Camazon

This morning my brother sent me this picture with the comment "look how fat your child was":

And now she looks like this:

Camilla was solidly in the 75th percentile for weight and the 90th percentile for height all throughout her first year. She wasn't an insanely huge baby like I was, but she was a decent little chubster. I loved her rolls and her squeezable cheeks and the chunkiness of her.

But slowly, every day as I dressed and cuddled and held and nursed that little body, it changed. I probably wouldn't have noticed it, but we had Daniel around for comparison; he slimmed down first - a "trim little guy" we called him - but then Camilla's arms and legs and belly got thinner and eventually, strange as it was, she looked skinnier than he was. And at her 18-month check-up she was down to the 50th percentile for weight, and, at 34.75 inches tall, way up above the curve for height.

I honestly couldn't care less about the weight thing as long as my kid is healthy, and actually I'm kind of touched that it looks like she's inherited the string-bean build I had as a child, because she seems to have gotten all her other physical characteristics from her father. But I am a little freaked out about the height thing. I am 5'9", which is tall but not insanely so. I've got little hang-ups about it - for instance, I feel like an Amazon around any woman shorter than 5'3" - but for the most part - and despite being married to a man who is a scant half-inch taller than I am - I've made peace with my height.

However, were I a couple inches taller I think the making-peace would have been a lot harder. And although the parents'-height formula for calculating a kid's adult height predicts Camilla will be only 5'7", the other formula I've heard about entails doubling the child's height at, variously, 18 months or 2 years. (The article I just linked to says 3 years, but that just seems crazy to me, since the CDC says 50th percentile for a three-year-old girl is 37.5 inches tall, and that doubled is 6'3". I know the new generation is going to be taller, but sheesh.) If we double Milla's height now, that will make her 5'9.5", just a little taller than I am. If we double what I expect her two-year-old height will be, she'll be six feet tall or taller. Um, yeah. I just hope for her sake that the parents'-height formula turns out to be the reliable one.

She's taller than Daniel now, by the way. And she knows how to show him who is in charge.

Poor guy.

Comments

[Catherine]

I read somewhere that you double girls' height at 18 mos and boys' at 24 mos. She's definitely gonna be up there, though!! My little guys was only 31.25 inches at his 18 month check up!!

[Elizabeth]

If anything, I think it's the 18-month rule for girls. Otherwise I'd be two inches taller now. And I would sort of love to be two inches taller than I am now. Although if I think about it, the only difference is that I think it's easier to find pants that fit properly when you're 5'4" instead of 5'2".

My baby is at 18 months the same height I was at two years. So at least she'll be able to find pants that don't need to be hemmed.

[ashley]

Way to give them a mean nickname if she IS 6'3"!! Haha. :-P

Only joking. :)

Don't worry about it - she'll be fiiine. In fact, she'll be tall and model-like. That's pretty awesome, right??

[Kate P]

Camilla is always lovely in pictures, but that last one made me LOL! With you as her role model in being at peace with her height, however it turns out, she'll do great. Just, uh, don't hang around petite me or you'll get that amazon feeling. (That formula has me preparing for the day my niece and nephews will be taller than I am!)

[Erin]

I have to admit, my heart hurts a little with this post. I'm 6' tall and wouldn't change that for anything. I once had a boss come up to me (a very short boss) and quietly ask, "does it bother you that you're so tall?" I wanted to say, "does it bother you that you're so stupid?" I guess it would be like asking someone if it bothered them that they're black, or a woman, or white, or short, or any other trait that they have absolutely no control over!
So the next day I wore 3" heels. I wonder, maybe it bothered HER that I was so tall.
Don't ever let on to your daughter that you have even the slightest bit of shame about your height--or hers!

[Lisa]

Ha! She reminds me of my little one, who, at 7 months old, is already dominating (some) over her 14 month-old boy cousin. I think it's because he lets her, though. He's so gentle.

