NEW YORK - — There isn't much about 11-week-old Piper Monosoff that says she's a girl. Her nursery is painted brown, yellow and orange; she travels around in a green stroller; her wardrobe is an assortment of quirky stripes and polka dots.

"I want people to see her as a baby, not a baby girl," said her mother, Sara Steinbach, of Portland, Ore. "I don't want people to expect things from her or treat her a certain way because of their preconceived notions of what girls are like." Steinbach often faces the question: How old is your son? But that is a small inconvenience toward the greater goal. Many couples like Steinbach and her husband have sidestepped an all- pink lace and frills wardrobe for girls and are steering clear of monster trucks for boys in an attempt to avoid gender stereotypes in the formative years of a child's development. Averse to pigeonholing children into society's "blue boy boxes" and "pink girl boxes," they're practicing what they call gender-neutral parenting, a philosophy designed to give children the freedom to express their own likes, dislikes and interests, and ultimately, to determine their own identities.