Awww Pair!

January 12, 2014 12:29 AM

Watch as an adorable toddler meets her father's twin.
posted by pjern (37 comments total)

That child's mind just got blown.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:35 AM on January 12, 2014 [3 favorites]

When they pulled that pacifier outta her mouth was it "cookie" she said? I think she's just fine with whoever has the cookie!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 1:00 AM on January 12, 2014 [5 favorites]

Easily the most adorable fist bump I've ever seen.
posted by dogwalker at 1:01 AM on January 12, 2014 [37 favorites]

Those quick "...what?" looks back and forth are so precious.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:28 AM on January 12, 2014 [17 favorites]

When she looks back-and-forth between her Dad and Uncle is just priceless. It's like her universe was just blown open and she wasn't sure what was real anymore. Is this duplicate Dad just a large, talking cookie? In this new universe it is quite possible.

(at work I sometimes do fist bumps to little kids which includes me doing a explosion sound, and kids are like OMG EXPLOSIONZ THIS IS FANTASTIC)
posted by littlesq at 1:28 AM on January 12, 2014 [25 favorites]

I love the way she's all, "either Dad can hold me, it's cool," while at the same time her eyes are all "whoa! This is crazy!"
posted by kinnakeet at 1:55 AM on January 12, 2014 [8 favorites]

It must suck to be the twin who has to wear the silver chain over a turtleneck. I'd rather just wear a name tag.
posted by mullacc at 2:01 AM on January 12, 2014 [3 favorites]

( < _ < )
( > _ > )
( < _ < )
( o _ o ) cookie.
posted by 0 answers at 2:17 AM on January 12, 2014 [39 favorites]

the silver chain over a turtleneck

Actually, *that's* what had the kid momentarily flummoxed. She's like, really?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:22 AM on January 12, 2014 [13 favorites]

I thought she said "unkie."
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 3:12 AM on January 12, 2014 [4 favorites]

I love how she hesitated before going back to her dad when her uncle was holding her, like she was suddenly confused about which one was the real deal.
posted by sundaydriver at 3:21 AM on January 12, 2014 [4 favorites]

I was 3 when my dad started his math PhD. Visiting his office was fun because there was a blow-up dinosaur hanging from the ceiling, but also confusing because suddenly, I was SURROUNDED by white men who were also kind of short, bearded, and dark haired. Grown up people regularly confused my dad with his officemate; students taking Calc I from my dad would start asking Rob for help if my dad wasn't in his office, while my dad once got accosted in the bathroom by a disgruntled student from Rob's DiffEq course. For a 3 year old who still hadn't gotten over the fact that when my dad shaved off his beard, he was still the same person, this was a complicated situation. I still remember panicking and bursting into tears when I sat on his lap at a departmental picnic (thinking I was sitting on my dad) and then he said something to me and I realized it was NOT the right lap.
posted by ChuraChura at 4:03 AM on January 12, 2014 [27 favorites]

When I was 9, we moved across the country to live near my dad's family, many of whom I'd never met. We went to visit my great-grandma, and I was stunned when another one of her popped out from a back room. No one had ever bothered to tell me that she and her sister were identical twins and that, as elderly widows, they shared a house together.
posted by candyland at 4:22 AM on January 12, 2014 [22 favorites]

This is the cutest thing. I love how little kids are able to be cool with the weirdest things sometimes. Being brand new to the world, new and strange things happen to them every day, so they just take it in stride.

"Now I have two dads. Ok... *adjusts world view accordingly*
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 4:46 AM on January 12, 2014 [19 favorites]

Awww indeed. I'm usually immune to cute kid stuff but this was great - the blokes were so sweet.
posted by freya_lamb at 5:31 AM on January 12, 2014

Geesh, handle it like my buddy handled his twins when they were born. Let her put a different grease pen mark on each of their foreheads so she can tell the difference between the two - at least until they start to really differentiate themselves to her.
posted by Nanukthedog at 6:20 AM on January 12, 2014 [2 favorites]

My mom's an identical twin and this is what happened when my aunt brought my baby cousin to visit. It was 30 years ago so we only have lore, no video.

My own kids and husband still kind of do this if my mom and her twin are in the same room. It's only their nearly-identical voices that freak me out a little.
posted by padraigin at 7:18 AM on January 12, 2014

"Okay... be cool. Be cool. Obviously there's just two of him now. This isn't even the weirdest thing that's happened to you this week, considering that thing with the two dogs that apparently weren't fighting."
posted by Tomorrowful at 7:28 AM on January 12, 2014 [19 favorites]

I really didn't think I was going to find this as amusing as I did, but that wee toddlers expression when her eyes become twice as big is so precious. You can practically hear the gears going in her head.
posted by dabitch at 7:44 AM on January 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

" . . . and I guess that was the moment, Doctor, when I realized you could never trust anything about anyone ever."
posted by The Bellman at 8:31 AM on January 12, 2014 [13 favorites]

My friend's twin brother died at 18, right after fathering a little girl. My friend has said that his relationship to his niece is odd because genetically they could be father/daughter. For her, it's a little bit like having an alternate reality version of her dad around.
posted by bonobothegreat at 8:32 AM on January 12, 2014 [15 favorites]

"Look, I just got object permanence down. Don't fuck with me."
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:57 AM on January 12, 2014 [74 favorites]

This basically happened to me- my mom and her sister aren't twins, but they look VERY alike. The first time I met her I was apparently completely baffled. In fact my mom described the scene being much like this video: look up, look back, look up, look back, wrinkle tiny little forehead...
posted by showbiz_liz at 9:42 AM on January 12, 2014

bonobothegreat: "My friend's twin brother died at 18, right after fathering a little girl. My friend has said that his relationship to his niece is odd because genetically they could be father/daughter. For her, it's a little bit like having an alternate reality version of her dad around."

