You say Nature, I say Nurture

It feels like we woke up one morning and Elly was no longer a little baby. At only twenty months old, I know that it is early for me to start waxing sentimental, but the baby who not too long ago depended on us for every little thing is becoming more independent by the minute. And along with her blossoming independence, blooms quite a personality. Witnessing this metamorphosis has made me wonder - just how much of one's being is nurture and how much is nature?

As soon as Elly moved past the squishy baby stage, she immediately became a very active child. She crawled before she was six months, walked at ten months, and now at twenty months much prefers uneven (and more challenging) surfaces (tree roots, curbs, cobblestones) to flat, predictable ones. She's surprisingly able to navigate things that I wouldn't expect a tot of her age to be able to do. This all leads me to assume that she'll be reasonably athletic as she grows up.

One of my big reliefs after coming out was no longer having to apologize for sucking at sports. You see, Daddy Joe has never been known for his athletic prowess. (Those who know me are laughing right now in agreement) Leading up to fatherhood, some of these thoughts bounced back into my head. What if our child is super athletic? What will I do? Greg is definitely more adept at sports than I am. But, he's no Billie Jean King either! And my idea of "sport" is dialing up my friend Pete to tell him about the fabulous shoes I just bought while simultaneously carrying shopping bags, drinking an Americano, and pushing Elly's stroller. But since the good people in Lausanne haven't deemed that Olympic worthy, there will be no podium for me to stand on in 2012.

But lately, there's been another shift in Elly. She's still uber physical, but she's also turning into a total girly-girl. Our little toddler who had varied but non-descript interests now has a penchant for bags and shoes. She'll slip a pair of my or Greg's shoes on her feet and shuffle around the house, quite adeptly, while managing an armful of bags that would put Julia Roberts from Pretty Woman to shame. It's been a hoot to watch!

As nature dictates, she did not get her coordination from me. Time will tell if she becomes an athlete - whether it's softball, basketball, football or hockey, I'll of course be there to cheer her on. She probably won't even put me to shame until she's at least five. But in terms of nurture, the glow she gets when she sees a shopping bag is all me.