what can i look forward to having a boy?

[luluzulu]

just a bit of fun. i want ideas, and happy stories etc... a little glimpse of what it will be like. we have no other children so he is our 1st and i really want to make the most of every possible experience.

Ahh yes, if you ask a baby boy where his nose, ears or eyes are he'll point to his willy. If you ask him what something is he'll point to his willy and tell you what it is. I think my Sons first word was willy!

Boys are magical, I miss mine when he's asleep, he's lush .

Don't get too excited about the bugs and beasties until you've seen which little boy you've actually got. I got one who is terrified of getting his hands dirty and finds the whole of nature either boring or gross but will happily spend half an hour in front of the mirror water combing his hair

I, at the same age, dreamed of tracking poisonous snakes up the Amazon. Which possibly wasn't the little girl my mum had dreamed of.

It's unpredictable, this parenting lark.

I agree with Cory.
My oldest son (9 this month) loves fashion. High fashion, not high street fashion. It started when he was 4 years old. He would cut pictures out and make a fashion collage. He would advise our fashion conscious au pair what to wear, which of her accessories to pair her outfit with, along with shoes and bags. He loves looking in shop windows, not childrens shop, but womens clothing. I can not buy clothes for him at all, as he is very conscious of what he is wearing. He also loves tae kwon do and skiing. He loves drawing, and likes to draw comic strips and instructions how to do things.

It is fantastic to see your children grow up and develop their personalities, likes and dislikes.

It's so lovely reading about how my 19 week old DS might turn out! I secretly wanted a little girl, probably because my family is dominated by girls (i have two sisters, no brothers) and i know how to deal with girls. Boys were a complete unknown to me! But i can honestly say i would not have had it any other way now. Already he is happy, eternally smiling, cheeky and very determined. His smiles light up a room. I'm making a very conscious effort to ensure he's not a clingy baby by passing him around to lots of different people and getting his dad to give him his bedtime bottle (expressed) every other day. But i'm secretly quite pleased when only his mummy's cuddles will console him. I feel very special.

Intense excitement at traffic lights, tractors, lorries, helicopters....you get my drift. Noisy, mad running about, hitting everything with toy hammers (we hid all of ours for approx 4 years!)

It seems you're just dying to get to know this little personality who's about to arrive and at present you haven't got much information to go on - just that he's a boy!
Don't worry, surprisingly soon you'll really start to get to know him. It is really a miraculous experience (although it's such unimaginably hard work!). When you say you want to make the most of every possible experience, I'd say, just watch and listen and enjoy yourselves! All the very best!

What ShowofHands said. Congratulations :)

matana, I think what you find out is that gender is largely irrelevant to the relationship you have with your child. Their personality, their likes and dislikes, their unique quirks are nothing to do with what's between their legs half the time. I have an utter, utter tomboy of a girl. If you'd dreamt of princesses and sparkles and ended up with my dd, you'd have been utterly disappointed. But that's the point isn't it? When people say 'I don't know how to deal with x or y gender', it doesn't matter because you're not dealing with a gender but your own child.

MIL always reminds me that she dreamt of a girl and after 3 boys she had sil. SIL plays rugby for England and is the prototype that tomboy dd lives up to. BIL on the other hand is a professional ballet dancer who moisturises daily and likes hair products and fashion. Just goes to show...

My DS (2.3) is so much fun, spending time with him is just the best fun ever. He already has a quirky personality, laughs at things you'd think he was too young to find funny and has known how cute he is from about 6 months old. He already knows how to turn on the charm when it's to his advantage.

He's an energy ball, it's full on non-stop every waking minute. He's got no fear of anything, climbing on everything, jumping in swimming pools launching himself across the room at me. Be prepared for exhaustion and lots of rough and tumble. Sitting colouring in, reading stories, doing jigsaws etc is not a popular pastime (not yet anyway).

