"I'm Too Little"

This is the explanation Julian often offers when he doesn't want to feels he is unable to do something. We tell him he will grow big and he refuses to believe us.

As my profile indicates, I think I am a lot taller than I am. Or rather, I believe I should be taller than I am. You see, as a child, I was on the tall side (not abnormally so, but definitely in the upper percentiles of the growth charts). I shot up fast and was always one of the taller girls in class, but when I was around 12, I stopped while everyone else continued to grow. I am only 5'3" (on a good day, after doing an hour of Pilates) and while I know that is a fine height and nothing to be ashamed of, deep down, I feel my height to be a cruel trick played upon me by fate.

Years ago, some guy who was trying to date Maria (who is also vertically challenged though you might never know as she calls 3" heels "walking shoes") once asked us why we, who were both short girls, only looked at guys who were over six feet tall. She told him that it was because she wanted to give her future children a fighting chance at height. Although I never would have put it in those terms, I will freely admit that Fred's height (6'1") is one of the traits I hope Julian has inherited.

So you can imagine how excited I was when I found the height predictor on babycenter. Finally, a completely non-scientific means of determining how tall my son will be. What is the word on Julian?

Your son will likely be 6 feet, 0 inches tall at age 18.

This prediction is a "best guess" but it's still just that -- a guess. Based on the formula we used,* there's a 58 percent chance your son's full-grown height will be within 1 inch (above or below) of this prediction, an 85 percent chance it will be within 2 inches, and an 96 percent chance it will be within 3 inches.

Yippee!


Wait! Not so fast! I have my baby book and I can punch those numbers in. Let's just see how accurate it would have been for me.

Your daughter will likely be 5 feet, 6 inches tall at age 18.

This prediction is a "best guess" but it's still just that -- a guess. Based on the formula we used,* there's a 50 percent chance your daughter's full-grown height will be within 1 inch (above or below) of this prediction, a 69 percent chance it will be within 2 inches, and an 84 percent chance it will be within 3 inches.

So, um yeah, it is important to note the +/- bit of the predictor.