Mmm. Pie.

The good thing about growing up with a twin sister is that there's always someone there with you, sharing all your experiences. The bad thing about growing up with a twin sister is that your sister's ALWAYS there with you, sharing ALL your experiences. Twins don't really get much "me" time, I guess. Over their entire twelve-month lives, I don't think that Leah and Riley have been separated for more than maybe 3 hours at a time, and even that's pretty rare -- most days they're probably in the same room for about 23.9 out of 24 hours. It's got to get a little monotonous for them. You wake up in the morning, your sister's there. You go to bed at night, your sister's there. You're eating, your sister's there. All your clothes, your toys, your books - they don't really belong to you, they belong to you AND your sister. It's kinda like how your marriage or relationship would be if you worked in the same room, ate every meal together, and spent every moment of your free time together. Oh, and shared all your clothes. Once in awhile, no matter how great your relationship, you'd probably get sick of having that other person around. Or at the very least, you'd get tired of wearing clothes that look really funny on you.

Riley definitely seems to be getting a little weary of having Leah in her face all the time. Riley will be playing quietly with her toy, and Leah will bother her by trying to take her toy, or shrieking in her face, or "patting" (aka, slapping) her on the top of the head, or just generally getting in Riley's personal space. Riley will then whine and shoot mommy and daddy a pleading look that says "can you PLEASE get this girl to leave me the hell ALONE?" And then she'll frown and rotate her body away from Leah so that she won't take her toy.

Or, Kathy and I sometimes play this "peek-a-boo" type game with Leah and Riley, where Kathy walks Riley down the hall while I hide with Leah around the corner. And then Leah and I suddenly pop out from around the corner and start "running" toward Riley and Kathy. I love watching the contrasting reactions. Leah will be smiling ear to ear, shrieking and laughing, and opening her mouth in preparation for planting a sloppy wet kiss on Riley. Riley, on the other hand, will just sigh with this resigned, semi-exasperated look on her face like a teenage girl whose little brother won't leave her alone, and you can see the cartoon thought-bubble over her head that says "Here comes that crazy, shrieky, slobbery girl again. Oh Lord, will I never get any peace?"

So, in the pie chart of Leah and Riley's twin-sister relationship:

• 25% of the time, Leah and Riley are totally ignoring each other.

• 25% of the time, Leah and Riley are slightly annoyed at each other, but grudgingly tolerant.

• 25% of the time, Leah and Riley are fighting to the death over something, usually either a toy or mommy's attention.

• 23.8% of the time, Leah is enchanted by Riley, but Riley just wants her to go away.

But about 1.2% of the time, the moon shifts, the tides turn, and the planets of Leah and Riley align in the heavens. And then behold -- the wondrous sight of Leah and Riley enjoying each other's company! They'll exchange this look, and then suddenly they'll be going back and forth making funny noises and giggling like schoolgirls. Or they'll have a huge giggly water-splash fight in the bathtub. Or they'll gleefully roll around next to each other on the bed or the couch, basking in the glow of having this built-in best friend. And suddenly all is well with the world for mommy and daddy. Ah yes, life is pretty freaking sweet for us twin parents. About 1.2% of the time, that is.

Eh, the other 98.8% of the time ain't all that bad either.