So Similar, So Different

For children who look so much alike, Elise and Lucas sure are different. But make no mistake people think they look alike. Many people have even asked me if they are twins (which is actually a little wacky considering that they're more than two years apart)! I don't think they look at that alike, but I can see why people say that. They have the exact same shade of red hair (though Lucas has waaaay more of it than Elise did at this age), the same adorable curls when they have wet hair or in humidity, the same big blue-gray eyes, the same slight upper body. They even have the same mannerisms - wrinkle their noses the same way when they don't like the taste of something and both get the same pout when they're about to cry.

Where they are not the same is..well..everything else. Elise is very cautious around people she doesn't know well, sometimes even around people she sees a lot. For example, we went to the doctor's for her 4 year check up last week and the doctor (who she has been seeing regularly since she was one day old) asked me if Elise actually spoke - because she's never heard her utter a word before! Not one in four years! On the other hand, we have dubbed Lucas "The Mayor" because he takes it upon himself to greet and welcome everyone - at the store, walking along the sidewalk, at restaurants, where ever. He waves and says hi to everyone he passes and takes it personally when they don't respond. Often he will repeat himself until he gets some sort of acknowledgment of his greeting. Similarly, Lucas loves all animals and runs to greet and touch them with absolutely no fear or idea of how potentially dangerous this is, while Elise enjoys looking at animals in books or from afar but doesn't really want them to come near her - and certainly not touch her.

Elise was always a very active child - always busy and moving - but she tended to keep her activity to running and jumping and flipping and things like that. Lucas, on the other hand, is slightly more subdued than she is but he uses all of his energy to get into stuff. He (still) eats things he's not supposed to (ie rocks, napkins, coins), and can make something into a complete mess when left alone for 10 seconds (throws everything on the table onto the floor, pulls soil out of potted plants, dumps the contents of your purse onto the couch). He is also a climber - something that Elise was never really into at this age, but also she was a lot more coordinated than Lucas is so even if she had climbed things it would have been less terrifying.

Elise has never been very good at entertaining herself - she wants people to be playing with her or at the very least, very attentively and actively watching. Lucas can entertain himself for really long stretches at a time and while he enjoys playing with others when he's doing it, he rarely seeks it out.

Another difference of note - when she was about a year old, Elise developed an attachment to "Greenie", her flat elephant lovie. When I say attachment, I mean ATTACHMENT. To this day, the child cannot sleep unless she is cuddling with Greenie (and yes we have a back up!!). Lucas never developed an attachment for anything like that, although lately he has been taking two stuffed animals (any ones) into bed with him and holding their hands while he falls asleep. (Precious!)

Yes our little ones are different alright. But they are both equally as sweet and as much fun.