Color Me Identical!

Identical. Four of them. All identical. Can you imagine? The fear of not being able to tell my babies apart was real. Before they were born, we decided to assign each of them colors. Kapena (Green), Kupono (Blue), Keahi (Orange or Gray), Kaolu (Red) and Kamali’i (pink or purple). My mom sewed each of them a small pillow, cute little puppies, and bracelets in their colors. Once they were home from the NICU and their hospital bracelets were off, we utilized the bracelets to “label” the boys. At times, if I had it, I would dress them in their colors.

Two of the boys, who I called “little giants”, were bigger than the other two so it was a bit easier to be able to tell them apart. About a month or so after being home and me obsessively staring at them 24/7, I was confident I knew who was who so I took off the bracelets. My husband still wasn’t able to tell them apart, so he was a little uneasy. Once I returned to work, I was sure to dress the babies in their colors for him. Makaio, who turned two a month before they were born, was able to tell them apart just around the same time as I was. Often, you’d hear Ray asking Makaio “who’s this?” Actually, that still happens today, except Ray will ask the baby “What’s your name?”

Three-and-a-half years later, their colors have stuck. If you ask Kaolu what his favorite color is, he’ll say Red, Kapena will say Green, Kupono will say Blue and Keahi will excitedly shout “Orange!”  Most of their things are their colors; everything from their toothbrushes to towels, to plates, utensils and cups.

When we initially assigned these colors, it was to be able to tell them apart. Now, it’s used to identify who didn’t put away their towel, whose fork went flying across the room, and who needs more water in their cup. It’s an accidental genius move on our part.

Perhaps one day their favorite colors will change…we’ll see.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BExUIKSsyr1/

Here they are in birth order, but from what they’re wearing, you’ll be able to tell them apart.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQElBrjA5K2/

In this picture, you’ll see their colored bands on their ankles.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeNDJwujQVC/

Bowls. Who is who?

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I forgot to mention their bikes are also in their colors. P.S. There was no orange bike, so Keahi had to settle for yellow.

https://www.instagram.com/p/By9goKKHOvO/

Dinner is served.

One of my favorite finds are these utensils I found @WalMart.  These are made from recycled milk jugs.  Pretty cool, huh?

https://www.walmart.com/ip/REPLAY-UTENSILS-Color-and-style-may-vary/55334990

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