I should have done this years ago. I wanted to do this years ago. I didn’t. Periodically, I think about how I really want to share Noah with a greater audience. His style, his spunk, his creativity, his complete and utter lack of gender conformity. I post plenty on Facebook. Hop on a soapbox or two, post photo after photo and impose my views on those there to listen. But the more I seek out and read other blogs of families raising gender variant children, or whatever term you’d like to use to label kids such as Noah, the more I really feel pulled to share our every day life with other free thinkers…and not so free thinkers. I invite you all to come along for the ride. You might learn something along the way. So shall I. I have spent almost four of Noah’s six years defending our choices (HIS choice to be himself and OUR choice to allow him that freedom), getting angry, being belittled and ultimately feeling completely alienated by some. I have also spent the last four years speaking freely, walking confidently, educating many around us and ultimately creating a community within our lives that feels more at home than I’ve ever felt. What we’ve lost in the past four years…we’ve gained back tenfold. And I reap the benefit of watching an amazingly confident and creative individual blossom right in front of my eyes. I am proud of Noah. I am proud that, up until this point, he has stayed true to who he is and what he loves. I’ll never forget that first pair of sparkly princess shoes (you can read about them on our now defunct blog about his infancy) or that first hand-me-down pink dress he received and held tightly to for years. I’ll never forget his first ballet class…in a pink leotard, pink skirt and pink shoes. I’ll never forget the times he’s cried because those who are suppose to love him unconditionally try to change who he is. This is the joy and pain of raising a child who doesn’t want to be what society wants him to be. I’ll take this ride…and I’ll enjoy this ride.
A side note: Many of you already know, I’m a photographer. I am not a writer. I do not pretend to be. My husband is good at that, not me. I hope that what I am unable to convey to you in words…I can more than make up with imagery.
hesparkles.wordpress.com 
I just discovered your blog through Raising my Rainbow and I read it all. Your writing and your pictures are absolutely wonderful! Thanks!
I would disagree that you are not a writer, I think you write very well, and am excited to keep reading more! I also absolutely love the photographs. All in all, it’s a winning combo.
I just stumbled upon your blog from a friends facebook page, I can’t wait to keep reading!
Hello, Michelle.
I have been reading your blog for the last year and a half, and only recently gathered the courage to come and review. I wait with bated breath for every single update. Now I am on a crusade to review every single post on this blog, because it is not getting nearly the respect and attention and admiration that is deserves. Many of these will be long-winded; I am guilty of writing lots and lots of purple prose. I know this isn’t conventional, but I felt like you and Noah deserve more than a few sentences. (Sentences are good. I’m just a novelist at heart.) Pease bear with me as I attempt to show you my gratitude.
First off: this kid is so adorable! I come with the knowledge of all your posts until November fourteenth, 2012, and my has he grown. He is so charismatic and such a character. You do an incredible job capturing that on film. He is so spunky, and the pink is not his defining characteristic. He is sparkly, but he is more than that and you show that so clearly.
Second: I admire you so for being so open minded. I know so many people that would not be nearly as accepting of Noah’s sparkliness. I am incredibly grateful that he has such a wonderful mother as you. You aren’t stifling him, you aren’t crushing him, you’re supporting him. That is the highest compliment I can think to offer you. It’s one I wish I could extend to my own parents.
Third: The Photography. In caps. You are just so GOOD at this! My mind is blown every time you update and I can see just how talented you are at getting an unwieldy hunk of metal to make me cry. In a good way, not like as a mace. The angles, the light…. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and in this case I honestly have to agree. I cannot describe these photographs.
Fourth: Ahh, the first post. His eyes are so mature. You look into them and you see a person who is joyous, and mischievous, and kind. I don’t understand how someone could look into those eyes and tell him that he is wrong to be happy. And that’s what he is, happy! In his pink, and his curls, and his hat, and his print-on-print-on-print suit. Too frikkin’ cute.
Staticfluidity: Thank you. Thank you, thank you and thank you. I pour my heart and soul into this child and can only hope that he knows that when he grows. I *want* him to love, and be loved, unconditionally. The best way that I, his parent, can do that is to show him unconditional love. It’s what he deserves, just as we all do. And yes…I’ve always called him my old soul…every since he was an infant. He knows his place in this world and he owns it…and that’s more than I can even say for myself at 38 years old.