Deja Vu! (sort of)

I think my mom (Mop) has been plotting out this photo re-creation since the news sunk in that she was having twin granddaughters, or at least when it first became clear just how similar Tessa and Annie are, in appearance and mannerisms, to Sara and me when we were little.  It's pretty freaky, really.  I think it's probably very surreal for my parents to experience this "twin-ness" all over again, especially this toddler phase!  Having identical twins is not proven to be hereditary at all, so the random splitting of an egg that produces identical twins just happened to occur in back-to-back generations for us.  I still believe there's something genetic there.  Either way, it's very special!!

So, in an attempt to commemorate this weird little branch of our family tree, Mop actually recreated the long-lost sailor dresses that Sara and I wore for the picture below, taken when we were two years old.  (All twin stuff aside, isn't she a talented seamstress??  She just whipped them up from looking at the photo!) 

Once she'd finished sewing, and Tessa and Annie had received these adorable dresses for their second birthday, the ball was then in my court to recreate the original photo.  Should be an easy task, right? Umm, no.  Anyone with more than one child can relate to the struggle to get them to both smile for a photo.  Add to that the difficulty in getting them to sit still.  When they are both the same age, and you can't exactly have one hold down the other (like a toddler holding a baby), they both go running in opposite directions before you can snap even one photo.  Never mind the difficulty of getting them to seat themselves in the exact positions you have in mind. 

Naively, I thought I could pull this off, though.  I set a date and a time to show up to Picture People with my little sailors, freshly napped, and sister-less.  I even paid for said sisters to stay longer at preschool to accomplish this crazy trip to the nearest Picture People 20 miles away.  Suffice to say, it did not go as planned.  These sailors were a smiley hit in the waiting area, where I took the opportunity to confidently show everyone the picture I was attempting to recreate.  I even had a plan for where each girl was going to sit -- Tessa behind Annie.  But once the camera came out, all smiles disappeared and shyness and squirminess set in.  I had granola bars, candy and milk in my arsenal to motivate them to say cheese, all to no avail.  Tessa was either looking down and avoiding eye contact (her defense mechanism with strangers -- finely tuned and practiced daily when strangers accost their stroller with incessant questions and conversation about twins) or crying for the entire shoot.  And, Annie kept high-tailing it out of the shot and exclaiming, "I want Mommy's camera!!" 

Considering how poorly the session had gone, I didn't have high hopes for a picture to turn out, and had entirely ditched the idea of ending up with anything remotely similar to the "inspiration" photo.  Luckily, one (and only one!) was halfway decent, and since I had a coupon for a free print, I "purchased" it.  (Obviously, Sara and I were angels.  I mean, how did we both smile like this for this photo??!!  I really would like to know.  Not that I'm likely to attempt something like this again.  But, in the event that I do, I'll tighten up their ties and cut their bangs so they don't look quite so unkempt in comparison.)

Here are all four little sailors!

Me (left) and Sara (right)

Annie (left) and Tessa (right)