Today I was looking back over the 700+ pictures of Araiya in her Flickr set as I am anticipating her Third Birthday Tomorrow. It has been hard to accept my firstborn turning Three, as this milestone is seeming pretty significant to me. I can’t believe how much she has changed, matured and developed, that the little baby I once held almost can’t possibly be the same as this little girl who brightens each of my days. And I noticed, though, how Araiya and Pia looked very much alike in their newborn pictures. I can attest to me they look very different, and Tallis right away looked very different from Araiya. But clicking between pictures today, I now am seeing such a similarity, I almost can’t tell them apart in photos taken within a few days of each of their births. We could almost play a who’s who game:

Newborn Araiya:

Newborn Tallis:

Newborn Pia:

Nose. Eyes. Lips. So close.

As they have each grown the differences have become so much more obvious that they are each their own little person. Each have changed and continue to change at such a rapid rate, I almost fear my memories of their distinctness I saw so starkly in the previous stages is slipping, as the record I have made lies in the wake of all these thousands of photos we have taken. And today, for the first time, I almost can’t distinguish my girls. Regardless, they are each beautiful and incredibly special, tied together by the genetics that both divergently varies and connects them.