I know some women crave a daughter, but for me, it was never something that seemed that appealing. I am not a girly-girl at all, so the idea of having to play dollies, and tea parties, and use little clips, while everything round me turned PINK was pretty horrifying; I have always detested the color pink.
Then, when we found out I was pregnant, I just knew I was having a girl, even though we decided to keep the gender a surprise. People say that, and you think they are crazy, but it's true. I just KNEW my baby was a girl. I never said anything - just in case I was wrong and looked like I had the worst mother's instinct ever! - but from the start I believed she was a girl. Even later on, when everyone round me was telling me I was having a boy, and I half believed them, every time I imagined having my baby here...she was always a girl. And I panicked a little! What do I know about the ways of the girl?! Much safer to just go with the general consensus that I was having a boy, like I had always planned...
So, imagine my surprise when my little bundle arrived - pink in more ways than one!
In the most beautiful babygro ever
And it began. Pink..pink everywhere! But, to my surprise, mostly I didn't hate it. In fact, even more surprising, most of my favorite little outfits from those early days were shades of pink, and frilly and gorgeous. And somewhere along the line, I found myself enjoying it all. Somewhere else along the line I stopped to take stock of my new life as a mommy and realised some pretty surprising things - things which I thought would never happen...*I buy PINK. Never hot pink (bleeugh), but I buy pink, and I like dressing her in it! She looks so cute, and so I buy more. I never thought I would do that, and I do still recoil in horror at some shades of pink, but overall, I love Isabelle in pink.
*I buy DRESSES. Ok, so I don't buy lots as they aren't hugely practical for a baby, but I buy them. And she looks adorable in them, and I fully intend to enjoy every party-dress-buying-day I have to come! And, really, it's not just dresses. It's all girly clothes, like romper suits, and frilly sun hats, and pretty much everything else.
*I buy DOLLS. I never liked dolls. I never saw the point in them and wasn't interested at all. Yet, for Isabelle's first birthday I got in to my head that i wanted to buy her a rag doll, and so Katy doll came to live with us. And I love it! Isabelle cuddles her, and I cuddle her, and I feel proud carrying a doll around, as if I am saying to the world "Look at me and my daughter having fun!"
*I buy HAIR CLIPS. This was something which required a bit of a push from Simon, but they are just something that became essential for our hairy beast. But, to my utter surprise, I adore them. She looks so sweet with them! I will buy many, many more in the future, and I don't mind at all. I even made a little hanging decoration of pink hearts to keep them all tidy.
*I want to buy a TEA SET. Katy doll, Isabelle and I will have many beautiful tea parties together. Isabelle can wear a pink party dress and wear clips!
Hair clips, bunting, ruffles, pink....girly central!
So, here I am, one year on from having a beautiful baby girl dropped into my lap, and I find I am enjoying almost every second of the girly ways. When I was planning her birthday party, I couldn't believe that I was making bunting, and pink letters, and buying pastel coloured balloons - but I was so thrilled when it all looked so girly and pretty. And I am surprised constantly by how excited I am for all the girly things we can do in the future. Buying a little bike with streamers, pigtails, even cuter dresses...Mostly, I am surprised by how PROUD I am to have my beautiful little girl, who looks so much like me, and is so like me in her personality. I always wanted three boys and couldn't fathom what I would do with a baby girl...now I wonder if I would be able to survive with boys at all, and have even wondered a few times why on earth I ever wanted a boy to begin with, since my baby girl is just so wonderful!
At the end of the day, boy or girl doesn't really matter to any mommy - babies are always loved just the same. But, having never imagined I would have a baby girl, I have been so amazed by just how wonderful having a daughter can be. And I am just continually surprised at how much I have changed, in order to accommodate this tiny, pink and most special girl who stormed in to our lives.