In the line of fire

I find that I get the most interesting questions being a mommy here in Singapore. Granted I haven't been a mommy in the USA, so maybe these are typical questions every mommy gets while going about their business. I'll let you decide:

The first question, which I think I have mentioned before, is almost always the ice-breaker to conversation when someone approaches you and your baby: Girl/Boy? Now, actually, I don't mind this question so much when babies are like Nate's age. It is hard to tell if newborn babies are girls or boys by their looks. Actually, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that it's a legitimate question for the first 6 months of a baby's life. It IS embarrassing to get stuck in that, 'Oh, my, what a beautiful girl!' and have the parent's respond, 'He's a boy.' But really, after 6 months or so, most babies seem to take on observable gender-defining qualities. When in doubt, take 5-10 seconds to consider the clothing baby-in-question is wearing. You should probably be able to figure it out. People still ask me if Adrienne is a girl or a boy and she is an adorable and girlish 2 years old. However, maybe there is something genuine (although stupid) to this question from the person asking. I was actually out at the park today with both Adrienne and Nate when some Auntie stopped to ask if Nate was a boy or a girl. I responded with 'He's a boy' and she replied, 'Oh, how nice that you have 2 boys!' while gesturing at Adrienne and Nate. And, unlike yesterday, Adrienne was wearing her own clothes (a purple butterfly shirt, in this instance) and not the future clothes of her little brother. It makes me wonder how two people can stare at the same thing and see it so differently....

Another question that I get frequently is, 'Are you breastfeeding/Is the baby breast-fed?' OK, yes, I do breastfeed my babies and I am not particularly shy about it. I think it is natural and healthy, and frankly I am WAY to lazy to have to organize sterile and temperature-appropriate bottles at all hours of the day. However, for some reason this seems like a bit of a personal question for strangers to be asking when they are looking at your baby. Whether you do or don't breastfeed your babies, you have reasons for your decision that you may not want to share with every stranger that you run into on the street. 

My absolute favorite question I got yesterday while poking around our building with the babes. An elderly auntie stopped us to look at Nate, then looked at Adrienne, and back at Nate. 'Same father?' She asks me skeptically, pointing back and forth between the two. Let me repeat it for emphasis: SAME FATHER?? What kind of question is that?? I was so caught off guard that I lamely replied with an 'Ahhh....Yeah'. But now I have thought of all the better and snarky ways I could have answered, like: Ya, I think so.... or Hmmm, I'm not really sure who either of their daddy's are.... Lets be clear about something: if breastfeeding hovers on the grey area of being too personal, certainly strangers inquiring of the paternal heritage of your children leaps across the line of appropriateness. 

Anyway, I was looking at old pictures and I really think there should be no question that these two babies are made from the same gene pools.  The first is a picture of Adrienne at around 4 weeks sitting on my lap. The second is Nate at the same age sitting on my lap. What do you think, see any similarities??