Fiona and Laurel

On Monday, Fiona had a playdate with Laurel. A year Fiona's senior, Laurel is the daughter of Susie, who has been my friend (and playmate) basically since birth.

Generally, playdates between an 8-month-old and a 19-month-old involve lots of what developmental psychologists term "parallel play" (I knew I'd put that developmental psych degree to use at some point!). This was certainly true of Fiona and Laurel, who more or less ignored each other as they banged toys together on the carpet and in the baby pool. However, at the end of our time together, the following exchange occurred. Luckily, I was on hand to capture the sequence of events. Judge for yourselves whether Laurel is a sweet little girl who has learned the art of sharing, or whether Fiona is using her Jedi mind tricks to manipulate Laurel into handing over her sippy cup. The truth probably lies somewhere in between.