An online poll

Parenthood introduces you to a dizzying array of interesting facts and new discoveries. One of the most fascinating has to do with the physical attributes that a child inherits from his/her parents.

Most people have said that Kirin is a carbon copy of his dad. Initially, it seemed that this was because Kirin has always had a lot of crazy looking hair (including a sweet pair of sideburns) and the fact that many of the people making these assertions were from my side of the family. In fact, the reality is rather more interesting.

The following is from Child of our Time, the book that accompanies the brilliant BBC series charting the development of 25 children born in January 2005 for the first 20 years of their life:

One of the risks a newborn faces is losing the active protection of his father. Fathers are more likely not to be there at crucial moments. And without positive feedback from a well-fed baby or the beneficial effects of feel-good hormones sweeping through their bodies, fathers are more likely to be overwhelmed by the responsibility of parenthood and, sometimes, an urgent desire to run away. To counter this, babies have evolved to win over their dads: both boys and girls are born looking more like their fathers.

In other words, we are genetically programmed to look more like our fathers when we are born so that they don't desert us. Is that amazing or what?

So, we have decided to put up a couple of pictures of the two of us as babies so that our faithful readers can compare and contrast. The ages are a bit out of sync - Johanna was 11 months old in her photograph and I was probably closer to Kirin's current age of four months - but I think there is a bit of both of us in our beautiful little boy.

In any case, we would love to hear what you think. So, join in our online poll by clicking on the comment link at the bottom of this entry and letting us know what you think.