Saturday, June 5, 2010

Ten Little Toes


Someone sent me a rather cryptic Babygate message yesterday with a theory to which I had previously not allowed much credibility. That theory is not the subject of this post, but in my research of that theory, I stumbled upon something else that I had not noticed before. In this infamous photo of Ruffles, he seems to have an extra-long big toe on his right foot. In a photo of Round Ear held by Sarah on her left hip, he seems to have a long left big toe. That photo is a couple of years later than the first one, and no, I cannot find a single photo of the other foot of either child. I can verify that the earlier photo has not been accidentally flipped in processing because this a blowup of the shot in which Sarah is standing right next to Mercede and Ruffles with a big VANDALS printed on her shirt. I do not have a way to verify that the later photo has not been flipped, however. Maybe someone else can verify this.

A very brief bit of research stated that the long big toe is not a common trait. A longer second toe may actually be a more common condition. I am assuming for now that all two (or four) feet have the long big toe trait. I have not been able to ascertain if some people are born with only one long toe, but I do not think this is the case. I have not found any mention of FAS or DS being associated with this trait, either.

When I first noticed this issue, it looked to me as if Ruffles had only four toes on his right foot, but my better judgment tells me that that is just a distortion in the blowup of the tiny photograph, or the angle is distorting the look of Ruffles' toes. When you look at Ruffles' left foot, it appears to have a normal-sized big toe, but again, my best guess is that this is a distortion emanating from the angle of the photo. If anyone else has any better photos than I have, please chime in with your opinion. I am not the least bit certain of any of this. Is it just a figment of my frustrated imagination? Why has no one else mentioned it before?

This brings me to that other new theory, the one I am not yet ready to disclose until the dust has settled on this one. If these toes are indeed a distinctive trait, does that mean that there is only one Trig, or does it mean the two Trigs are related? Does anyone have clear photos of the other feet?

11 comments:

Miz Linda said...

For some reason, I seem to remember wondering about those toes. However, the following photo link might clear this up:
baby toes

If you scroll half way down, the photo on the right of Mercede with baby is clear. Of course, when you keyboard Ctrl + you can enlarge the photo so that you can see all five toes clearly.

My belief is that this is not Trig, but that's because of facial features and timeline.

sandra said...

We should have a relook at all the feet pictures. That toe is unusual and may be why Trig seemed to dislike shoes. That would be very hard to fit. However, if the toes are a "give away," I would think they would have been careful to cover his feet as well as his ears.

palinoscopy said...

Hmm. That's interesting.

Floyd M. Orr said...

Thank you, Miz Linda. You are right, the second toe is a little more visible in that version of the photo, so there is no question that Ruffles has all ten toes!

Miz Linda said...

No problem. I love sleuthing and wish I could do more. You might find this photo of Trig's face and ears interesting:
Trig

When you compare the above photo of Trig to this one:
airplane "Trig"
it seems intuitively obvious to the most casual observer that these are two different babies.

If I'm wrong, please correct me. The mouths are different as are the noses and head shapes. These two photos don't make clear that eye color is also different to a large degree, but it's something I've noticed in the past.

Floyd M. Orr said...

My opinion has always been that Airplane Trig is actually Airplane Tripp.

herkimer said...

toes in 'ten toes addendum' compared to [2nd photo] toes in "ten little toes":

In the second of the compared photos (as listed above), the second toe of the left foot is seeming to overlay the great toe. In the first of the compared photos, note the seeming greater length of the first two toes, against the relative shortness of the other three toes.

In each compared photo, the 'other three toes' clearly match from image to image.

This brings to attention that the infant held by Mercede is the same in both photos, and that both the great and second toes of the left foot are comparatively long.

-------------
toes in first photo in "ten little toes", of 'Tri-G' as an older infant:

If the photo has not been reversed, showing the child's right foot -- the configuration of the toes is unclear, possibly showing a longer great toe only, with relative length of the second toe uncertain.

----------
My senses tell me this older child is a different individual from the very young infant held by Mercede.

...

Ginger said...

Floyd, your comment "My opinion has always been that Airplane Trig is actually Airplane Tripp," doesn't make sense.

That photo was from the 2008 campaign trail. Tripp wasn't supposedly born until much later.

Floyd M. Orr said...

You are probably right about that, Ginger. That particular picture has always given me fits. I did not see that photo until months after Tripp was born, and I have read numerous conflicting comments about it.

Floyd M. Orr said...

Ginger, here is a link to the story about this picture at IM. You can read from the many comments that opinions about this photo are all over the map. Another issue brought up in these same comments is The Switch post at Palin Peyton Place. I don't think Gryphen has ever completely offered a satisfactory explanation of that theory.

http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2010/04/wtf-e-mail-hacker-posted-picture-of.html

http://www.palinpeytonplace.com/the-switch.html

herkimer said...

toes in 'ten toes addendum' compared to [2nd photo] toes in "ten little toes":

In the second of the compared photos (as listed above), the second toe of the left foot is seeming to overlay the great toe. In the first of the compared photos, note the seeming greater length of the first two toes, against the relative shortness of the other three toes.

In each compared photo, the 'other three toes' clearly match from image to image.

This brings to attention that the infant held by Mercede is the same in both photos, and that both the great and second toes of the left foot are comparatively long.

-------------
toes in first photo in "ten little toes", of 'Tri-G' as an older infant:

If the photo has not been reversed, showing the child's right foot -- the configuration of the toes is unclear, possibly showing a longer great toe only, with relative length of the second toe uncertain.

----------
My senses tell me this older child is a different individual from the very young infant held by Mercede.

...