Thursday, April 12, 2012

High Hopes

I was having a sleepless night recently and finally got so bored that I picked up my iPad and went online.  There was an email from Babycenter.com - I set up an account with them when I was pregnant with Zeke to track my progress, and used them again with Josie, and so now they still send me emails about developmental milestones and things like that.  This email was promoting their child height predictor, a tool that takes your toddler's height and weight at a certain age and tells you the height your child will likely reach by age 18, factoring in the height of the parents as well.

Josie has been on a massive year-long growth spurt.  We record the kids' heights on a door frame in our bedroom from time to time, and for whatever reason, got into the habit of doing it at least every Christmas Eve.  When we measured Josie this past December, we discovered that she had grown a full 6 inches in a year.  She hasn't gained much weight - she might be 26 pounds soaking wet - but she just keeps getting longer and longer.  When I put her stats into the height predictor, it told me that there was a 90% likelihood that she would be 5'7", or within an inch of that either way.

I have been both happy for her (having been 5'2" since I was about 11 1/2, I would love to have at least a few extra inches) but also baffled about where this apparent tallness is coming from.  I am short, my mother is short, and J's mother is short, so I couldn't figure out.

But then I look at her, and take in her feistiness and determination, and I realize who she takes after.  I may have another Ruth on my hands.

Which is great, especially for her.  Ruth could be difficult, but she was also a force to be reckoned with, and her intelligence, determination and unwavering high standards led her to much success in life.  And Ruth was beautiful and elegant (and stood about 5'8").  So Josie could do a lot worse.

But of course, it's a little early to be counting chickens. 

When I was a baby, my pediatrician, Dr. Irv (he was a close friend of my grandparents, so I knew him as "Dr. Irv" rather than by his last name) looked at my hands, which are big for someone my size, and predicted that I would be 5'7".

Yeah... not so much.

4 comments:

  1. It's going to so interesting to see how our kids turn out, no? Especially since their lives have been so well documented since the beginning. On a personal note, oh, I would love to be 5'8"! Or 5'5" (or 5'4").

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    1. I know - one of my favorite things about this blog is looking back at the posts about the kids as they've grown. On the days when I'm all, ugh, I have nothing to say, why the fuck am I writing this thing again?, I realize what a treasure it is to have this written history of this time with them.

      And girl, I am so with you on the height thing. 5'4" would be wonderful. 5'5" would be sublime. 5'8" is too fabulous to even contemplate without weeping with longing.

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    2. Anonymous4:09 PM

      I remember being "devastated" when I started my period and I was "only" 5'6" -- I thought that was it for me. My mother talked me off the ledge. Much relieved that I made it to 5'9". It's all perspective, no? :) -- Melissa

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    3. I cannot even conceive of being 5'9". The world must look very different from up there.

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