Exactly the Same, Just Different

It's nice to have twins at the end of a family, so there is not a spoiled "baby" of the family.  Come to think of it, most twins I know of are at the end of their families.  Maybe because they are a handful and the desire to add to the chaos with yet another baby is easily squelched?  Maybe.  On the other hand, twins are just as fun as could be, and I can't even begin to imagine our family without the both of them.

Georgie, at the end of the end, is too precocious to be the baby of a family.  He developed his fine motor skills before his twin (like drinking from a cup, signing, talking, pinching!), while Freddie beat him on beginning the bigger movements first.  That isn't to say that one is innately better at anything than the other.  On the contrary, it has been fun to see, as soon as one twin masters a new skill, the other boy essentially say, "Hey, I can do that too!"  They have been right on top of each other in hitting their developmental milestones.  They are so similar.

And at the same time, they are each completely unique.  When we were told that our one-week-old babies were identical, I almost didn't believe them.  To me, they act so different - they look so different. 

Georgie is a problem-solver.  He is sneaky, observant, quiet, and cautious.  He loves to sing with the music in church, even when no one else is.  He absolutely must hold the hymnbook.  He knows which cup and plate is his, and which bath toy and shirt - even when they are exactly the same.  At birth, there was a three-pound difference between the two, and there still is.  Georgie is the smaller, and not inclined to change that status.  It is hard to get him to eat - he is picky about his food, and eats slowly.  Most of the time, I have to coax him to eat, holding him on my lap and spoon-feeding him, while Freddie wolfs down his third bowl.  My Georgie is such a snuggler. 

Early this morning, I saw him walking into my room and couldn't help but remember when he was a little bit younger and I could only see a fluff of blond hair bobbing alongside my bed.  He came to the head of my bed, and just stared at me.  As soon as I opened my arms to him, he quickly climbed into the bed and wrapped his little body around me.

It was at this moment that I realized he was wet.  Thoroughly, completely sopping wet.  I sprang from my warm bed, gathering up the drippy mess of sleepy toddler and whisked him out for a diaper change.  We changed his diaper, his shirt, his pants, and got him all cleaned up.  Finally, we were back in the bed while it was still dusky morning - but we were both quite awake.  No matter.  Georgie burrowed his soft head into my shoulder and wrapped his legs around my ribs, content.  I laid there, still, listening to his sweet breath, reveling in the happy Mommy Moment.