Thursday, July 17, 2008

She's got the whole world in her hands

With both my mom and my grandmother gone I don't have too many people left to remark on how my kids may look like me or like someone else in my family. It would be nice to have someone who can say with some authority that Chicky has my nose or Caroline has my eyes. My aunts were both pretty young when I was born and my Dad is just not one of those people who remembers those types of things, especially when there are much more important things to remember. Like Frank Zappa lyrics. My mother in law is always quick to compare Chicky or C.C. to people in her family or my father in law's clan but always seems to forget that I did have a part in creating these children and they did not spontaneously appear from a drop of her son's sperm. I'm not looking for an award but a little credit would be nice.

When she was a baby I always thought Chicky looked a great deal like Mr. C. Random people, nice old ladies especially, like to stop me in stores to let me know that she's the spitting image of me but I don't see it. When C.C. was born, though I saw a great deal of my husband in her, I knew immediately that this child was going to take after the women in my family, my sister, mother and grandmother especially. She really reminds me of my mom. So much so, in fact, that while counting her fingers and her toes I took note of her fingernails, her long nail beds and the spindly length of her fingers, and thought, Her hands look exactly like Mom's. I don't need anyone else to agree with me. Others can compare her to a living or dead relative but this is proof at least to me that she did come straight from my vagina.


21 comments:

Greens and Pinks said...

Claire has my mom's long skinny toes. Genes are a crazy thing.

Heather said...

Oh I love baby hands. I've taken soooo many photos just like that one you posted. And a million of Baby D's hand by itself.

Baby toes are just as yummy.

People tell me that my kids look just like my husband, even though as babies both of my daughters look exactly like I did. (except Baby D has dimples and I don't)

Velma said...

The very first picture of my daughter (her first ultrasound) showed the bottoms of her little feet. My very first thought about her was that her teeny, tiny, skinny, long-toed feet look JUST LIKE HER DAD'S.

SciFi Dad said...

Many people see similarities between my daughter and me, but I don't.

I see a lot of my wife, which a lot of other people do.

The one cool thing is my father swears she has the same eye colour as his mother. (We are a family of DARK brown eyed people, but his mom had really blue eyes, and so does my daughter.)

kittenpie said...

Look at those little hands!

Pumpkinpie is the spitting image of me, but people who know her dad also say she looks like him. Thing is, Misterpie and I look a lot alike...

Avalon said...

Your Mom must have had beautiful hands.

Anonymous said...

Post a pic of the two of you together and I'll tell you everything that matches...lol. I have fraternal twins and everyone says one looks just like my hubby and the other looks just like me. Its kinda cool because no one can say they aren't ours...hehe.

Anna Marie said...

My husband and I were convinced our daughter was switched in the nursery - she looked like NO ONE in either family - until I got a good look at her hands. They are adorable, miniature duplicates of mine. Whew.

Listen Up, MoFos! said...

When you said "my mom and Gram gone" I thought they'd been visiting you. Then I read your archives. I am so sorry.

Your post reminded me of all the times people say my daughter looks just* like me. She does a little but not entirely. Her body is 100% her dad's. Very tall and lean and HUGE long skinny feet. When she was born I used to say she had "man hands", so big! My husband and I agree that she looks like herself. When it comes to behaviours though, then we point the finger at each other and yell "she gets that from YOU"!!!

Heather said...

My mother was very sure that Giggles looked like me, I never saw it. But when Chicken was born...it was a mini me.

Love the photo, just precious.

Crazed Nitwit said...

Caroline's hands are lovely. No chubby fingers on your little burrito!!!


Everyone told us our oldest (now 19) looked just like my husband. Ahem, who else has green eyes, the same shape of eyes, their third grade school pics are almost identical? His dad.......Nooooooo. His mother, the one who pushed his fat heat out for three freaking hours. Now his dumb choices remind me of my brothers. LOL.
Doncha just get irked by in laws who see nothing of you in your children, unless it's something no fun like allergies or the need for glasses.

Jenifer said...

My new one has my ears.... they are an exact replica to baby pictures of me taken from the side. It may not be the best thing since they are kinda "spockish".

It is a strange feeling to look down at someone so similar to yourself....

josetteplank.com said...

THAT is a gorgeous photo.

My eldest is my clone. My middle got my grandmother's dimples. My youngest got lore-knows-who's red hair. Thank goodness he otherwise looks like my husband.

Fairly Odd Mother said...

Even more than looks, I love to see family mannerisms in my kids. For instance, my oldest daughter talks non-stop, just like my grandmother (we tell her she is channeling Blanche). My youngest son's obsession with cars and tools? That's from my dad.

It comforts me to see the people who I loved but lost appearing to me in the people who I now love more than anything else in the world.

cooler*doula said...

Aieeeee...

My MIL does this to me all the time.

Of course, it doesn't help that the boys of mine are CLONES of the spousal unit.

It would appear that my family's genes are as polite and deprecating as we are...
:/

Lisa said...

Oh what sweet, beautiful little hands they are!

ScientistMother said...

What a beautiful picture, cc has the most gorgeous hands.

I have to say, I always get annoyed when the inlaws talk about how much the monkey looks like the mister. glad to know other moms feel the same.

Ali said...

oh. my. stunning.

MelissaQ said...

oH,I love this picture. Baby hands are so sweet. I have to do this with my girls. Great idea

Heather Bea said...

I get the same comments from my MIL. I love little baby hands and feet. Aly, unfortunately, has my feet, they are as big as boats and guaranteed to be bigger than mine.

Cakabaker said...

Great pic Mrs. C!