Like Father, Like Daughter

I am more and more amazed all the time at how much my daughter is like my husband. In looks, everyone says she is a mini-me. She has my features and hair, although she does have my husband's skin and eye color. But personality? SO much like him.

The other night, I got home just barely in time for dinner (which is 5:30 in our house because the kids go to bed so early these days). I took over the responsibility of feeding the Pookie, and Londo set up the Pumpkin with dinner (which she actually ate for once). Usually, we try to have Family Dinner, but this night was a lax night. I spent the time watching my husband while I ate, feed the baby and watched my daughter eat.

First of all, he didn't eat dinner. He had a late lunch so wasn't hungry. This is fairly typical for him. It is an early time for adults to eat dinner, and it is not unusual for him to wait until after the kids are asleep to eat, usually around 7:30 or 8:00. I do that sometimes, too. He has also been known to skip some meals entirely, which I DO NOT do. But my daughter does. She often does not want to eat dinner or doesn't eat much or isn't hungry.

During this particular dinner which he was not really participating, I don't think he sat down at the table once. He was distracted with his computer and blackberry. I think something work-related was going on, or he was just taking a bit of a break after having both kids for over an hour and a half. But again, it was interesting to watch him walk to his computer and pace with his blackberry. He was constantly up and moving. Just like our girl. It's been a struggle to get her to sit and eat her dinner. It is very hard for her to sit still for any length of time. And even when she is sitting, she often start playing games with her food and utensils and/or fidgeting in her seat.

When I did catch my husband's attention, I started asking him about his day to engage him. He immediately, switched his attention to me and the kids. He is really great about that. But the conversation we had went from this topic to that topic, and he started talking about some things he was interested in in great detail. It so reminded me of having dinner conversations with the Pumpkin.

Our daughter has my husband's energy, perseptiveness, inquisitiveness, need of time to adjust to changes in plans and interest in what's going on around him. I see so many examples of all these things, and more. I will own up to the fact that she gets her sensitivity, both physically and emotionally, from me. And she is definitely her own person.

But the best of all? She gets her humor and desire to make people laugh from my husband. The Pookie and I both get to sit back and enjoy the entertainment from both of them!