Contrary to what others have said about their DS's, mine is not cuddly and affectionate. He says no to cuddles apart from at bedtime and thinks he can do everything for himself. He loves me when it's just the 2 of us, but when DH is home he's Daddy's boy through and through.

Of course, I have no idea how things would be if he were a girl. My boy brings us so much joy I just can't imagine life any other way.

Enjoy your boy.

I have one of each and the differences are

DS is much more tidier than DD
DS doesn't need everything to be blue
DS has less belongings
When DS is a teenager, he won't 'borrow' your clothes and make-up

Well I have a boy and get no cuddles I get plenty from DD though...

Also DD is the physical and fearless climbing one (well so far anyway), DS is much more cautious.

Think the only thing that really applies to all boys is what someone said above about getting peed on when you change their nappy

I only have a boy but I've been completely overwhelmed by how complex he is. There are things he feels very deeply and he never tells me, but it comes out in totally randomly fierce ways sometimes. Aggressive displays of love and other feelings which are annoying but he is never going to be gentle about his emotions.

Yes the willy issues are always fun - getting weed on as a baby, and then when they discover it as a toddler, them wanting to put it everywhere to see what will happen and then wailing when it gets trapped somewhere. And then the sudden crying and "What's wrong DS, have you hurt yourself?" "My willy is too big!" ... and I'm sure there are a whole host of issues in the teenage years!

But aside from that it seems to be personality, rather than gender. There are 8 boys in our NCT group, and every one of them is different.

ShowOfHands - i totally aree - now! My niece is a very independent little tomboy and i too was more into climbing trees than playing with Barbies. I suppose it's just that literally nobody i had ever known had a boy before - all girls on both sides of the family, so my family were always a bit prejudiced against little boys! When i was pregnant i used to talk to my sister about "what would i do with a boy?" and i would ask DH if he would be as demonstrative with his love for a boy as he would a girl. DH is very affectionate regardless, so cuddles and kisses will always be in order from both of us. I'm just grateful we got a really easy, lovely baby, regardless of gender!

I have both.

I think until 2 or nearly 3 yrs they are pretty universal. All different personality's though. There may be a slight 'typical' behaviour from 18 months but it doesn't always follow.

I see lots of lovely gentle quiet boys at playgroups and screaming terrors of girls and vice versa.

Roll onto nursery then the genders (mostly) become apparent. At my DS's nursery, most of the boys are at the trains/cars/dinosaurs and there's alot more fightingcompetitive behaviour.
The girls are all floating about together doing more roleplay.
Of course the odd boy in a pink tutu can run past and a girl with a truck can broom broom by but nobody bats an eye either.

My DS wasn't an overly cuddly baby/toddler. Beautiful (big blue eyes, pouty lips and curly hair, I often wanted to stick a clip in his hair, he would have made a very pretty girl )!

He was always cheery and looooved people, any people.
I could go to cafe's or we could go out for meals and he would sit happy in a highchair as long as he could people watch.
We once got to sit in Pizza Express when he was nearly 2 and chat, eat and drink wine for 2.5 hours with him just happy to be there .

DD is 16 months. Will not sit still. Hates eating out. Very very affectionate but if Daddy is around I can go to hell .

Extremley funny (they all are at this age). She is much more of a live wire, climbs, squeals very loudly , no fear, generally a bit mad.
She generally loves trains/cars and dinosaurs and does all the broom broom, roar stuff because that's what is lying about and she is watching her big bro. She also loves Dollies (as did DS at her age) and teddies. Very cute too IMHO!!

I know if I had anothor boy or girl id be writing out another completely different person/experience.

My DS is now nearly 4. Much more boystress now but very affectionate now.

Can get very Waaaa, rooooar, doof doof, pssshhh your dead (this is general noises he makes whilst running around like a demented loony at tea time). Then can be very calm, tell the funniest stories with big round innocent eyes and you have to keep a straight face!

Yesterday I was in tears as DD was completely pushing me away and only wanted Daddy. First time i've got upset about it but 1) it was particularly bad yest. 2) my period is due any day now .

