Now that Beethan is walking pretty much everywhere (yep, happened that fast--we have seen knee walking in two weeks or since that video basically), we expected there to be some...um...skirmishes.  But there haven't been.  Instead we have a bit more interactions and a lot more wrestling.  Well, it doesn't start out as wrestling and it is really just Ethan flopping on Isaac, who, as a good big brother doesn't really fight back.

The pattern is the same.  Isaac and Ethan are playing together.  Ethan toddles over.  Isaac holds open his arms to encourage and catch his brother.  Then Ethan falls on to Isaac and hugs him.  Then they both fall over and soon they are rolling around.  Sometimes Ethan squeals and we rescue him.  Sometimes Ethan bites Isaac and we rescue Isaac.  But most of the time, we just let it go and watch to make sure no one gets hurt.

It has happened so many times recently that I taught Isaac a line from Tommy Boy:


It has wide applicability when you have two kids that are brothers. 

Ethan is definitely capable of walking, but he is still not thrilled with his balance and he definitely hates how slow he has to go.  The problem is crawling is not acceptable anymore.  He can't hold things in his hands and he can't really see where he is going.  So Ethan thought up a brilliant solution--knee walking.  Here is a video of our boy doing his thing (pay no attention to Uncle Dom doing uncle-ish things):

It's not that efficient of a method of moving, but it gives him a lot of the benefits of walking and a lot of the benefits crawling.  It is, as you can imagine, brutal on his pants, shoes, and knees.  Ethan is also the only kid I have ever seen that moved like this.  

Super cool, Ethan Beethan. 

As a Public Defender, a philosophy student, and the husband to an amazing woman working in a predominantly male field I feel like I have all sorts of good reasons to doubt gender stereotypes.  But this past weekend at a birthday party for one of Isaac's friends, so many of those stereotypes smacked me in the face to the point that I took them as performative proof. 

There is no way around it, regardless of its genesis (nature or nuture), boys and girls are different.  It was a birthday party at a dance place that brought it home. 

First, when the dance music was blaring, the girls got in line and danced in rhythm and with coordination.  The boys meanwhile danced like the Wizard of Oz Tin Man having a seizure.  And they did it in slow motion, all the while looking around at each other.  Sure there are the random Patrick Swayzes and Mikhail Baryshnikovs, but the vast majority of males are clumsy oafs on the dance floor--Shrek minus the green sink.

Second, there were the outfits.  There were lots and lots of tutus and more than a few elaborate hairdos for the girls.  The boys had a uniform--tee shirts with either jeans or workout/sweatpants.  I know it will change and become more formal, but the dress differences were striking.  And yes I know that the parents have a lot to do with it, but when I saw the 8th Star Wars shirt out of 9 boys, I realized that yeah, maybe, there is something to this inherent difference thing.  Also, there is something to this inherent love of Star Wars thing, too.

Third, and finally, after the music stopped, Isaac and the rest of the boys picked up the balloons and proceeded to beat each other senseless with the balloons, wielding them like boxing gloves. In the meantime, in a nice corner of the studio, the girls watched patient as the birthday girl opened her presents.  There was no bashing or screaming, no yelling or running.  Just patient, thoughtful observation.  There is a reason why, on one hand, Jane Goodall was a great primatologist living and observing apes in the wild, while boys, left on their own in the jungle, went became savages in Lord of the Flies.

I am not making any claims about the sources or meaning of these differences but it is pretty hard to avoid them.