me he shakes his head. I am sad, crushed.....and hoping I get another boy. Maybe every 1 out of 3 invites is returned. Forget sitting for any long period of time. Its a quick hug and kiss and he is off on a spy mission. I hate it so much, but I can't stop him from growing up.

This year instead of insisting that he have a Thomas the train or Elmo party I caved and am letting him have a batman party. Instead of shopping the Fisher price aisle I got him his first Transformer. Dan assures me it is very cool. I wonder if Logan will get to play with it? I am trying to accept that my baby is a kid now and his interests are changing. He has too much energy to cuddle. He is too busy annoying his sisters and running in circles. I will miss that stage of his life, but I will try to enjoy the one to come. For instance, yesterday he asked me if the folks on wheel of fortune were learning to read. He also walked around with his pants on backwards for the first part of the day. I am sure he has more funny observations to make and wardrobe malfunctions ahead and maybe he will still hug me once and a while.