A good amount of time is spent predicting how my 5 month old daughter will look when she grows up. Beautiful, gorgeous and perfect aside – we’re trying to figure out who she looks like.

The best answer is that she resembles my husband and I and has a good mix of both of our features. On certain days, from certain angles, she favors one of us more than the other. I observe her making facial expressions that remind me of my husband, and he notices expressions that mimic me.

While it doesn’t matter how she looks – ten toes and ten fingers are good enough – thinking about her heritage and wondering how she will grow is addictive.

Will she inevitably favor my husband who looks more like his father each day, and whose aunt could be his twin sister?

Will she fall in line with my mom and I who share so many expressions and mannerisms that it’s hard to notice that we actually do not look alike?

Sophia will be her own person for sure, but will she remind us of loved ones who touched our lives but are now gone?

I make jokes – I hope she inherits my brains and my mother-in-law’s legs – but I really do hope we have given her the best we have to offer. In my opinion, it breaks down like this:

From my husband - creativity, patience, kindness and height.

From me - intelligence, attitude, passion and grace.

I also hope Sophia can shop a sale rack as thoroughly as my mother and grandmother, and find the silver lining in every situation like my mother-in-law.

May she fry fish like her Great Grandmother Dot, have style like Great Grandma Mary and debate politics and analyze current affairs like her Great Aunt Sherry.

The men in our family have a lot to offer as well. I hope their genetic contribution affects Sophia’s height and ability to always have fun and be charming, but she can do without their facial hair.

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