It’s double the giggles and double the grins, and double the trouble if you’re blessed with twins.
Author Unknown

May I introduce you to Esther Grace and William Nairn

As June ends we start three very exciting count downs

First – counting sleeps until Esther and William turn four

Second – counting the days til Rainbow Baby is expected to make an appearance

Third – counting the sleeps until big school

Big school!

How is that even possible?

The last four years have flown by

In a blur of comedy and tragedy

In a flurry of love stories

Punctuated by pain, loss and fear

Highlighted with happiness, sunshine and rainbows

And through it all

These two have stuck to one another like glue

Through thick and thin

They love one another

Comfort one another

Amuse each other

Entertain

Encourage

Challenge

They are siblings

Best friends

Twins

I love the way they talk to each other

Decide together what they are going to do

Where they are going to go

What they are going to play

I love the way they negotiate with each other

They kiss each other better when they are hurt

They cuddle each other when they are feeling poor

They giggle, how they giggle, when they are up to no good

The bond is strengthening day by day

As they become more aware of how special it is to have a twin

I worry about Esther and William all the time

Esther is a real thinker

She is the quieter of the two

And she thinks about things a lot

She is also physically frailer than William

Our fragile little fairy

And what a scare she has given us

With her febrile convulsion this week

Esther loves to draw

She can write her name

She loves small world play

And making up stories with her toys

She has started showing a real interest in dolls

Perhaps because Rainbow Baby is on her way

Esther says I love you all the time

She talks about how she loves Baby Tilda

She is a quiet, fragile, loving little girl

She is also cheeky and naughty

In an impish kind of way

William is a worrier

He talks about Tilda more than Esther

He asks questions all the time

Last weekend we saw a friend of the family

Who had quite a new baby

William looked at the mummy holding the baby

And said, quite matter of factly

Will her baby stay?

And I said yes, I hope so

William said

Our baby did not stay

Will our new baby stay?

We were in the car

And on our journey home

We answered William’s questions

Why do babies die?

Why did Baby Tilda die?

Will our new baby die?

Why do people die?

This was all before he watched his twin sister collapse

And broke his heart while we rushed around him in a panic

Not knowing if another of his sister’s was going to live or die

What must have been going through his head?

When the ambulance was called

And Esther had come round

I wrapped my arms around him

And we sobbed together

As I reassured him, as best I could

That Esther was going to be all right

I worry about William

Though he does always seem to bounce back

He is very emotional

He cries at stories and programs on TV

He always asks for cuddles

He hates being left anywhere

You have to wait for him to go downstairs

Or to a different part of the garden

He hates being left alone

He loves trains

And Octonauts

He loves running

And racing on his bike

He loves numbers and counting

And investigating how things work

He is adorable

And he and Esther together

Are just a terrific little twosome

Our miracle twosome

Born at 27 weeks

Surviving and seeing all that they have

In their almost four years

Itching and eager and ready for school

So excited about turning four

Impatient to know when the baby is ‘coming out’

Ready to walk together

On the path of their journey together

Onwards and upwards together

Holding hands

Always holding hands

Not double trouble, but twice blessed.
Author Unknown

All photographs are used with permission from Marie Donn Photography