The face factor

There's a boxing match raging in our household right now. Our baby is right in the middle of it, but it's his mother who's coolly outpointing his father.

Thing is, neither of us actually lands any punches. That duty goes to the folks, from visitors to relatives, who gleefully comment unprompted on the issue at hand: Who does Sonny more resemble, Mum or Pa?

On that score, the latter has been reeling from blow after blow, as Sonny's chin, eyes, nose and even his limbs have been consistently allotted to Mum's column. She's hardly had to absorb even weak jabs, excepting two persons who were probably trying to be even-handed at the expense of truth. Indeed, the most vicious roundhouse punch so far has been dealt by Pa's own mother, who opined that Sonny lacked any similarity to him whatsoever.

Admittedly, there are more important things in life, but why care at all? Well, apart from bragging rights per se, there's something primeval about wanting to leaving the world a legacy - and a child imprinted with the features of his parent is right up there in that category. At least, for those of us who haven't libraries to our name.

The good news, for Pa, is that the punch-up should continue for years, as Sonny's appearance changes and modulates and presents new facets to compare. And there's still the slugfest to come when we parcel out actual character traits (laziness, athleticism and the like).

Someone sound the bell for Round Two.