Separation anxiety?

Daisy seems to be entering another period in which it's difficult to be separated, though it's not anything like the baby separation anxiety. This seems more cerebral, somehow, and psychologically sophisticated--like she's deeply contemplating the concept of aloneness! My parents noticed it when Mark and I went away for a night for our 12-year anniversary (July 14); Daisy spent the night at their house and apparently she said a few times (calmly), "Why am I all alone, without my mother and father?" They said she wasn't upset, just interested. When we drove her home, she said to us, "I was all by myself, alone." I asked her if she had missed me, and she said yes. Then I asked if she had been sad, and she said, "No, because I was with Gommy and Gompy."

Tonight, though, she got big tears in her eyes at bedtime and was telling me, "There is a problem." I had only been away from her briefly that day--for maybe an hour and a half. After repeating "There is a problem" a few times, with these tears welling, she finally articulated, "The problem is that my mama goes away and leaves me all by myself." Mark was away that evening, and she also said later, "There is someone missing. It's Dada. The three of us are not together."

She really seems to be thinking it all over, processing it, instead of being overwhelmed and overtaken by it. At least she is able to talk about these feelings.

I think I have been somewhat irritable with her lately, so I also want to record her incredible sweetness when I put her to bed tonight. She asked me if I was going to come in later and check on her (I said yes), and then as I was turning out the light, she called, "I love you, Mama." She is the best!