Inheritance

So it’s becoming more and more obvious to me that Kendra has inherited things from each of my sisters. Genetically, I realize that's probably not likely. You have to see it to believe it, but it's definitely there. It would probably border on being spooky if I didn’t like my sisters so much. So here’s a list of what I’ve noticed recently.

From Favorite Aunt Leah: Personality. If Kendra’s birth hadn’t already tipped us off that this girl does things her own way and on her time table, you can prove it really fast just by trying to take her toy away. She has an amazing grip and a very loud squeal of rage when she thinks it’s necessary to use it (and growing up with Bentley means that it’s used about twenty times a day). Kendra doesn’t put up with any crap. And in this day and age, I think that’s a great thing for a girl. I like that about her. Thanks, Leah!

From Favorite Aunt Tracy: Skin. I am capable of tanning, eventually, but it takes months, and usually several sunburns and I don’t really even try for it any more (No need to lecture me about the evils of tanning, Leah!). But even coming right off of winter, Kendra has the most beautiful olive-toned skin ever. I’m so jealous. I first noticed this last summer when I realized that she had a diaper tan line from the two times we’d gone to the pool! And it’s not like we hadn’t slathered sunscreen all over her! Tracy has this same easy-to-tan skin that I’m pretty sure skipped all the other Bentley sisters, but somehow popped up in Kendra. No fair. But very pretty. Thanks, Tracy!

From Favorite Aunt Natalie: Early-riser. Kendra didn’t sleep through the night until she was about eleven months old and I was finally too exhausted to wake up to her cries any more. She did finally give up on the night-time feedings, but got me back by changing her wake up time to 6:30am. I’ve gotten her to back down to 7:00, but she’s been stubborn about this time. Natalie is the same way. Her favorite thing to do in middle school was to practice the violin at 7:00am on a Saturday morning right under my bedroom. It was a source of contention, at the time, if I recall correctly. To this day, I think the latest Natalie’s ever slept is, what, 7:30? (Correct me if I’m wrong about this, Natalie!) Anyway, Kendra certainly didn’t inherit this trait from me or from Craig! Um, thanks, Natalie, I guess…! ;)

From Favorite Aunt Rachael: Fashion. I make it a point to try to time my clothes shopping with when Rachael is in town and can go with me because I trust her fashion advice implicitly. It’s a little early to tell if Kendra actually has any fashion sense (I still get to choose her outfits for her), but any time I put a bow or (heaven forbid!) a hat on her head, the only way to get her to leave it on is to show her her reflection in the mirror and tell her how pretty she looks. This will actually amuse her long enough for me to even get ready for church! Again, I should stress that this is not what Rachael does (at least, to the best of my knowledge… hmmm…), but if Kendra got any fashion sense whatsoever, you can bet that she didn’t get it from me. Thanks, Rachael!

From Favorite Aunt Jeni: Loving. I’ve seen Jeni take care of her girls, and she is a very kind and caring mother. (I like my kids a lot, but I certainly wouldn’t claim to be a particularly patient mother. Especially after my last post…!) Kendra is like that, too. She loves to snuggle with her mommy and daddy. One of her favorite games is to hug her stuffed animal doggy and then pass it around so everyone else can take turns giving him hugs, too. She’s a very loving little girl. Thanks, Jeni!

This is by no means an exhaustive list of Kendra’s aunt’s good traits—- they have many other wonderful qualities that are hard to spot in a one-year-old (like, say, punctuality). But so far she seems to have gotten more than her fair share of good things from her aunts. What a lucky girl!