My dad is a twin, his twin died two days after their six week premature birth.

My brother and I often speculate what having a twin of our Dad would have been like, and who our cousins would have been.
posted by Sphinx at 10:26 AM on January 12, 2014

Mr. Superna, while not a twin, has a friend with quite similar red hair, beard, and build. In my opinion, they look more related to each other than to their own brothers.

When that friend's daughter was a young toddler, we all went to a movie. She spent the entire time silently staring at Mr. Superna. Each time her parents handed her off from one lap to the other, it was like her head was on a swivel: she was not going to let this doppleganger out of her sight. Our friends said it was the most peaceful movie experience they'd had since she was born.
posted by superna at 10:53 AM on January 12, 2014 [2 favorites]

My niece and nephew, and my daughters, call my twin and I, "Uncle Daddy."
posted by blob at 10:54 AM on January 12, 2014 [15 favorites]

Cookie? Bah! She very obviously says 'UnkaErnie' right after her dad coaxes her to do so.* Then the high five and the tiny fist bump. That's one cool toddler.


*I am a grandma, I can decipher these things.
posted by BlueHorse at 11:30 AM on January 12, 2014 [10 favorites]

"Now I have two dads. Ok... *adjusts world view accordingly*

I wonder if it's how they also reconcile holding their talking Elmo doll while simultaneously watching him on Sesame Street.

I'm pretty sure my two year old ascribes some sort of person-hood to her giraffe that she sleeps with each night, but we got her a second one, and her response was simply to tuck it under her other arm and sleep with both of them. I think she thinks it's the same "person" (they are quite interchangeable), just two of them.

I did try to grow a beard over Christmas, and let's just say that she wasn't a big fan, so I'm really not sure how a baby's psyche works, actually. I no longer have a beard.
posted by SpacemanStix at 11:43 AM on January 12, 2014 [2 favorites]

OMG, with her dummy and expression, she's Maggie Simpson come to life!
posted by Kerasia at 12:38 PM on January 12, 2014 [6 favorites]

At my Catholic high school, the oldest priest was like a hundred and sixty. In deference to his status as ranking Jesuit, he was allowed to teach one class, 4th year Latin. My best friend and I took this class, along with like six other people, because we were seniors, it was widely known Father McSenility would pass anyone who showed up for exams, and we figured we could phone it in all year and spend a significant amount of our time getting stoned in the parking lot.

Because he was just barely clinging to his ability to stand in front of a half dozen teenagers and plan a lesson, every Friday he would give a Latin mass for us in the chapel instead of an actual lesson, as this was something he could do on muscle memory alone and get out of 20% of his teaching responsibilities.

By October, my buddy and I are cutting class regularly, spending most of our free periods eating donuts and occasionally getting high. One Friday, we had just lit up, when a class mate starts banging on the window of my buddy's Toyota. "You guys weren't in class yesterday so I thought I should tell you. Father McSenile noticed that people are skipping mass and he's having everyone sign in now, you better show up."

What he hadn't told us, was that Father McSenile had also announced the day before that his 160 year old identical twin brother would be in town that day. He also happened to be a priest visiting from another diocese and the two of them celebrated mass together in matching vestments.

Showing up baked to see a Latin mass delivered in stereo by two ancient identical twin priests was one of the most surreal and treasured moments of my high school career.
posted by Random Person at 1:02 PM on January 12, 2014 [28 favorites]

My mom has an identical twin sister. They were both born in Belgium and then moved to the U.S. together. While her sister moved back a few years later, my mom stayed. When they get together it's really weird because my mom has nearly lost her accent but my aunt's is still reasonably thick. It always freaks me out because it's my mom's voice but it shouldn't have an accent.
posted by VTX at 1:07 PM on January 12, 2014 [5 favorites]

that his 160 year old identical twin brother

"For you see, time.... *phhhhhhwwwwpppp* is not a river. It is a *fwwwwwwwffffff* raging sea."
posted by Sebmojo at 1:59 PM on January 12, 2014

So cute! And I love all the adults cackling in the background. It's the best reason to have kids, as far as I can tell: mess with their minds and then piss yourself laughing at their reactions.
"Look! She...she...is totally confused and bewildered! Bahahahaha!!"
posted by billiebee at 2:08 PM on January 12, 2014 [2 favorites]

who knew a "terrorist fist jab" could be so adorable?
posted by billyfleetwood at 3:14 PM on January 12, 2014

I have a friend who, unknown to me at the time, had a twin. I remember meeting the twin and being told my friend was in the other room and I was all, "Yeah ok! I'll just go in the other room and see Ben now!" You can imagine how confusing the confused look on his twin's face was to me.
posted by vorpal bunny at 4:27 PM on January 12, 2014

I need Honest Toddler to weigh in on this, stat!
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 5:52 PM on January 12, 2014

My mom is an identical twin and even in their seventies people mistake them for one another. When my mom was pregnant with my brother I was two and, since my dad was off in Viet Nam, we moved in across the street from Aunt Janie so she could help with me. (Naturally she was also pregnant at the time because that's how Mom and Aunt Janie roll.)
Every morning Aunt Janie would come over to get me up and feed me breakfast and every morning I would call her "Mommy" - until my REAL mommy got up at which point I would ignore her until the next morning when we would do the whole thing over again.
posted by smartyboots at 8:33 AM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]