Sibling Rivalry (not the trendy restaurant in the Theater District)

The last doctor’s appointment with shots Jill was up half the night. That appointment was at 4pm. So this time around I thought I’d be an experienced and wise parent and make a morning appointment. It worked. We let her cry for about 3 minutes (seemed like 15) and she fell asleep. Tony jumped back into bed so excited I didn’t think he’d be able to sleep (kinda like the “snow day effect” when schoolchildren can’t sleep in) but then exhaustion set in. So here we are. Asleep at 10:30pm. An amazing thing. Until Rachael decides that last night would be a good time to express her feelings of neglect since the baby arrived 9 weeks ago.

Now Rachael has never been a dog to demand attention. She’s super chill and relaxed and would rather be left alone on her bed. I definitely haven’t been walking her as much but that’s also due to the weather. I don’t want to take Jill - the barely 10lb baby – out when it’s below 30ish. So last night we paid. Rachael made her way up Tony’s side of the bed and asked to be let out around midnight. She didn’t have to go to the bathroom. She just wanted to play. Tony obliged but was no doubt annoyed. Then Jill woke up to eat too. Tony moved the pack n play to block his side of the bed. I fed Jill and we all went to sleep. Well not Rachael. I could feel someone looking at me in my sleep so I opened my eyes and there was Rachael: sitting perfectly and staring at me, asking to be let up onto the bed. Tony and I invite Rach onto the bed here and there during weekends. She never sleeps in bed with us. She’ll lounge in the morning hours while Tony reads the paper and I have my coffee. But last night we needed sleep so badly – and were so thrilled that Jill was sleeping well – that Tony didn’t care. He lifted Rachael onto the foot of the bed and we all went to sleep. I remember having extra warm feet.