The Spencer Girls

I honestly can't recall if I have written a blog about this before. It may be another symptom of the child induced insanity from which I suffer. And I am too lazy to go back and read all my posts to see if I have. So I apologize if I am repeating myself, but I had to be certain that this was included in my journal.

I had always heard that identical twins have a special connection to each other. Some sort of mental bond. Thinking the same thing at the same time, that sort of thing. I never thought too much about it and really was a bit skeptical. But maybe there is something to it.

A couple of weeks ago Kari was in the kitchen looking out toward the living room. Jordan was playing happily in front of the TV. She was climbing up on an overturned laundry basket to reach the coffee table. Madison was two rooms away, in the dining room, admiring the fish tank. She was also content.
Jordan took a misstep and rocked forward, bashing her little noggin on the coffee table. At the same moment Madison let out an ear piercing shriek. Parents will know the one that I am talking about. The kind that says "I am really hurt, this time." Kari had seen Jordan bump her head and and rushed to pick her up. Jo had not even started to cry before Kari was moving toward her. She was, however, shrieking pretty loud by the time Kari reached her. As Kari was cradling Jordan and kissing her head, Madison came running in from the other room holding the exact same spot on her head and screaming just as loud.

What do you make of that?

I used to think that observing that kind of connection between the twins would be really neat, but I now seems just a little creepy. Kari tells me that the whole episode gave her the goose bumps.

It has been interesting to watch the different personalities emerge with the twins. What the doctors said about Jordan being more active, still holds true. She rarely sits still for more than a few moments. While Madison insists on being held, almost all of the time, Jordan is pretty happy playing with Reagan or just doing her own thing. However, every 10 minutes or so Jordan will come over grab you finger and try to lead you somewhere. If you don't comply fast enough there are tears. I am not certain that she even knows where she wants to take you most times. It was very cute at first, but often she comes up and latches onto your fingers right when you are in the middle of tending to another child. There is nothing better than changing a nasty diaper while listening to a tantrum.

Kari and I are realizing that we have still been babying the twins. It is difficult to switch from catering to their every need to forcing them into behaving. We have started to give them time outs and generally are not putting up with the whining so much. Madison was quite put out by this change at first, but seems like maybe she is coming around. When she starts really throwing a fit, I will take her into another room, set her on the floor, and tell her that she can come back when she gets done crying. She used to carry on for a long time, but now she gets over it much more quickly.