"Frogs and snails and puppy-dogs' tails ..."

"What are little boys made of?

What are little boys made of?

Frogs and snails

And puppy-dogs' tails,

That's what little boys are made of."

Seeing how Prince Tyger plays and seeing what he chooses to play with remind me of the old nursery rhyme about the stark differences between little boys and little girls.  While genetic codes may not bear out the nursery rhyme, the general gist of the rhyme is often evident in the different behaviors of little boys and little girls.  To be sure, there are perfectly well-rounded children of both sexes whose behavior doesn't necessarily fit the rhyme's general theses - at least not all the time.

Still, during his recent trip to Pennsylvania with his parents, he had many experiences where his so-called "male" behavior was quite evident without any prompting.  For example, while he was a bit tentative in feeding a bear a marshmallow on a stick (you'll have to take my word that the dark shadow in this photo was a bear),

he was more enthusiastic about touching a lizard,

and entered wholeheartedly into horseplay with a tortoise.

Playing ball was a favorite pastime.

We may, in fact, have a USA World Cup hopeful in the making.

And yes, the spirit of fun is definitely there.  I'm not sure exactly what he has in mind in this photo,

but he knows enough NOT to do it where Prince K can see him because Prince K also exhibits very "male" behavior!