Balancing the Scales

I know it's a big parenting no-no to say this, because you aren't supposed to compare your kids against each other, but, right now, Riley is way more "impressive" than Leah. Am I going to parent hell for saying that? I am, aren't I?

It's not just me saying that though. When friends come over or when we go over to a friend's house, Leah leaves a decent enough impression, but Riley is usually the one who really turns on the charm. She smiles coquettishly. She flirts. She sings songs. She counts to ten. She remembers people's names. She spins around, giggling, until she falls down. I know I'm biased because I'm her dad and I'm a sucker for all her tricks, but trust me, it's hard to resist.

Meanwhile, Leah sucks her thumb or whines at Kathy to pick her up and/or give her food and/or read her a story. Sure, she can do some of the things that Riley can do, but she sure ain't gonna do it on demand, and she sure as heck ain't gonna do it in front of these perfect strangers staring at her. Who do we think she is, some kinda trained monkey?

And Riley's way ahead right now on the talking. Actually, come to think of it, Leah's ahead on the "talking" but behind on the "talking so people can understand what she's saying". Leah right now talks as if a bee stung her tongue or something and it's too big for her mouth. Riley, on the other hand, can generally repeat things right back to you. For example:

Me: Mmmm! Guacamole!
Riley: Mmmm! Guacamoyee!
Leah: Mmmm! Ca-ca-me!

So anyway, the people visiting or being visited will at some point say something like "Wow, Riley's great!" or "Wow, Riley's advanced!" Then comes a pause, while the person scrambles to figure out a suitable compliment for Leah. AWK-ward!

It's a kinda Catch-22 we're running into with having twins, where whenever you praise one of them for some new accomplishment, you feel guilty about not praising the other one, or you worry about the other one feeling left out. You hug one of them and you have to glance over at the other one to make sure they're not getting jealous.

Well, Riley's been getting heaps of praise lately, and we mustn't let it go to her head, so the rest of this post is hereby dedicated to Leah. Leah, you rock! Here are three great things about Leah:

1. She has this infectious way of displaying excitement, where she squeals, grins ear to ear, and kinda vibrates with joyous energy.
2. She's incredibly sweet when Riley's sad or not feeling well. She gets this concerned furrow in her brow and suddenly starts offering her all her toys one by one.
   
3. Best. Smile. Ever.