Baby Girl looks so much like her daddy (Call Sign Delta) that I revel in the little things she gets from me. I know pride is a sin, but it's almost impossible not to wonder whether or not the two of us will be able to share interests and hobbies, so I'm focusing on reactions and mannerisms rather than physical characteristics.
The effort is almost futile. She sleeps with her blankie snuggled against her face, like my sister (Call Sign) Annie. She doesn't sit up or crawl yet because someone is always both holding and entertaining her, like Annie. She opens her mouth and bounces and grunts when she wants more food, like Delta. Her expressions are so overdramatized they are almost cartoonish, like Delta. So far, the only thing she gets from me is that she likes to sleep in.
Yesterday, my cousin, her husband and three (all under 3 years!) little ones came to visit. Living in Florida, they all love the water. My Baby Girl, though also born and (so far) raised near the water, does not. Despite it being a 95+ degree day and the lake as refreshing as day-old bathwater, she heaved tiny wimpers each time I dipped her in. She doesn't like the lake, she doesn't like the way I hold her in the lake, she really doesn't like the way sand feels.
My mom (Call Sign) Gigi tells us about my first summer in San Diego, I hated sand. I hated sand so much I would life my hands and feet up away from it like a yogi balancing on his rear in full boat pose. I hated sand so much that if any of it got on the towel I sat on I would point and cry until it was removed and once again pristine to my standards. So now we have that in common.
She did eventually warm up to the water. But I had to trick her by snuggling her close to my chest, then gradually wading in until it hit us both at the tummy. A few times, she reached down and touched it with her hands. With a sly little smile as if to remind me who's in charge, she grabbed a piece of floating seaweed and slapped it to my chest, just like Delta.
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