Lunch yesterday (which, despite the fact that it was the first pretty day in months, was taken at my in-laws' kitchen table with the windows closed and shades drawn...depressing): my FIL was holding the new baby, who was perfectly content and happy, and all of a sudden, grandma-in-law blurts out, "She has separation anxiety!" Then in a complete non sequitur, MIL started talking about how the new baby won't take a pacifier. I don't know what it means, except that it stands in stark contrast to Twinklette's lifelong obsession with the Nuk. The new baby is a great sleeper, too.

I really don't think my MIL loves any child more or less. I'm not sure what to make of the bragging that the new baby won't take a Nuk because I know MIL hates it that we haven't broken Twinklette of it yet. I'm convinced that kids even love them or hate them, and none of it matters in the long run, but MIL seems to see it as a character flaw. As for the sleep thing, I'm trying to be gracious and generous there. Maybe the kid really is a good sleeper. It doesn't matter to me whether she sleeps or not...Twinklette has long since passed the wakes-up-every-three-hours-stage (although she stayed there for awhile). I just know that, when I was a new mom, I hated to hear moms like SIL bragging that their kid slept 10 hours at a time. My philosophy on that is, even if it's the case, just shut up about it...no sleep-derived new mother wants to hear you bragging that your kid is a marathon sleeper. It's the equivalent of sitting down at a restaurant while the entire table is eating fried cheese and saying, "Look at me--I'm a size 0, and no matter what I do, I just eat and eat, and I cannot gain weight." Barf!

Anyway, Mr. Twinkle and I did an unofficial audit yesterday. We have 2 separation anxiety comments from Grandma (and, unless she learned the concept in the past month, she's biased...'cause she sure never said that about Twinklette). Then we've got the did-you-wash-your-finger comment from MIL. We tend to think that MIL and Grandma have diverged, based on the evidence we've seen: GMIL thinks SIL can do no wrong; MIL still thinks everyone's incompetent.

Anyway, it sounds like Twinklette's awake (it's 8 o'clock...Twinklette is a late sleeper for a toddler. I know some little kids her age who get up at 5 a.m.) Do I harp on it all the time? No.