Camilla just gets prettier and prettier. I'm sure that if she ends up at 6 feet tall, she'll be able to pull it off!

[ksmaybe]

Yes, the doubling rule I've heard is 18 months for girls, 24 for boys. My mom didn't catch that until I was 24 months which put me over 6 feet. I'm a shade shy of 5'7, so, um, not so much. The baby book doesn't reveal my 18 month height. The 24 month rule came out close for both of my brothers though-who broke the 6 foot mark.

[Ted]

Wow, I wish I was 5'9" :-p It's so cool to see her growing!

This is more for your husband, but here's your geek fix, because there's all this talk about the 18 to 24-month height-doubling time and babies and such on this blog. May I draw a parallel to Moore's law, which states that the number of transistors on a chip doubles every 18-24 months... :-)

[Lisa]

Funny, a friend at work and I were just talking about how doubling an 18-month-old's height will predict their adult height.

In terms of the parents' heights predictor thing, according to that, I should have been 5'5" but I'm actually 5'9". My brother should have been 5'9.5" but he's 6'.

My prediction? Camilla will be tall but not too tall. I have the same fears for my daughters, seeing as I'm 5'9" like you. I dated a string of guys who were 6'4" or taller but I'm glad my boyfriend is 5'10" b/c as much as I like being tall, I don't think any girl wants to be over 6'!

[Sarah]

My parents doubled my height at 2 years or 18 months and predicted I'd be 5-3; I'm 5-6. All of that is to say it's an unreliable measure.

[Arwen]

Hey, I never said I'm ashamed of being tall! Being ashamed of it would make about as much sense as being proud of it, seeing as it's completely out of my control and all. I just said I've had to make peace with being tall. And I don't think that's so strange. I've also had to make peace with the fact that I'm nearsighted and have to wear corrective lenses, and that I inherited my mom's feet and am unable to wear heels without extreme pain, and that the shape of my figure means I'll never be able to wear those cute little tank tops with the built-in bras. I'm not ashamed of any of those things, but I've had to make peace with them, in the form of learning to celebrate what I have instead of concentrating on what I don't have. I think we all have to do this with regard to the aspects of our lives that are out of our control. I'm not ashamed to be tall, but neither am I ashamed of the fact that I'm human, and that towering over most of the women around me is sometimes hard for me. I don't feel the least bit ashamed of it, just a tiny bit wistful on occasion. Any 6-foot-tall woman who feels nothing but happiness over her height has my respect, and I certainly aspire to such well-adjustedness, but I hope that if my daughter turns out to be just as tall I hope I'll be able to help her learn to be happy with who she is without unrealistically expecting her to have nothing but joy about it. And that's the best I can do.

[The Sojourner]

I'm 5'7", and I always used to want to be taller. Now, though, I'm dating a guy who's only about 5'9", so I'm very glad I'm not taller than I am. (My feet are the same size as his.)

Also, I'd like to add that being tall does not mean never having to hem your pants. Despite being above-average in the height department, I fit quite comfortably into petite pants. I have stubby little legs on a long torso.

[Lindsay]

I was on par to be 6'1". Thankfully, that did not happen. Back home, I actually feel rather short most of the time. A lot of my girlfriends are 5'10", so my 5'6" is rather small to them. Out east, I feel tall. (Which, I guess I technically am, but only just.)

Camilla will be beautiful no matter what, whether it's 5'9" of beauty, 6' of beauty. With you as her mother, I have no doubt that she will carry however many inches she possesses with the utmost grace. Plus, if she's anything like you, it won't even matter, because she'll have that wonderful ability to pick everyone up and make them feel so much taller than they are.

[andrea_jennine]

I'm 5'10" and I do sometimes feel like a giantess around other, more petite women. But I try to remember that those ladies are probably feeling dwarfish and longing for a few added inches of height. Like you said, we all have to make peace with the attributes we can't control.

[George]

I do believe I've discovered the secret to getting Arwen to post more often. Send her emails, which will cause her to think!

