Blows with your fists or gloves for your feet. I come in a pair, but the dryer must eat!

A term of endearment for a rugrat or baby. A term for emergence, for botanicals, maybe. Or appearing suddenly like developed space. Or if you prefer, a beard on your face. In essence referring to something new. What's the word I'm referring to?

In the scorching heat in the desert I'm seen in the distance. But alas you can never reach me.

Gliding through sapphire fields with strokes of grace, a dance beneath the sun's embrace. Fins not required, yet fluid you remain, in this liquid ballet where freedom reigns.

Quest word, so no alt words. I can mean two different things - one is a means to drink, the other a means to eat. My first three letters refer to the hopeful mantra of positive people... and of little engines that could. My last four letters spell a kind of person often stereotyped by their age.