Sisters!

No good Mommy or Grandma makes comparisons. Honestly, we girls seem to do enough self-evaluating as it is: Is she prettier? Is she smarter? Do people like her better? And on and on and on.

So I realize I am on shaky ground when I put newborn photos of Kinley and Brooke side by side. But I also know how my memory fails me. In many ways, it seems much longer ago than 2.75 years that Kinley was this itty-bitty. I'm used to a big girl who asks questions right and left and blows bubbles on the back deck.

So, yes, this Grandma did the unthinkable: I found a photo of Kinley wearing her Powercat stocking cap and took a similar one of Brooke. Kinley weighed just less than 6 pounds when she was born, and Brooke was 7 pounds, 6 ounces. So there are some differences in size. Still, I do believe there is some family resemblance, don't you?

I also did the same dolly experiment I did with Kinley, though I got Brooke her own doll. (Every little girl needs her own Dolly.) On the first weekend of Kinley's life, I took a photo with a doll my parents gave her. During her first year, Kinley and Dolly starred in several photo shoots (here and here, among them.) I started the same tradition with Brooke last weekend. I'm guessing her Dolly will do a fair amount of "shrinking" this next year, too. (And, again, I think there is some family resemblance in these two photos, though some differences, too. 

FYI: Brooke's doll is a little shorter than Kinley's.

I know all about family resemblance. I am the oldest of four children. I became a big sister to Lisa at age 15 months. I was 4 when my second little sister, Darci, was born, and 9.5 when my brother, Kent, arrived. 

I could give Kinley lots of advice about being a big sister. (No comments from my three siblings, please!)

A big sister is part of the welcoming committee to this big old world.

It's good to share toys and make sure the younger one is well-entertained. It keeps both of you out of trouble.

It's advisable to be a good helper to your Mommy and assist with important things like hat placement and fetching needed items.

Mommy's and Daddy's budget gets a boost when sisters share clothes and shoes. (That works for a while anyway.)

They look less alike in these photos: Brooke is on the left and Kinley on the right.

It's important to know every aspect of diapering so that you can be Mom's righthand girl when the time is right.

But most of all, you just have to love them.

As I drove back home this Sunday evening, I tried to remember the words of an Irving Berlin song called, "Sisters," from the musical, "White Christmas." I think there's some truth among the lyrics.

Sisters, sisters

There were never such devoted sisters ...

I'm there to keep my eye on her

Caring, sharing

All kinds of weather, we stick together

The same in the rain and sun

Two different faces, but in tight places

We think and we act as one

Those who've seen us

Know that not a thing could come between us.

Selected lyrics from Irving Berlin's song, "Sisters, Sisters"

I hope it's true for Kinley and Brooke. (There are some lyrics that deal with men coming between sisters, but let's hope it's a good long time before any of that happens.)