Identical Differences

People ask me all the time how I am able to tell my boys apart.

I can't imagine why they think this would be an issue ;)

But there are have been times I have had to pause and look, and even some instances when I have gotten it wrong. I feel horrible when I get it wrong. At the same time, their genes are the same, so when they have a difference, I wonder why. But I am very grateful for those differences.

I do believe each has their own "look," but that is hard to put in to words.

One definite difference is Adam's face is fuller & wider, while Matthew's is longer and slimmer. Another difference is Adam has a birthmark on his upper right thigh, Matthew does not.

Their unchanging, proven difference though, is on their right ears.

Adam's Ear

Matthew's ear.

Notice Matthew's "point" on the helix of his ear, where Adam's helix is just smooth.

I researched this difference for this post, because I didn't know what to call this "point". Apparently it is called a Darwin's tubercle because Darwin first discovered/named it. Apparently there is a dominant gene for this feature, and it occurs in 10% of the population.

Wait. A dominant gene, but my two identical boys don't have the same feature??

Well, apparently this gene has "incomplete penetrance" meaning "those who possess the gene will not necessarily possess the ear tubercle." (All quoted from Wikipedia.) Case in point, my two identical boys with different ears.

Interesting, no?

Poopgate the Trilogy

The Original

One Monday morning, I awoke to the sounds of Adam & Matthew "talking" to each other & playing in their cribs. This is how I wake up most mornings, and since they sound pretty happy most of the time, I tend to squeeze in 10-15 minutes more of lazy time/cuddle time before going in to their room.

Alan had watched them on Sunday for the first time while I worked, and he had even put them to bed before I got home, so he was excited for me to see the babies again. And no doubt to tell him what a fabulous job he did, since the babies were still happy, breathing, etc. He used formula before before putting the babies to bed since I was out of breast milk in the freezer. He had actually gone to the store & bought some because the babies were acting so tired. He had given them 8 oz each, since they had sucked down their 6 oz of breast milk all day.

Back to Monday morning, 10-15 min later I got out of bed & went toward the nursery. With Alan following me, ready for his praise. "You haven't seen them for over a day!" he said. "I put them to bed before you got home!" he exclaimed proudly, "Do you miss them?" We opened the door together, and just looked in horror for a minute.

Poop.

Poop everywhere! In both cribs, on the rails, on Adam & Matthew's hands, their bodies, their faces. Most disturbingly, right by their lips. And Matthew was smacking his lips like he had just finished Thanksgiving dinner.

Yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck.

"How could it be this bad?" Alan asked.

"I don't think it was just the formula." I said, "It was the amount of formula." My "girls" may have grown, but they have never had 8 oz of milk in them, ever, I can almost guarantee that.

Alan helped me put the boys in the tub, then just about danced out the door for work (it was time for him to go), leaving both cribs for me to clean.

Later chat between me & Alan:

July 18

9:36 AM Alan: were you able to combat poopgate?

20 minutes

9:56 AM me: haha

the battle of poopgate is complete.. the war for the nap is about to begin..

;)

9:58 AM but yeah I wiped off all the bars and everything

9:59 AM the sheets are currently drying

10:00 AM Alan: cool

and lucy didn't try to spread the madness?

10:01 AM me: nope the door was closed

And so the term "poopgate" was coined. (Lucy is one of our cats)

Poopgate the Sequel:

After naptime, I thought I heard the babies wake up, but then no noise for about 30 minutes. 30 minutes! I assumed they had gone back to sleep. When I heard another noise 30 minutes later, I went in to their room to find:

Poop.

Poop everywhere!

Adam's diaper was off, and both boys were playing in the poop. I think I saw some lips smacking. I refused to think that this could have possibly been going on for 30 minutes. (We really need a video monitor.)

Later email from Krystal to Alan:

July 21

Poopgate the sequel just occurred, even more exciting than the original.

Poopgate 3

That would be this morning. The monitor was turned down so low, I didn't hear the babies wake up. (Who turned it down will remain nameless.) When I woke up at 7:30am, I looked at the monitor, and the red lights were indicating noise, but I heard nothing.

Uh oh.

I turned it up, and the boys weren't happily playing, they were crying. I rushed to their room to find...

Poop!

Poop everywhere!!

(surprised??)

Only in Adam's crib, but his diaper was off, and there was no poop IN his diaper, but there was plenty on the sheets, on the rails, on Adam's fingers & face. Into the bath he went.

Later chat between me & Alan:

Aug 8

Alan: were you able to clear out poopgate 3?

Sent at 10:06 AM on Monday

me: yep

not pretty at all

the diaper actually had no poop in it at all

Sent at 10:38 AM on Monday

Alan: lol

Sent at 10:44 AM on Monday

me: lol

I am actually writing a blog now about the poopgate trilogy

Sent at 10:49 AM on Monday

Alan: possible quadrilogy?

I would like to think not, but probably much, much more to come...

3 Handsome Boys

Love this pic in front of our newly bloomed sunflowers this morning. (This time both sunflowers are bloomed, and everyone is wearing clothes (although Matthew is trying to remedy that ;) )

Sharing

To share or not... it seems to be a perpetual inner battle, a recurring question my two 11 month old sons struggle to answer. To share or not to share?

More often than not, the answer is the latter. Especially if the object in question is a bright new toy. Such as their toy airplane, that only one child can (safely) push at one time. It wouldn't matter if we had two, because they would indefinitely go after their brother's toy. So we have to place one child (Matthew,below, being pushed by Adam) on the passenger seat:

Food is no better. If I give one child a bite of watermelon, his brother will soon be upon me:

If I hear a random scream when the kids are seemingly playing together happily, it is often because both boys were pushing around this toy (below), Adam tripped & fell, and Matthew kept going, somehow mowing over Adam in the process. Adam will either be underneath the toy, or crawling after is as fast and furiously as his four little limbs will move him.
This evening, though, was different. As I was putting the boys to bed, I gave Matthew his sippy cup, which Adam promptly swiped and took for himself. Nonplussed, I just gave Matthew the other sippy cup, which Adam swiftly stole as well. Sighing, I took the first sippy cup that Adam had discarded and gave that cup to Matthew. Quickly, Adam took that cup as well! This went on 5-10 times.

I felt sure a breakdown from Matthew was imminent, but he soon began laughing, and actually offering his cup to Adam, which of course Adam took, and I would give the other cup to Matthew. At this point, both boys were laughing (no doubt thinking this was a game).

And then, the unthinkable happened.

Adam (having both sippy cups) offered one to Matthew to drink from.

!!

Matthew drank from the outstretched cup, and then both boys were laughing again. And so was Mommy. So then, Adam offered the cup for me to drink from as well.

Ahhhh, I am just going to let that sweet moment sink in, to prepare me for future challenges :)