When a baby is born, all of the adults gather around, ooohing and ahhhhing. Inevitably one of them says to the parents, “Oh, they look just like you!” This is obviously not true. Babies look far more like each other than their own parents. In fact, my baby has actually reminded me of a variety of animals far more than me or my husband. With Little Bird having recently moved out of the newborn stage, here’s an inventory of things he reminded me of:

Mole: When he was first born, Little Bird had some seriously mole-like qualities. Because he arrived so early, he didn’t open his eyes very much and when he did, he squinted. His nose was also a bit stuffy. So when he’d nurse, his eyes would be closed and he’d snuffle, hunting around for the nipple. It was disturbingly cute.

Pig: As he got bigger and older, his snorting became louder and more pronounced. As Chris said, he was a bit like a French pig looking for truffles. He also grunted quite often.

Snake: Because he was born nearly a month early, Little Bird’s skin wasn’t quite done. The skin on his hands, legs, and scalp was still shedding for a couple of weeks after he was born. I called him “my little baby snake.”

Kitten: He also went through the “sounding like a tiny animal” phase longer than Sprout did. There was a little while there that he mewled.

Pterodactyl: As he got bigger, the mewling turned into something that sounded more reptilian than feline. We don’t have any recordings of baby pterodactyls – or pterodactyls at all – but the oddly high-pitched but soft whine is what I think they’d sound like.

Frog: He’s inherited strong, loud hiccups that shake your whole body from me. Unlike me, his makes him sound like he belongs in a pond.

Baby elephant seal: When he was born, Little Bird had huge, deep eyes that were almost all pupil, like this adorable seal. He also had this swaddle in gray, which gave his hands a very strong resemblance to flippers. I just could just see him ambling up to someone and munching on their shoe if given the chance.

Gollum: When he was really upset – usually about me burping him – he would squinch up his face, resulting in a very distinctive forehead wrinkle. The combination of disgust and discomfort looked strikingly like he would start saying “my preciousssss.”

A creaking door: When he’s sleeping, sometimes he makes the oddest slow squeaking sound.

Winston Churchill: Almost all white babies, male or female, look like Winston Churchill at some point. This is just a fact of life.

For thoughts on raising an infant back when Sprout was little, check out A Yelp Review from a Newborn and My Baby as Yoga Teacher.