Family resemblance

Even before we saw our first photos of Ella-Anne, the folks at Gladney were breathlessly telling us that she was the most beautiful baby many of them had ever seen. Of course, many of them never saw Alex as a baby, but I'd have to agree -- Ella-Anne is an awfully good-looking baby.

And Alex is an awfully good-looking three-year-old, at least when she isn't laying on her back, legs kicking, shrieking.

On some level, it is true that all babies look pretty much alike. Remember what Winston Churchill said: "All babies look like me. But then, I look like all babies." But we've all encountered some babies who elicit responses like, "Oh, bless his little heart." (Translated: "Oooof.") Still, one thing that we've all observed over the last week -- and we've already had Ella-Anne for a week, today, believe it or not -- is that Ella-Anne seems to bear quite a resemblance to her older sister.

Now, I am quite aware that our daughters are adopted, and had different birth mothers and birth fathers. But still . . . . Here's Alex at the same age Ella-Anne is now (having the first bath administered by Daddy, which gave her cause for concern):

And here's Ella-Anne:

I see it. But then, I'm the Daddy, and I'm not paid to be objective.

While I'm here, here are a few more famous July 28 birthdays (besides Jackie O) that Ella-Anne shares:

Beatrix Potter (1866)

Marcel Duchamp (1887)

Rudy Vallee (1901)

Vivian Vance ("Ethel Mertz") (1907)

Earl Tupper (inventor of Tupperware) (1907)

Frankie Yankovic (1915)

Peter Duchin (of the eponymous orchesta) (1937)

Bill Bradley (1943)

Jim "Garfield" Davis (1945)

Sally Struthers (1947)

Georgia Engel (1948)

Vida Blue (1949)

Lori Loughlin (of "Full House" fame) (1967)

Elizabeth Berkley (1972) (a helpful reminder of every father's principal duty, according to Chris Rock)

It was also the day in 1914 that Austria declared war on Serbia, starting World War I, and the effective date of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1868) -- two events that shaped the course of American history.