Same, But Different

Hello friends and family,

Tomorrow will be a sad and happy day at the casa de Webb. We are sad that Oma and Opa leave and will head back to California. We are happy about driving to go spend the holidays in Sacramento with them in just a few short weeks! We've loved every minute of them being around and made great memories. Yes, they are my in-laws, but I think just as highly of them as I do my own parents simply because they love the 4 Webbs so much. Easton and Layla are happy toddlers in general, but here you can see the excitement and satisfaction on their faces of being with Oma and Opa.


And during that same trip to the park I assembled the 4 Webbs for quick picture as well because there aren't many opportunities to have all four of us in the same photo.


Layla is teething so that is why her fingers are in her mouth. As if there is a time during the first two years where a child is NOT teething (sigh).

Oma and Opa bought a parting gift for Easton and Layla: Try-cycles. I call them "try" cycles because neither of the twins have figured out how to pedal it or accepted the fact that it needs to be ridden, not pushed. Layla gave it a shot and did fairly well with keeping her feet on the pedals.


Easton was highly frustrated because he couldn't push and muscle it around like he does the light-weight plastic bus.


My dad recommended we get the super-duty tricycles from Harbor Freight but those are still much too big for our twins. Not bad though for their first day of trying. I'm sure they will figure it out and be whizzing around in no time. We will have to work up to the big-kid version once they get the hang of these.

There are many ways Easton and Layla are alike. For example, they both love jungle gyms and slides.


and they have some of the same postures and mannerisms (note their hands on their face in the same position and legs stretched out similarly).


Also, they both enjoy the evening ritual of bath, books, snack, and bed. We used to call that "4 B's" (bath, books, boob, bed), but obviously they aren't breast-feeding any more so we had to substitute an "s" in there for snack time. I've looked at this picture several times in the past 3 days because I am amazed by it. Amazed at how mature and kid-like they look. From this picture I can start to see how they will look in high school if I extrapolate and let my mind wander.


And at the same time they are also very different. Easton loves to be scared by Oma as she lifts the diaper box off her head and says, "boo!".


Layla loves to be the one in the diaper box saying "boo" to everyone.


and in a strange twist of norm, you can see in the next picture how Layla is unsure and a little reserved while Easton is thrilled with excitement.


What could possibly flip-flop the norm? After thanksgiving dinner we walked to the local park and one of the neighbor kids ran a nitro powered remote control car up and down the street adjacent to the park. He was so thrilled to watch it speed around the pavement. Layla on the other hand was very unsure of that mechanical, noisy thing.

The most common response I get from adults who say they are a twin is that it is important to develop and maintain their individuality. So we have made intentional efforts to treat them as equals, but help them develop at their own pace and in their own direction, no matter how different the directions may be...

The best thing about black Friday is that I have two more days of vacation from work (yea). Time for me to take advantage of leftover turkey. MMMMmmmmm!