Yep, they're definitely sisters

There's just something about sisters. It's a relationship unlike any other you have with anyone else. You tattle on each other when you're young. You fight over clothes, the car, the bathroom .... well, pretty much everything when you're teenagers. You enter adulthood with distinct personalities, outlooks and opinions. But when you're old enough to have your own daughters, you're so glad to have your sisters to share them with.

Alena and Alivia are sisters. There's just no doubt about it. Even if you didn't know they were sisters, you could pick the sister pair out of a crowd of little girls playing. I guess, they just have that sister chemistry.

I honestly thought we had a few years before the bickering would start. That isn't the case. The two go at it. While the exchanges between them get heated at times, there are days when I have to turn away so they don't catch me laughing. They could easily be two twenty-somethings arguing if it weren't for the topics that are usually at the center of their disagreements.

Last week it was whether Aunt Mandy should hypothetically cut her hair and donate it to the Locks of Love project that provides wigs to children who are in need of them. Keep in mind Aunt Mandy probably doesn't even know what Locks of Love is, and has probably never entertained the idea of cutting her hair for donation. Yet, the two argued as if she were sitting in our kitchen with a scissor-bearing hairdresser standing over her and the argument's winner would either save her tresses or hand them over to the wig-making organization.

Today they fought over the phone and who would talk to dad first. I finally had to hang the phone up and tell them no one would be talking until they could agree to take turns. Even then, Alivia threw a fit when her turn was up and she was expected to turn the receiver over to Alena.

However, for all their fights, hair pulling (yes, they pull hair ... Alivia has been dubbed "dirty little fighter" by her father) and name calling (Alena loves to call Alivia a "mean witch"), they are sisters whose hearts are forever joined. No matter how ugly an episode between them gets, two minutes after it's ended, Alena's the first person to hand Liv a tissue to wipe her nose after a fall. And a fight over a toy is quickly forgotten as Liv comes toting Alena's "Mr. Hopper" to stop her tears. They are sisters.

Saturday morning as they were playing outside in the wading pool, I look to see Alivia standing with her back to Alena and Alena running her fingers through Alivia's wet hair as if she were putting it into a ponytail. At the time, to the pair, they were the only two people in the world. They are sisters.

Sometimes I watch them and it brings tears to my eyes to see the love between them. Sometimes I see them and wish that I never forget the innocence with which they care for one another and the feeling my own heart fills with when I secretly admire their interactions. They are sisters.