I also went back to work this week after a 14-week maternity leave. Walking away from my darling girl was kind of like having my heart ripped out and thrown into the darkest abyss. BUT it is what it is as they say. I have to admit I don't actually know what that means but repeating the phrase twice is kind of fun. Anyhoo, to ease the parting Brent took a week off of work to be the man nanny or "manny" as I like to call him. He was kind enough to bring Liesel into work on Thursday so I could introduce her to my curious coworkers. Brent did a fabulous job. She was fed, rested and clean... in a white eyelet cotton dress no less! I couldn't have been more excited to show off my little family and it was a nice reminder why I work so hard to bring home some bacon.
As we walked around the floor that houses my division I heard it. The SAME thing I've been hearing since she was born. The inevitable comment you're bound to get when you and your husband stand in any proximity to your progeny. Liesel looks nothing like me, she's ALL Brent. Comments about her likeness to Brent usually send me into a mild depression. After all, I carried her and experienced all the joys, pains and frustrations accompanying any pregnancy. I went through the labor and delivery and then the REAL hell-- the recovery, to bring her into this world. Like many women I was determined to figure out the ambiguous world of nursing which teeters between utter pain and the strict dogma of the nursing Nazis (also known as La Leche League). Leaving her every morning for work now feels like tearing part of my soul away. Not to mention she's a GIRL! Brent, for those of you who don't know, is a BOY. Aye de mi! Are my chromosomes in the Special Olympics of procreation or something? Am I made up of nothing but recessive genes?
Brent's aware of my feelings on the subject and he always defends my meager contribution to Liesel's appearance. "They have the SAME hands." Thank you honey, she does indeed have my hands. I know, I know... this is a little petty and I should build a bridge and get over it. After all, I'll always have a little piece of my true love when I look at my little girl. It's not a completely hopeless cause either as you can see from our baby photos. Perhaps she'll grow to look like me... a little... more... than she does...now. But please, someone out there throw me a bone! Isn't there ANY resemblance? Any at all?!?
10 comments:
Just for the record, I say she looks like Danika more than just the hands. If you look at pictures, she looks like Danika in numerous ways, but the hands is what Danika remembers me referencing.
She totally has your eyes!! That glimmer I see in pics is totally you as well. Don't worry, you're personality will come shining through, I am sure. Hey, you could try adoption...we have no idea who Andrea is looking like :) Hang in there working mama!
Yeah. You've seen Beth. If you look closely, she has my ears. The rest is all Scott.
BUT — there's her straight-from-mommy personality! She may look like her daddy, but she acts exactly like me. She's sweet and helpful and eager to please and talkative and stubborn and a know-it-all and a drama queen. My parents think it's hilarious.
So just wait...Liesel may yet end up being very much like her mommy. It may just not be in her looks!
Hi Danika, I check in on your blog every once in a while, but I've never commented before. You have a darling daughter! My daughter has always looked just like her daddy, and when she was born hair color was really our only similarity. Her hair has gotten lighter and lighter since day one. The only thing Tim ever points out is that she has my toes, and is sassy liker her mom. It has taken 11 months, but suddenly she looks just like me.... Her baby cheeks aren't so baby-ish or something but now I get to hear how much she looks like me all the time. I've waited a long time for it!
ooo and Yeah for Katrina and Blair! I know Katrina from years of City of Joseph, small world.
have no fear, hun. my boys both started off looking like tyler. jack especially is a carbon copy, but now i see myself 25 years ago whenever i look at henry. and it will probably change a few more times over the years. so if she's brent this tear, she'll be you next year.
leaving the babies SUCKS. i trust reagan w/ my kiddos more than anyone and i've dropped henry off with her too many times to remember. but last monday when i left jack w/ reggs instead of tyler, i was so surprised at how hard it was all over again. it takes time but you gradually get numb enough.
Sorry, Liesel is ALL Brent. But don't feel bad, three out of our four boys look just like me. It took Jack to have a boy with brown eyes and brown hair like his mama. Keep making babies and eventually one will look like you! Also, there is a down side to have kids that look just like you when they misbehave in public.
Great words from Libby! Besides, if you had to choose for your children to either look like you or have a personality like you..which would you choose? People are long remembered for personality over looks! AND, I think Liesel may look like Brent but she has YOUR expressions. When I was there I saw your expressions on that tiny face all the time, and I still see them in pictures. Besides, three out of my four look like Joey. That's 25% that look like me...25% is a failing grade. AND, I really don't see myself in Jack, but since other people swear to it, I go along with it. lol
I think that people who say that the baby "looks just like..." are projecting because everyone says the baby looks like one or the other parent and it's expected because everyone says it. Honestly, until a kid hits 8 or 9 months and actually has more than their squashed (but cute!) baby features, they look like a baby. Not really like either parent.
Or maybe I'm not very good at noticing similarities.
Scott is full of crap. Liesel looks like Brent, Reagan's kids look like Allen, and my kids look like Matthew. ONly when Abigail sasses do people say, "oh I TOTALLLY see a resemblance!" Yah, and it's not for the red hair either . . .
We're rough n' tumble women, but our genes are about as polite as they can be, "oh no no, YOU go ahead!" And I have the kids (sans eyebrows) to prove it!
Don't despair, once she starts to sass, everyone will say that she looks more like you. ;D
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