Familial Resemblances

I haven't spent a lot of time around children and I regularly discover things that probably everyone else already knows.  For instance, children look like their parents.

Okay, I knew that.  But I didn't realize how distinct some of the resemblances were; how very clear it is who's child is who's in a crowd.

I'm in a Kindermusik class with my son.  We started when he was nine-months-old and couldn't yet walk, You do a lot of singing and introducing the baby to musical beats and different sounds.  The children love it.   There are useful songs, like the "Hello La" song that magically calms my son down and can be used when he's very angry on the changing table. There's the, "Toys Away" song that we always sing when we put a musical instrument away (shakers, drums, etc.) and all the parents put the item into the bin.  After a few months all the children start to put the items into the bin.  And now, you can sing, "xxx Away" and he'll help you clean up anything in the house.

When we first started there were only three other children in our class.  One of the other mothers I already knew.  The other two looked liked their children, but I didn't think too much of it.  As the school year went on, our class grew to over ten.  Some of the children are brought to class by a grandmother, most are brought by their mothers.  Over time, fathers have come to class when the mothers have had commitments.

After seeing what I've seen now, I would bed I could go into a class of ten toddlers and pair them with the correct parent or even grandparent with about an 80% accuracy after watching them for an hour.  It is truly remarkable how children not only resemble parents in facial structure, hair, body shape, but also in gestures,  body movement and facial expressions.


The Big Boy Update:  DIP!  My son is obsessed with dipping.  It started with catchup for his hotdog and french fries.  It expanded to include his nuggets and now is almost a vital part of any meal.  If you want him to try something new, pair it with a small bowl for dipping and you're sure to have him try it and probably like it.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Scoot about.  We have what I think people traditionally call a "saucer" where the baby stands inside a wheeled buggy with a tray on the front.  I tend to name things and then discover the more common name for them later.  At any rate, we have a scoot-about.  She's been in it a lot recently, but only in the last two days has she discovered she can make it go.  It's not necessarily going anywhere specific, but if it's on the hardwood floor or the deck or the porch, she's moving all around.  She's got her arms out to the side making it look simultaneously like she's trying to balance but would also like a hug.

Right-size Countdown:  Wow, it's strange not adding this section into the day's post.  It's stranger still not writing down my progress (or backtrack) for the day too.