Identical Cousins

Remember the Patty Duke Show?  Patty Duke played both Patty Lane and Cathy Lane, identical cousins (whose identical looks were attributed to their identical twin fathers) who while similar in appearance, were completely different in all other respects.

"Where Cathy adores a minuet, the Ballet Russes, and crepe suzette,
Our Patty loves to rock and roll, a hot dog makes her lose control -
What a wild duet!"

When Sara and I were little, we used to pretend we were identical twins.  Never mind the two and half year age, significant height, hair color, and eye color differences; we thought that if we dressed identically, no one - including our dad - could tell us apart.  (Wish I had a picture of us in our matching black stirrup pants, Mickey Mouse sweatshirts, and pink flowered Keds to show you...)

We no longer believe we could pass for twins - we actually don't think we look very much alike at all anymore - but there must be at least a few similarities in our facial features and expressions because when we're out and about together strangers often remark that we must be sisters.

Do you see the similarities?

    
We are now trying to turn our daughters into twins, or at least identical cousins, despite the 20-month age, significant height, hair color, and eye color differences.

It was difficult to see many similarities...

...until, of course, we dressed them in matching outfits.  I bet you can't tell them apart anymore.

They're even wearing matching "I'm so sick of
having my picture taken" expressions.

Now that they're getting a little older, Sara takes pictures of Lily in outfits that Hallie (and even Will) wore 18 months earlier and we compare the pictures to see if there really are any similarities in the girls' appearances.  Here all three kids are in a Winnie the Pooh costume; as you can see, only two of the three enjoyed the experience.  You'll also notice that both girls felt the need to add an accessory to their ensemble.

Sara, Jeff, and Lily are coming to visit in about a week, and I'm planning to dress Hallie and Lily in matching outfits every single day.  Maybe with some smooth talking (Hallie's a pretty smooth talker) they'll be able to convince a very gullible someone that they're twins.

And even if they can't, Sara and I hope that dressing them alike is/will be one way for us to create a special bond between the girls, so that one day the lyrics of the Patty Duke Show theme song will ring true when Hallie and Lily are together.

"What a crazy pair...
You can lose your mind, when cousins are two of a kind!"