Duck Season

The tough part about the girls right now is that they can be so dang possessive. I guess that's supposed to be normal for toddlers to define the entire world in terms of the two categories "mine" and "not mine". But having a twin sister changes things a bit -- with Riley and Leah, there is this extra category thrown into the mix called "hers". And lately, the girls have been getting more and more aware of Category #3.

Like -- first thing in the morning, we take the girls out of their cribs, and Leah will usually walk over to the chair where we've laid out the clothes for the day.

She'll grab a pair of socks. "Leah's socks!" she'll exclaim, holding the socks out for all to observe. Actually, Leah's got a bit of a Daffy Duck lisp these days, so it sounds more like "Leah'thth thockthth!"

Then she'll point to the other pair of socks sitting on the chair. "Riley'th thockth."

Then she'll pick up a shirt. "Leah'th Shut!" she'll exclaim, triumphantly holding the shirt over her head.

Then she'll point to the other shirt sitting on the chair. "Riley'th shut," she'll say parenthetically.

And so on, throughout the day. Leah'th book! (Riley'th book.) Leah'th ball! (Riley'th ball). Good thing we usually have at least two of all the toddler-coveted things in our house, or all hell would be breaking loose.

Luckily, Leah and Riley are learning to share. Kinda. Okay, it's not exactly sharing - more like "taking turns". Actually, it's more like "trading". "Trading" is still sharing, right?

Here's how it goes down.

1. Leah has a doll and Riley has a doll.
2. Leah decides she is dissatisfied with her doll and she wants Riley's (identical) doll.
3. Leah points to Riley's doll, and says "Leah'th!"
4. Riley stares at Leah, stone-faced.
5. Leah tries to grab Riley's doll, and says "Leah'th baby!"
6. Riley stares at Leah, stone-faced.
7. Leah starts pointing and chanting "Leah'th" with increasing urgency and with increasing protrusion of lower lip.
8. After about fifteen seconds of chanting, Riley gives up and hands Leah her doll, simultaneously grabbing the doll formerly known as Leah's doll.
   
9. Leah smiles and runs away excitedly. Riley gives me a look that basically says "Ya see what I gotta put up with?"
   
10. The end.

Now, picture this happening about twelve times a day but replace the word "doll" above with "book" or "ball" or "toy", or, a few minutes ago, (yuck) "toothbrush". That's basically what our life is right now.

Could be worse, I guess.