Kelsey is my 15-month old who happens to be a perfect replica of me in looks and manner...it's a little odd having a child that is so uncannily like you. It's also a little odd to know EXACTLY what you did to drive your parents insane as a child. Guess some grandparents do get their wishes granted.

Soundlessly I peer upon a
Rosebud mouth pursed in sleep
Black lashes fanned across
round pink baby cheeks, tiny
lids concealing eyes that
mirror the blue I inherited as well.
I've seen this face,
this stubborn jaw,
this victorian nose,
these dark brown curls
in photographs 23 years old.
You smile that bewitching smile
and laugh that silvery laugh
while modesty and vanity war
together as I admire your beauty,
your innocence, the tantrums
that errupt from petulant
demands unmet. I look upon this
sleeping face and thoughts
echo, resonate, that this was me,
congenital traits repeated in you.
Your life will differ, I know,
You won't misstep along the
path I trod afore but blunder
upon one you choose alone.
But for now, I know this face
this smile and these eyes,
eyes shining with intelligence
and more than a glint of humor.
And I'll sit and watch you sleep
because for now you're on my path
not yet searching for your own.