Tamera Mowry-Housley on the Differences Between Raising a Boy and Girl: 'We Are Innately Emotional Beings!'

When Tamera Mowry-Housley and her husband Adam Housley welcomed their daughter Ariah Talea last July, the household evened out. But raising both a boy and a girl has proved to be different for the mom of two.

The Real co-host, who is also mom to son Aden, 3, says the stereotypes are real.

“When you raise a boy, they have a lot more energy — they’re very physical — like Aden likes to run around as where Ariah is calm,” Mowry-Housley told PEOPLE at a launch for RAGú Homestyle pasta sauces in New York City on Tuesday.

“Ariah is very emotional — when I would sneeze, Aden would just look at me like ‘What’s up?’ I sneeze and make a loud noise and Ariah just starts crying.”

Jason DeCrow/AP

Mowry-Housley, 37, says this confirms women are different from men.

“I’m trying to tell my husband, ‘See! This is normal! This is how we are! We are innately emotional beings!’ ” she says. “She’s a lot more easy now, but I know once she gets in the teens, it might be more difficult. Boys are more challenging in the beginning and get easier as they get older and girls are a little bit easier in the beginning, but get more challenging later — when they hit that pre-teen.”

With Ariah’s first birthday coming up, Mowry-Housley says they’re dialing it back compared to the celebration they had for Aden.

“I learned with Aden’s first birthday party — I spent a lot of money and he didn’t remember it. So we’re not going to go extravagant on her first birthday,” she says.

They plan to celebrate with both sides of the family and again in New Orleans while attending the Essence Music Festival.

The soon-to-be 1-year-old has been picking up some new skills, says the proud mom.

“When you hold her up, she’s starting to walk so that’s nice and she’s really talking,” she says. “She actually clapped for the first time — that was really cool because as mom for so long you’re teaching them ‘Yay!’ and you hope they’re getting it. Then all of a sudden it just clicks.”

— Jessica Fecteau