Chalk and Cheese 7

The most obvious difference between the twins would be differences brought about by gender. Obviously there are the girl and boy bits differences that they are all too happy to point out very loudly to anyone who would give them time of day.

But they really are typical boy and girl.

Evan

What he loves that makes him a typical boy.
1. Buses- all kinds. Double deckers, the bendy ones that he calls the caterpillar bus, the single deck ones, school buses. He knows the buses that ply our roads and which MRT stations they serve.

2. Trains- Like buses, all kinds. MRT trains, Sky trains and he loves loves loves the Tanjong Pagar railway station. If I had had enough foresight, I would have taken him on the train before they shut operations. He also loves train tracks because trains run on them. Strangely though, while he has some affinity to Thomas the Tank (check out his clothes), he doesn't really LOVE them the way I know some boys do. I suspect it had a lot to do with an episode of Thomas that he watched where the coal that Thomas was carrying tipped over and covered all the trains in soot.
























3. Cars- Actually, I need to be specific. The insignias of the cars. Walking out of the car park sometimes takes 10 minutes because he will go car to car, trying to identify the car by the badge in front. His favourites are the VW because my brother drives it; the Honda because Uncle Shaun (his bestest friend in the world) drives it and we used to drive it before Muffin came along; the Subaru because his Uncle Mark and we drive it and the Toyota because his grandparents drive it. He will chide anyone who pronounces Toyota with the emphasis on the last syllable and correct them emphasising the middle syllable. Did I say that my son also possesses a somewhat Type 1 personality?

















4. Helicopters- His favourites are the Chinooks and the Apaches. Chinooks being one of the first words he uttered clearly. His grandma's house seems to be on the training flight path of the Chinook and once he hears the whirling, where ever he is, he will come running out of the house with his eyes peeled to the sky. Even when he was at child care, this love for helicopters was so obvious, it was written in his year end report to us!

5. Anything with movable parts- Toys that have mechanisms, wheels on axis, he will sit and spin them or watch them. I think if I brought him to a Krispy Kreme outlet where they make the doughnuts on site, I would never get him out of there and that would be before even letting him near a doughnut.

So, there five ways that he is very boy and all in a way that Jordan couldn't care less about. But she has, by osmosis and sheer proximity absorbed some of that knowledge just like I did, learning about military hardware just by listening to my brothers converse at the dinner table.

Jordan

1. Obviously, her Disney Princess obsession. So much so that she has named her dresses. The Cinderella dress. The Belle dress. Her latest spiel is that she will wear her Cinderella dress for her 4th birthday. She has no concept of time yet so she tells me this everyday and I pray for patience as I hear it for another 3 months and 2 days to her birthday itself.

























2. Dancing- Give the girl some music and she will immerse herself in it and twirl. And she will close her eyes and prance. It's really her thing. Her brother will stand around and watch at best. Occasionally, she drags him in to be her partner but he will have none of that. I guess it's just her going to dance class.

3. Trinkets- In the picture where she's wearing her pink "Belle" dress, she is also wearing her Grandma's necklace. She loves accessorizing. And there, she's already one step ahead of Mommy because Mommy doesn't know how to accessorize. Our helper spends afternoons stringing beads for her in all lengths, making her necklaces, bracelets and anklets. All of which she will wear at the same time. Even though the school rules prohibit it, she seems to have gotten away with wearing various pieces into class.

4. Drawing and Colouring- It's true what they say. While Evan is the more intellectual of the two, Jordan is the one who has the patience to sit and colour. Usually it's coloured all in pink but there's effort put into it. She also draws, beautifully. Her drawings of girls have them with long lashes and she makes sure that their lips are red.























5. Playing house- This is a past time that occupies both children. They take on roles. Mommy, Daddy, baby and occasionally the bird on the tree. But Jordan is the one who will carry the baby, put her animals to bed and cover them with blankets. We have come home to various stuffed animals tucked in comfortably into our bed with the covers pulled up.

There are a lot of things that are supposed to separate them down gender lines but in those situations, they don't stick to their 'category'. Evan loves watching me put on my make up in the morning and Jordan catches the basketball like a pro.

But that's another post for another time.

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