My Daughters Don't Look Like Me, But I Know They're Mine

My little girls are dramatically different looking from each other. I didn't expect them to look like twins, my sister and I are very different looking, but I did expect that they'd each look, even just a little bit, like me! I'm their mother, aren't I? They should look like half of me and half of their father! Not so much...

Emma is a blond with a long, lean build. Her eyes are a light, bright blue and are so big and round, she looks like a doll sometimes. Her hands are big and strong and her feet are two sizes larger than most girls her age. That sounds nothing like her brown-eyed mama who measures in at 5'4" on a good day!

So, how do I know she's mine (other than the obvious, of course)? Well, when she laughs, I hear my own cackle that my siblings still mock me for. When she smiles as big as she can, her nose scrunches up like only mine and my sister's can. When she dances, she's graceful but when she's walking, she's clumsy. She's got me written all over her...

Belle is a completely different story. She's a big baby with rolls and dimples that make grown men squeak at the cuteness. Her eyes are a dark, ocean blue, piercing and almond shaped. Her left cheek has a little dimple that I hope stays forever and her hair is brown without any sign of my curls.

Despite her young age, Belle seems more mine than I could imagine. Her smile lights up her whole face and makes her eyes squint like mine. Her torso is far longer than it should be while her legs could probably still fit into newborn size pants (yes, I sometimes wear capris as full length pants, my legs are THAT short). As she's falling asleep next to me, she reaches out a foot to rest upon my thigh. This may not seem like much in the way of genetic identification but hear me out...

Every night for as long as I've fallen asleep next to my husband, I've reached out a foot to rest upon his leg, just to feel that he's there as I fall asleep... It's not because my feet are cold or I'm begging for a foot massage (or something more, ahem). I just stretch my foot onto the other side of the bed to unobtrusively touch some part of him as I drift off into my dreams.

And my daughter does this... to me!

Oh yeah, and BOTH MY GIRLS do the same nose scrunchy thing that my little sis and I do which just melts my heart...

For the record, I think Emma looks a lot like her father and his mother and Belle has my father in-law's ears for sure and I think I see my Grandmother's button nose there too.

But, honestly, when I look at them now? After taking in all that they are right this very minute, on this day in their little lives, all I can see, is me.