Finn on Gender Identity

Like most new moms I started keeping track of Finn's development in a baby book just after he was born. I jotted notes like how much he weighed, how gigantic his head was (it was!), when he first sat up on his own, his first tooth. But Finn was also an unusually verbal baby so before he was a year old I started jotting notes on a daily basis so that I would never forget all of the surprising and hilarious things he said. Of course they were just one word utterances at first but he was rambling off sentences before we knew it and I have been recording his proclamations ever since.

I came across an old sticky note today and decided it to share it. This happened on a drive to work around 6 or 7 months ago, when Finn was about 3 1/2.

I looked at his sweet face in my rearview mirror and gushed, "Finn--you are my best sweetheart."

Summoning his inner teenager he rolled his eyes and admonished, "Mom. Boys are not sweethearts."

"Oh?"

"We're buddies."



Just a mile or so down the road on that same drive he pointed out a hawk in the sky.

"Awesome!" I said.

"Mom-you can't say awesome. Boys says awesome. And cool."

"Then what do girls say?"

Finn, at a loss, "Whatever."



In March of last year we were having some work done in our kitchen. Finn abruptly announced one evening, "I have to go check on something."

I followed him as he strode purposefully into the kitchen.

Finn explained, "When we check on something, we have to roll up our sleeves, like this." He rolled up his sleeves. He proceeded to give the pipes a few good knocks.

What a man.