Always Two

Henry woke up ten or fifteen minutes before Eleanor today. I was able to sneak in and get him without Eleanor stirring, and got to steal a few a minutes of one-on-one time with my boy, snuggling with him and taking in how cute he is in his bear jammies.

Why is this worthy of its own blog post? Because ever since Henry and Eleanor were born it's always been the two of them. I've had to bond with them as a pair and have rarely had the luxury of time spent with "just one." In their infancy, this was mainly due to logistics. We had car seat bases in only one car, and it was often much easier to run errands solo while the other parent stayed home with both babies. In toddlerhood, it has mainly been due to Eleanor. The few times we've tried splitting them up for some solo time, she's cried until she's been reunited with her brother. (I can't assign her all the blame, though. Henry repeatedly asked to wake Eleanor up during our snuggles this morning.)

I've never had an entire day, or a half-day, or even just a few hours spent with only one of my children. Of course, the flip side to this is I get to witness the wonderful twin bond that always seemed like a stereotype to me until I saw it on a daily basis with Henry and Eleanor. I know that as they get older they'll likely want their space from one another, so for now I'll keep telling myself to enjoy their closeness, even if it means enjoying my children as a pair.