I'm Surrounded By Two for Ones

I'm embarrassed to admit that Saturday mornings are full of cartoons. Tom and Jerry beating the shit out of each other. Phineas and Ferb pissing their sister off. It's streaming through the house as mom and dad sleep, stay cozy in bed. Especially if dad has worked the night before. There is no jumping up to read; we're not doing math facts at 7:30 a.m. We're also not rushing out the door to catch first chair. Sue us.

Well, last Saturday night when I was putting the boys to bed I went to tuck Auggie into his blankets. "Where's your pillow?" I asked unassumingly. "Well, uh, see, uhm, Timmy. Well, he..." he stammered. "He what?" I pointedly asked. "He, sorta wanted me..." and then he pointed up to the top bunk where Timmy was preparing to throw down the pillow onto Auggie's bed. Auggie was afraid to say what I couldn't really register was happening. But I finished his sentence anyway, "to cuddle??" I tried not to sound sarcastic. Auggie gave me this crooked, shy, awkward, guilty smile. I giggled. I said, "that's what your wawwa's for." (The boys were unable to pronounce 'brother' so it became 'brutha' but it couldn't even become that so it ended up being 'wawwa'). Auggie gave this shy little laugh. And then Timmy said, "well, I still hate my wawwa." "Whatever," I said, like a teenager might say. But I left it at that. I felt like if I made more out of their cuddle session then they would never do it again. But I...was...blown...away.

Now, these boys play well together. They play really well together. They have, from the moment they started moving around this house together, always played well together. It's not something I forced. They support each other, comfort each other, laugh with each other, work with each other. Granted, sometimes they fight. But it's very rare. However, I have not once, not once in their 6.5 years, seen them cuddle with each other. Unless I forced them together as babes. The identical twin thing is a phenomenon.

And I've been lucky enough to witness it lately.




With James and Nicholas.



We can tell James from Nicholas because he has a strawberry hemangioma on his cheek.



But really, same hair, same eyes, same spit up:)




Same schedule.



Same genetics.




And then, then last Tuesday I went to see my gals. My identical gals.



Anabelle. She used to have red marks on her eyelids.




But now they're gone.







And Ahlora used to have a red mark in the space between her eyebrows.




But now that's gone too.




So now everyone knows she is her, or her is she, because her hair stands up straight.




And she's the one who spins around on the floor on her butt. But that might change too.




Big brother Ari will have to be the one who tells everyone who is who. I'm sorry Ari, Claire knows how ridiculously annoying this is. It might make you feel a bit empowered, but overall you'll probably find it totally ridiculous and you may find mixing people up on purpose because it's more fun. Claire did that too.

But in all seriousness, for all the twin babies I know I wish you one thing. Whether or not you play well together all the time, or support each other some of the time, or get along at all, it doesn't really matter. Just give your parents one moment of seeing you really truly loving each other and it will make all this sleeplessness and changing diapers and spit up worth it. Just one moment of love. That's all it will take. Okay?