Also, the Billa's legs look extraordinarily long in that second photo, as compared with how long they look in real life. I think I'm gonna to make a claim of trick photography.

[Liz]

WELL. Hmm. I think I'd have to email your brother with a carefully selected photo from HIS infancy/childhood that pointed out how fat/stringbean-y/bucktoothed/etc HE was!

Seriously, though. Camilla looks *so* like Bryan that if I were you I might have to look twice to make sure whose face I was seeing. (TECHNICALLY, I'm legally blind...but still! I can SEE what there is to see on this great big new monitor I got for my birthday (woo!) and what I see is one of the most stunning cases of parent/child resemblance I have ever witnessed!

Your genetic ties are obviously strong- when I saw the pictures of you at your sister's wedding, I was so struck by your similarities that it made me ache just a bit for having been an only child. (I don't know why- it's not like similar appearance is what cultivates a thriving sibling bond. Wait- is it?) If I had been reading this blog before Camilla was born, I would have guessed that any child you bore would almost certainly carry that truly distinct look and bone structure you and your sister share. (Not that Bryan is IN-distinct looking...I mean, come on- hub-ba!) When I first found this blog and liked it so much I stayed up until three in the morning reading the archives, it was so funny; even though I KNOW what Camilla looks like now, I was still watching her change in rapid time, thinking "in the pictures from the next few weeks, I just KNOW she is going to start looking more like Arwen..."

Hey, can you do a solid for a poor whiny housebound (large tumor awaiting operation) Texan? I used to read your mom's blog and I just loved it. I lost the link when my laptop went to IBM heaven and haven't been able to find it again. Can you maybe add her to your "blogroll" or just happen to mention her in passing during your next post, thus linking to her? ;) I was SO enjoying those "mom's eye view" posts she was doing about all of you guys. Plus, I find her to be a total inspiration to me. I always thought I'd be a young mother...but health problems have just not made it practical. Knowing that she didn't start her family just as the ink on her diploma was drying but still had a large, fulfillingly eclectic and happy brood makes me so hopeful for what my future might hold.

[Mary Catherine]

She can be a model!

[Louise]

What a little sweetheart! We're still in the chubby stage over here at 10 mos. :-) Not eager for it to go away ;-)

[SouthernComfortable]

I think it's all the more indication that she's going to be a SUPERMODEL!

[Pearl]

I am, as I'm fond of telling people, the tallest women in my family by FOUR INCHES. And I'm 5'4". Sadly a lot of the older and tinier ladies were fond of making me feel like a freakish heffalump, and I had an eating disorder by the time I was twelve. Miss Milla, however, clearly lives in a world where everyone makes her feel cute and beautiful and lovely, however tall she is. Go you!

[PrinceOfTheWest]

Mom's blog: http://salomeellen.blogspot.com/

[Jeanne]

For what it's worth, my husband was very tall as a child, and suddenly stopped growing when he was about 12 or so. I was somewhere in the shorter to middle-sized children and I am now quite tall for a woman. I stopped growing quite late for a girl, around 15 or so. So I expect growth patterns as well as parents' height have a lot to do with it. At least one of my children is quite tall for his age. I expect he will do as his father did and stop growing early. I also suspect some of the more middle-sized of my children may end up being the taller ones in the end.

[Erin]

I know, I know. I still get a knot in my stomach when I read through this though, and how everyone is so glad they're not as tall as I am, or how they're trying to make you feel better about your daughter's height potential. Can't help it. I have 4 nieces, 2 of whom will definitely be tall, maybe taller than me. Their parents are hoping they're super tall (they're both basketball players)! How wonderful is that?

[KidKate]

Adding late that the docs thought I would be *over* six feet tall based on my early measurements (also, my dad was 6'6"): I am not quite 5'7". Now my own little daughter is >95th percentile for height and 25th for weight (though she has tall grandparents on both sides). I'm hoping she'll be 5'8"-ish!