boys have a penis, girls have a vagina

...and that's only the beginning!

Now that Jack is approaching 8 months, I am so amazed at the differences between boys and girls, and at such an early age.  Olivia was always such a dainty little girl - - not so with Jack!  He was slow to start eating foods, but it didn't take him long to get used to it and he's gone from fighting to eat a few bites to requiring 3 to 4 meals in addition to breastfeeding.  Olivia was eating at this age, but not as much as Jack and definitely not as fast as Jack - - he can devour a container of food in about 7.9 seconds.  The food has to be shoveled in so quickly that you hardly have time to get the next spoonful before hearing some kind of noise from the kid.  There's nothing that this boy won't eat - Olivia was eating stage 2 baby food still well after a year because she hated the texture of table food or stage 3 baby food - Jack will eat baby food, but he would prefer to eat whatever we are eating.  He's eating things like lasagna, chicken Marsala, spaghetti, refried beans and pizza in addition to pieces of fruit and veggies...basically anything that can be mashed up or cut into small pieces and he can put it away!

Another difference is vocal.  Olivia started babbling as a baby and never shut-up.  She was forming sentences fairly early, developed an incredible vocabulary and can now give definitions to words I had no idea she even knew.  Jack has been babbling a little more in the last week, but he would rather sit around and grunt - - typical male, huh?

Then there comes the difference in play...give the boy a toy and he will find something to bang it against in order to make the loudest noise possible - I don't remember Olivia being so aggressive with her toys.

He's definitely got a soft side though.  Pick him up and you will probably get an immediate snuggle, but if not you can simply ask for a "hugguz" and he will snuggle up for a hug and pucker up and he'll go in for the wonderful open-mouth slobbery kisses.  He's also a little flirt - he'll follow any cute girl with his eyes and give a flirty little grin when they acknowledge him - - he's just like his daddy!

I feel so blessed to have two incredible kids and I am enjoying them so much.  I love to see all their similarities and differences and I'm sure it will only get better with time.  Looking at the two of them also makes me think of Jesse and wonder what he would have been like - he would have been 3 this summer - him and Jack would probably be teaming up to terrorize their big sister - they'd be eating dirt and playing with worms - I have a feeling they'd be best buds!