Spittin' Image

First of all, let me just say that I love that expression: Spittin' Image. Did you know that it's very similar in French? That's the kind of expression you'd imagine wouldn't make it across languages well, but lo-and-behold, there it is. I wonder if other languages use a similar expression to say that someone looks a lot like someone else. Anyway, in French, it's "portrait craché", craché being "spit" in the past tense (in case you were wondering).


Now that we got the language lesson out of the way, let's talk genetics a bit. In the comments of a post the other day, a friend of mine, who has actually seen and held two of my children (the two oldest) mentioned that Lambchop #3 looks a lot like Lambchop #2. Looking at the same image my friend had seen, my mother asked the all important question: "What does the postman look like, because this last kid doesn't look a thing like the others?" Yes, the sense of humor appears to run in the family. Apparently, though, my friend and my mother would disagree about the family resemblance, or whether there is any at all.

I also recently had a lady I know (whom I wouldn't exactly refer to as a friend, but we see each other frequently at playgroup) tell me that Lambchop #3 looks a lot more like me than the other two do. I've seen pictures of my husband as a baby, though, and she looks like a very feminine version of him. So, who's right in all this? Certainly not my mom, because if the mail carrier, male or female, can't find it in their heart to make their way down our 2km-long dirt road to deliver packages... well, I ain't puttin' out. And, I can't show you any baby pictures of me or my husband, because I don't have any here to scan (Mom, you could help us out a little on this one), but I can put up a few of the three kids all around the same age to see how much they resemble each other (or don't, as the case may be). So, that is what I decided to do.

They are all between the ages of about 6 and 9 months in these pictures, I believe. I can't be certain, though. The only thing I know for sure is that I took the picture of Lambchop #3 (in the green sweater) just the other day, and she is now six months old. I can also tell you that the picture of Lambchop #1 (on my back) is scanned from a photo taken by the same friend who left the comment I mentioned above. Problem is, I can't remember exactly when she visited us and took that shot. May of 2002, perhaps. That would have made Lambchop #1 about 9 or 10 months old at the time. I can't really be too sure, though, because that sweater she has on is a 6 month size (and she was never a tiny baby). I can be pretty sure that the first picture, which is of Lambchop #2, was taken when he was about 8 months old. Or, at least, that's what the date stamp on the computer file would lead me to believe. Given the number of teeth I see, I'd say that can't be too far off. And, the last one is of Lambchops #1 and #2 in the bath. I think he's a bit closer to Lambchop #3's current age there, but it's so fuzzy, I didn't think it'd help much.

So, what do you think? There's definitely a family resemblance, right? I think so. They all have their own look, because they are all their own little person, but there's a similarity there, I think. I believe they all have my husband's charming smile (yes, even the kid belonging to the postman). One thing I can be sure of is that there are some similar personality traits. I was just told today by Lambchop #2's teacher that he's a great little kid. He just has this one little thing he does... he's a perfectionist. He gets so upset when he can't get something right. He has to do it himself, too. Who does that remind me of? His older sister. And, what's weird is that we try really hard not to reinforce that. I'm always telling Lambchop #1 that it's okay not to have things turn out just right as long as you enjoy the process or you really tried hard. She doesn't seem to believe me yet, though. So, is perfectionism hereditary just as much as that smile is?