BURLINGTON, N.C.,None — Coming up with a plan and a day to celebrate their children's birthday so far is fairly easy for Marlin and Christy Alston.
The Burlington couple are the proud parents of 1-year-old twins who celebrated their first birthday on New Year's Day this year. On its face, it seems simple enough. But Christy Alston expects birthday celebrations to get a bit more complicated as the youngsters age.
That's because Ashton Parker Alston is actually older than his twin sister Alisha Rae Alston. Technically, it's only by two minutes but Ashton was born Dec. 31, 2010 and Alisha was born at midnight Jan. 1, 2011 and the first baby born at Duke University Medical Center in 2011.
"A lot of people were interested in how we would celebrate their birthdays," Christy Alston said. "Some people thought they were a year apart."
This year, the couple celebrated the twins' birthday with family and friends on New Year's Day, which fell on a Sunday, although they did sing "Happy Birthday" to Ashton on Dec. 31. He also received his first haircut that day.
Christy Alston wasn't expecting New Year's babies, and she definitely never considered that they would be born on different days. They were actually due Feb. 20, 2011. But Christy ended up at Duke University Medical Center on Dec. 26, 2010 because her blood pressure was extremely high and she went into labor on New Year's Eve.
Ashton weighed in at 3 pounds, 8 ounces and Alisha 3 pounds, 10 ounces. They didn't actually go home until last Jan. 14, once they were 4 pounds each. Despite their unexpected arrival marking the end of one year and beginning of the next, the twins' first year has been relatively normal.
"It's been very, very busy," Christy said.
The twins have essentially caught up with their peers in regard to height and weight. Their main words are "mama" and "dada," but they mostly babble, Christy said.
"They are very attentive and when music comes on they dance," Christy said. "They understand when you tell them no."
Alisha is already trying to show up her older brother. She started walking at 10 months. Ashton started two weeks ago.
Marlin is a stay-at-home dad.
"He put them on a schedule and has kept them on it," Christy said.
Christy doesn't know if the twins will always celebrate their birthdays on the same day every year, although the Alstons plan to continue that tradition for awhile or at least "until they can tell us what they want to do," Christy said.