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My Baby Looks Like Who?

One Mom's Less-than-perfect Surprise

By Barb Eimer

like her sister. Molly's doll-like features were serene and peaceful while Katie's were contorted in constant motion, screwing up into the most fantastic grimaces I'd ever seen. Molly was fair with a beautiful complexion, while Katie was blotchy and wrinkled. But the clincher was her hair. While Molly had blond peach fuzz evenly dispersed across her fair brow, Kaitlyn had two clumps of black hair, one directly above each ear.

I was speechless. How could twins, of all people, look so different? Of course, no matter what Kaitlyn looked like, at birth or at any other time, my love for her wouldn't change one single bit. Anyone who has been a parent can relate to that. I was just taken aback, as I often am, when my expectations and reality don't meet.

This was further accentuated the next day. I was talking to a nurse and said something about Katie. "Now Katie," she said. "Is she the one who looks like Mo?" "Mo?" I repeated, suspecting what was in her head but not ready for the truth. "Yeah, you know, with her hair and her silly faces she looks just like Mo from the Three Stooges!"

If I would have been more familiar with the Three Stooges, at least I could have corrected her and said it was really Curly that my daughter resembled. Instead, I managed a pathetic little laugh and said, "Yeah, that's her."

Want to see more?

• Two at Once: Becoming a Parent of Twins
• Twins: The Science Behind Those Dynamic Duos
• Big-eared Babies: Should You Play Crib-side Psychic?
• Talk about it!