Have you ever watched a cat knead their paws through a blanket? This is what my children look like when you place a "slinky blankie" in their little hands. Their eyes glaze over, the lids halfway closed in ecstasy, their little mouths turn up in the corners and their breathing slows to a regular purr. Their tiny dimpled fingers grip the satin material in a rhythmic caress and they both bring the material to their cheek. No one showed Shelby, my first daughter, how to rub the material between her fingers or slide it alongside her cheek while she held a bottle in the other hand. I am amazed at how she's perfected her sleeptime ritual since birth. And my second child, Ana, now 8 months, practices the identical soothing routine. It is truly a sight to see when you hand them each a bottle and a blankie. Like synchronized swimmers in a food coma, one a smaller version of the other, their movements perfectly timed as they glide their little fingers along the blankie to the beat of a silent drum. They bring the satin to their little cheeks in unison and their eyes flutter closed while their little lips pump milk from a bottle. Part child, part feline, 100% mine.
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