Genetics are a funny things.  Now we have two examples of what happens when you start with one-part J, one-part me, mix and bake for about nine months.  I spent a good part of each day noticing how different the kids are.  Clare is all focused intensity (much like J).  She walks on her toes and loves books (much like me).  She’s very ticklish, like me.  Sam is all mellow contentment (much like… well, neither J or I, but rather our fathers).  He has a “huh huh huh” laugh like J but is really goofy, more like me.  He’s not very ticklish at all, similar to J.  The two of them approach the world so differently already.  Besides that, Clare is tall and thin with long limbs and fingers.  She’s all coordination, balance and finesse.  Sam is a solid, fireplug of a guy who seems to tend more to brute strength and force.

But then there are the similarities.  Every now and then I’m surprised how alike they look.  They also have the same voice and have the same coos and cries.  They are both very, very affectionate.  They both get the same crinkle in their forehead when they are trying to figure something out.  They both wrinkle their noses when they are feeling silly.  They both think their Daddy is the funniest person alive.

But besides how they relate to each other, they are their own individual people.  Clare stands on her own feet as an individual in addition to being Sam’s sister.  Sam is his own little man, though not standing yet, aside from being Clare’s brother.  They are parts of J and I, and the people who came before us, but their unique take on those parts makes them whole.  They are the same as every other person on earth and, yet, the most precious and special people ever to be on the earth.