Hard to Deny

   

                 
Yesterday I happened to come across this picture of my maternal grandparents and their four tow headed daughters. I have seen the picture before many times but yesterday it stopped me in my tracks. Sitting on my grandmother's lap was my grandson. No, not really my grandson, but my mother's version of my grandson.

Children can't just be themselves can they? They must resemble someone up the family tree and we will study and scrutinize until we see it. Oh yes, there is my dad's smile or my mother's chin. We immediately check to see if their eyes are going to be blue or brown, whether their ears are going to stick out like this uncle or that aunt, and hoping the cowlick you have fought for years doesn't present itself in this generation. Other times you look at a child and for the life of you cannot figure out how those two parents came up with that little person.Yesterday the shape of my mother's face, her nose, and her eyes all were reflected in recent pictures of The Wee One's face. At least I think so.  

I can remember looking at my young son and thinking he certainly is a miniature version of his father. He didn't look like me and in no way did he look like my mother and yet here my son has a son and his great grandmother's features appear. At least he has that in common with Prince George. As Prince George turns one there are lots of pictures of him matched up with his great grandmother Queen Elizabeth, each with expressions that mimic the other. (Then again, how many pictures of Kate's grandmother do we have to make comparisons to? I'm sure given the chance a case could be make for him having features of the Middleton family line.)

Sometimes I think we see what we hope to see. As The Wee One matures I am sure he will outgrow some of the facial landmarks that make him look so familiar to his dad's maternal side of the family. Goodness knows what will happen when we start to see characteristics of my dad's side of the family, or my son's paternal side, or his mother's maternal and paternal side! But no matter what the gene combinations for looks and personality he ultimately ends up with he will still be a unique person. Right now it will just be hard for him to deny a link to a certain great grandmother. (Let's just hope his barber is always better than her hairdresser!)