The truth about cats and dogs

Exhibit A:



Exhibit B:



You two are like my own personal petri dish. I started the two of you off as these tiny, little zygote-al pieces of matter and occasionally feed you franks and beans and stuff, and wound up with these thinking, reactive little beings with... personalities.

And could your personalities BE any different. So like your momma in certain ways, and so incredibly NOT like your momma in dozens of others.

Jakob is the showboating entertainer, the smiling, dancing charmer with a winsome smile that begs you to smile, too. There are no strangers, just friends you haven't met yet. When you were smaller, your teachers said that we would have to cure you of hugging and kissing on everyone you meet. You plunge headlong into any activity or fun new thing. A quick look back at your family -- as if to ask, "Are you watchin'? Are you watchin'?!?!?" -- is the only hesitation before disappearing into a bunch of new kids or wading waist-deep into the muddy waters of the lake, just because it's there. You're constantly asking, "Are you happy?" or "Are you having fun?" "What are we gonna do now?" "What are we gonna do tomorrow?"

I've always compared Wavy to a cat. You're a cat to Jakob's dog. You're cool and reserved, and it takes eons for you to warm up to anyone new. Also catlike is your ability to skillfully wrap yourself around my feet in such a way that I can't even see you. I don't know how many times I've fought a sense of rising panic because I've lost sight of you at the store or in the parking lot, only to find you close behind, cleverly nestled right in my blind spot. Not to say you aren't the fun-lover Jakob is. You find endless fun in tormenting your brother. Manipulating the system. Taking what's his, purely because you know that "baby Wavy" gets a pass when older brother certainly will not. Fearless in many ways, you stand your ground and wear down your opponents until you get your way, either with utter charm or stubbornness. But you're always the first to say sorry, or to offer a kiss to make a hurt go away, or to approach an animal with soft and soothing noises and movements.

Physically, Wavy is all soft, girly curves and hips, a warm mocha to Jake's latte. Jakob is all boyish angles, knees and elbows, and his dad's wide shoulders. Jakob's on the small side, and Wavy is pretty average, and over time, you are both fast approaching the same height and weight. I've been asked several times if you are twins.

I guess I find the study of you two so fascinating in part because I'm adopted. The concept of blood relation between brother and sister, parents and kids, kids and grandparents, has been foreign to me all my life, so naturally I have always fallen on the nurture-over-nature side of that argument. But living in the midst of this huge science experiment has convinced me that there certainly is more to this "nature" theory than I had always thought. I do get a bit frustrated, though, when your daddy's side of the family is quick to claim everything fun and unique about you, while I am left to wonder if perhaps that quirky thing that Jakob does with his toes or Wavy's ability to belch her way through Jingle Bells comes directly from anyone on my biological side of the family.

You both have an unwavering sense of what's right, and what's fair, although there are times you both give in to your right as children to not give a flying fig about what is right or fair, and it's every kidlet for his or her self. In fact, there are daily fights over "that's mine" and "that's not yours" or "Hey, turn back, I was watching that!" But you love each other fiercely, and constantly wonder what the other is doing when you're apart. You both unfailingly wake up with smiles on your faces, and instinctively reach for each other's hand when you cross the street. And at the end of the day, no matter how mad you are at each other, or how trying a day you've had together, this is where you invariably find yourselves:

Exhibit C:



I asked Jakob the other day, "Do you remember whan Baby was born?" He thought about it for a little bit, and was confused. "What do you mean?" I explained, well, do you remember the day that Baby wasn't here, and then all of a sudden she was? He is vague on all the details, as am I. I can only barely recall a time in my life when there weren't two of you here, with me. Being all the things that I am, and all the things that I am not, and -- allow me to go all squinty and precious and Renee Zellweger on your asses -- You complete me. And each other.