I shut myself in the office and my DS walked in. I tried to get myself together and DS came over, threw his arms round me then asked to get up on my knee. The said "listen mummy, don't be sad, your whole family loves you" OMG, I nearly flooded the room with tears!

In my case, ds aged 2.6 is mini-me to the extent that it's quite scary. I thought the reading in bed into the night stage would only start once he could read, but no, already he's spending hours leafing through Mr Men and then shouting Mummy! I NEED another book!

So far his favourite colours are orange, pink and purple (same as all the kids at nursery - workers say it's sad when the boys start saying they can't have pink). He attempts to put a nappy on a plastic MakkaPakka, is obsessed with Numberjacks and commands I make numbers out of play-doh.

Only difference to having a girl I think is the extra challenge of finding clothes that aren't dull blue, grey or khaki. John Lewis, H+M and Ebay help.
Taking him to restaurants and Punch and Judy and fetes and the playground and the duck pond and gardens and the beach and on trains and swimming... watching children's reactions to everything is just so much fun!

We have had our train set out everyday for nearly 4 years now! Have 2 and 5 year old ds and baby on the way, don't know what colour this one is...

I once took a photo of our laundry hanging on the line, mixture of blue, grey and brown and a pair of my bright pink pants!

We have spent a lot of time at railway stations, all car journeys involve spotting buses, trains, special cars etc... One cliche that I have found to be true is that little boys are like puppies in that they need to get outside and run offf energy often! Usually by 9am if not before... Although they are quite boys boys, they both love to talk and their favourite colour is pink!

My main reason for quite liking to have a girl this time, is the thought of the gorgeous stripy tights she could wear! Other than that, I would be more than happy with another boy... They are just gorgeous, and very cuddly x

I think Mavis described my boy who is the same age, I also have a 3 year old daughter and they are poles apart, my son loves his cuddles and just being close to me, sometimes he will talk a mile a minute and others I wont hear a peep out of him all day. He writes me little notes saying how much he loves me, he's excellent at keeping his room clean and will happily help me with housework if I ask him too. He's very into the sci-fi/fantasy genre and can recite full episodes of programmes he's watched, when he's interested in something he will give 110% but if he's not you will get nothing from him.

My daughter is feisty and independant, she likes her cuddles but they have to be on her terms, she can't sit still for more than a minute and even when she does sit down she's constantly fidgeting, she whinges most of the day, she answers back and occasionally shouts at me and lashes out, if I ask her to put her toys away she will throw herself on the floor kicking her legs and having a tantrum, she also makes me laugh so much, she's very smart and sometimes out of nowhere she will throw her arms around me and shout 'I love you mummy', she also makes the funniest facial expressions.

I love both of my children so much, the both have the good bits and bad bits but I love them for it :) x

In my case dd
Princesses
Needing constant entertainment until recently, now five!
Drama queen emotions
Loves pink. Small cute animals
Demanding at times
Bright
Loves to learn
Creative
Sociable
Loves Harry potter and narnia like me :)

My Ds three yrs

Needs a lot of excersise
Funny loves to make others laugh
Good sleeper
Fairly laid back for a threenager
Cuddly and very cute
Very fussy over shoes. T shirts
Not so bothered about creative stuff
Science interest
Constant ?????????'s that drive me nuts!
Talks a lot more than dd
Mad on monsters star wars any thing alien or animals with big teeth

Both are very fun and loving in different ways
Both are hard work and infuriating in different ways

:D

Ds is sat in highchair eating a snack. He's talking to himself and every so often making a kiss noise so I have to lean forward and kiss his cheek or head. he's now throwing food on the floor

Remember to think of him as an individual and not a just as category 'boy' ! All children are different, read Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine, makes you question all those times, like today when a mum said to me, as my son bashed his head on a slide and didn't cry, 'oo boys, they're so resilient aren't they'........... ermm.... sweeeeeeping statement. Enough!