Select the first 2 posts on a blog and use a different template to display them

wp-highlight-first-2.php

<?php 
			// Get the WP global paged - this tells you what page number you're on 
			// (returns either 0 (I think) or page number)
			global $paged;
			// Check to see whether we've moved on to another page
			if( $paged < 2):
				// Set a counter
				$count = 0;
			endif;
			?>
			<?php if ( have_posts() ) : ?>
				<?php /* Start the Loop */ ?>
				<?php while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?>
					<?php 
					// check whether we have the counter and whether it's below 2 (for the first 2 posts)
					if ( isset($counter) && $counter < 2 ):
						// I always use get_template_part to get a template file to work on the content
						// makes loops a lot easier to manage. This line will get the file content-normal.php
						// in there you can do everything you do normally when inside the loop...
						get_template_part( 'content', 'highlight' );
						$counter++;
					else: 
						get_template_part( 'content', 'normal' );
					endif;
					?>
				<?php endwhile; ?>

			<?php else : ?>
				<p><?php _e( 'Error message: no posts found...', 'oneltd' ); ?></p>
			<?php endif; ?>