differences

A question we are most often asked, from strangers and friends alike, is "how do you tell them apart". Well.......

When they were first born, James had a prominent milia spot on his right ear. Once we found this, it was a great clue, but, after a couple of months, it slowly disappeared and we had to come up with others ideas.

First and foremost, always look at the hair. James was born with darker hair - longer and spikier. That worked for a while, until Angus' hair started growing in. Now they have similar coloured hair but Angus has grown a little tuft of hair in the front, a la Tin Tin, and James has a double crown. The boys no doubt have Bob's hair, straight as a board. God love 'em when they have to deal with it in adolescence.

Angus is the more temperamental of the two. When he cries, he cries louder and when he laughs it is with his whole body. As a result, he usually gets everything first. He has also started to protest when we leave the room. He is very curious, reaching for things and crawling. He has started to kneel at the edge of his crib trying to come out and play.

James is more laid back. While originally twin A, he is now always second -  second to be fed, second to be changed, second to be bathed - and is usually content to chill out, play with a toy or suck his toes. He loves being outside. He picks things up well with his little chubby fingers and looks at them for prolonged periods before stuffing them into his mouth (fine if it's Cheerios, not so good when it's a handful of grass). James likes to sleep on his side. He is also more talkative - cooing and babbling, but also saying a few disernable words like "mama", "dada" and "lala" (much to Lila's delight)

For a while, Angus was thinner than James, and as a result the shapes of their faces were different. In fact, at times we did wonder if they were identical at all. Now Angus has caught up with his brother and they are looking more and more alike.

If, after all of that, you still can't tell them apart - we usually dress James in stripes.