Bath time!

Though there are so many ways I could have expressed how different our boys are, the above title says it all, both literally and figuratively. Ty, our white homeboy, as G calls him, is definitely the West and Eli J, our dark homeboy, is definitely the East. We laugh about how different they look, as people often ask me if I have adopted “that handsome Indian baby,” while G gets asked by strangers if he adopted Tyus. Hilarious. But what is even funnier to me is how truly different they are. I know that Biology tells me that my children would have the same chance of having similar personalities as two strangers, but I don’t think I quite believed Biology until now. Seriously, just last night we were doing our routine of trying to trick, bribe, or play Ty into eating some bland universally kid-friendly food (like quesedillas or cereal or noodles with butter) to no avail; meanwhile, Eli J nearly inhaled lentils with peas, spinach, feta cheese, and sundried tomatoes. Eli eats foods many adults would not touch while Ty Ty refuses to eat foods that every child is supposed to love.

And the differences don’t stop there. Ty is cautious and careful while Eli seems to thrive on risk-taking. This is seen played out in nightly baths, where Ty plays creatively with the bath toys as Eli pounds his toys on the sides of the bath. Or later in the bath when we reason with Ty to explain that we have to get his head wet to wash the mohawk out of his hair as Eli dives face first into the bath and gets up laughing. They are a funny pair!

They are so different, but I really do love and appreciate their differences; I would not want them any other way. We are praying that they would champion each other, enjoy one another, protect one another like David and Jonathon.  We also trust that they will be like Joab and Abishai in 1 Chronicles who are fighting battles for the Kingdom on different fronts, but promise to help one another in times of need. When I pray this, and even as I type this, the Lord continues to convict me that I so often don’t relate to other’s differences this way. Typically I feel threatened, jealous, and intimidated by other’s gifts and personalities. I am growing in thankfulness that the Lord has given us two such different sons whom I love equally and intimately and individually. I am assuming that I can do that because it is in the nature of God the Heavenly Father to do the same!