Benjamin and Julia Cook are cousins and are only 3-1/2 months apart. They have been best buddies their whole lives. People always ask us if they are brother and sister, especially when we spent a week in Manasquan together in 2008. They look like twins. They spend so much time together that they act like brother and sister (and fight like brother and sister too!). If they’ve been apart for more than a couple of days, they start asking to see each other.

At the age of three, Ben and Julia had their first “sleepover” at naptime in Ben’s room. They each had their own mat on the floor with their own pillow, blanket and stuffed animal. Ben had his Winnie the Pooh bear that he always sleeps with. Julia had Ben’s Piglet. At first, they were very quiet and then they made little noises for 45 minutes. Apparently, they told us later that “Pooh and Piglet were talking to each other”. They were oohing and ahhing and whispering very sweet nonsense words to each other. I would say that this was their first true bonding experience.