opposites

 

Annabelle and Lydia Lou are about as different from one another as you can possibly imagine. Where Annabelle is calm, focused, and determined her sister is every bit of spunk, fits, and multi-tasking from disaster to disaster. They even appear different now (compared to their first weeks when they were almost identical) - Annabelle a Christensen (Lichelle, to be very exact) with a mop of curly hair and Lou a Jessette (as a friend recently quite accurately called her), with hair that mostly lies flat, only flipping on its ends when I ask it to. And I think it is precisely because they are such polar opposites, that they tend to butt heads. More often than we prefer. But if you watch, you can see it's just two big - and vastly different - personalities fighting for understanding and reconciliation. The older Lou gets, the more she has an opinion. And their opinions rarely merge. In the midst of of play and constant learning, I imagine that sometimes understanding your sister is difficult when she does things so differently than you.

But there are moments, even extended amounts of time, when these two coexist peacefully, passing toys one to another, giggling and rolling around with giddy happiness. I've witnessed Lou find something that belongs to Annabelle and return it to her, then clap with joy that she did something so good. And I've seen Annabelle, in quiet moments, put her arm around her sister and kiss her head. In their hearts, they adore one another. I don't worry about these polar opposite personalities; in fact, I love them. It's a mad sort of poetry the way these two weave in and out. When I put my frustrations aside, I see two wonderfully unique babies. And how lucky I am to have them both in my life.

 

We spent the week in Yellowstone (passing through Jackson on the way home). There are hundreds of photos that I intend to sort through, and I'm fairly certain this will result in several photo dumps, so stay tuned. These photos were taken in the middle of our drive to Yellowstone, at some random park in Idaho we stopped at to give the girls a break.