Tutus and Two year olds

I spent the latter part of the week and early part of the weekend making tutus for sweet Eleanor's 2nd birthday "Fairy Party."  Four tutus on the list...one for each girl.  Last night I was making my last one and Declan was climbing chairs around me.  He walked over to where I had them hanging and he said
"That Eleanor's mommy?"
"Yes, Delcan, that one's for Eleanor."
"That Bella's mommy?"
"Yep, that one's Isabella's."
"Where Declan's mommy?"
"Declan, I'm not making one for you. Just the girls."
In classic Declan whiny voice: "No, mommy, I want one. I need a tutu too."
Me struggling as to what tell him...."Declan tutus are for little girls to wear. Kelly's making you a hat."
"No. I wanna tutu. I like Bella and Eleanor.  Please mama. I want green."
And add to the list: Internal Struggle #8,031.
Do I stick to my guns, go with society and tell him 'no?' Do I go with my gut and make the 2 yr old a stupid tutu?  Do I wait and ask Ryan what he would want me to do? Do I really sit here and go back and forth with a 2 yr old about gender specifics when all he wants is what everyone around him has?  Is it bad to give him what everyone around him has?  Is it ridiculous to be entertaining all of these questions?
So, I told him okay. I would make him a tutu. Then I waited until Ryan got home, told him the story, watched as he rolled his eyes and waited..... He said "well, is it really that big of a deal. Make the kid a tutu, who cares." Good answer babe, good answer.

So Declan picked his colors: blue and green, and I made him a tutu. We slipped it on over his pirate pjs and he went flying through the house twirling his little heart out.  Ryan and I just stood there watching. Laughing. And I looked at Ryan and said "innocence is something to appreciate."

 I had a discussion about it with Mom and Genivieve this morning.  We all pretty much agreed: it's hard to "teach" gender differentiation to a 2 yr old.  Nature vs. Nurture....probably a little bit of both, but I think they just figure it out. Mom put it the right way: "If you were having, say, a pirate party for Declan, and Isabella or Quinn were begging for a pirate costume just like his, would you hesitate to give them one?" Nope. Not for a second.  Would you sit there and try to explain society's expectations to a toddler? Nope, probably not.  Will Declan eventually turn up his nose and scoff at the idea of wanting or wearing a tutu? I'm pretty sure he will.  My little boy loves tractors. He loves trucks. He loves the color pink and a certain Ariel shirt that his grandma put on him one day when he needed a clean shirt to wear.  He loves digging in the dirt and he loved wearing his tutu and wings and flying around like all of the other kids at the party--the girls.  A little boy in a world of little girls.  What do you expect?

Kelly and Taylor had an awesome fairy party for Eleanor this afternoon. The kids had so much fun dressing up, making fairy gardens, eating amazing food, and playing together.  Declan devoured plates of fresh calamari and Isabella was in love with the peach chutney on baguettes. Even Miss Quinn had some bouts of extreme anger when any attempt to remove crusty bread from her hand, was made. 

I have so much more I want to talk about--some serious mommy mantra aha moments, but it's been a loooong weekend.  Our computer isn't on the fritz anymore, so the lull in blogs won't be so long....computer fritz' stink!