Shaved Kitty Cats?

Have I ever mentioned that I'm allergic to cats? Greg and I have three, despite my allergy. I got Sebastian the day I graduated with my bachelor's degree, and adopted Molly one year later. Tubby is our third cat, and he was Greg's kitty before he met me. It is quite strange, though, that my two cats are somewhat messy, just like me, and Greg's cat is meticulously neat.

That's why I had Molly and Sebastian shaved. Both of them now look quite silly. Here's Nick petting Molly. She is only half-shaved because she fights to the death to prevent anyone from coming near her with a razor.

Sebastian is my long-haired kitty. He is rather fat and has trouble grooming himself. I do believe he's much happier naked, although he looks quite silly.

Check out Sebastian's puffball of a tail. My sister's friend Stephanie did the bathing and shaving, and my sister helped. Both of them looked like they'd been through a war when it was all over. And indeed they had. I'm not sure who won in the end, but both kitties are now clean, shaved, and fresh-smelling. I've noticed in the last few days that I don't have tumbleweeds of cat hair on my hardwood floors, and the couches are missing the thick layer of cat fur that is the norm around here.

Nick's Last Hurrah at Choo Choo Johnny's

His last hurrah as an only child, that is. On Saturday, I took Nick out for a Mommy and Me kind of day. I had errands to run, but I purposely picked places to go that I knew he would enjoy. We ate our lunch at Choo Choo Johnny's, a train-themed restaurant on the south side of Naperville.

I pass this restaurant everyday on my way to and from work, but we've never tried it. Nick was literally jumping up and down with joy when we went inside. "I see trains!" he said. Yup. In fact, a train actually delivered our food! Nick's eyes got really big when the train came, bearing a hot dog and fries for him. That's like every little man's dream!

While I cannot say much about the food other than to describe it as your typical hamburger joint-type fare, Nick has never enjoyed a meal so much. the picture below is out of focus, but it perfectly expresses Nick's state of mind.

We enjoyed our meal and then Nick got to play with the train table and some of the games. This place takes the train theme really far--the employees all wear conductor's uniforms, train-themed music plays, and a train goes around the ceiling.

This day was all about Nick, and I know he had a blast.

Besides our trian-themed lunch, we also went to garage sales looking for clothes and toys, visited Costco for some samples (Nick loves their samples), and went to the PetSmart to see the birdies and fishies.

We got a surprise when they had an adoption event. Nick wanted to take some kitties home with us, but I told him we had enough cats. We have 3, but they don't play with him like these kittens did. They actually enjoyed his attentions!

 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Here, Kitty-Kitty. . .

This is Molly. She is a 9-year old mixed-breed cat, and she has a thing for Nick. Our other cats are afraid of him, but she actively seeks him out. The feeling is mutual, as you can see above.

I got Molly in 2001 when she was a tiny little thing. She's always been the most vocal cat, and her personality is more human than cat. Molly makes all kinds of noises, and is especially attached to men, although she tolerates me. With four males in the house (two human and two feline), Molly and I are the only girls around. She genuinely believes she is in charge, and it is seldom that anyone argues with that. Our two other cats know that she's the one in charge, and they accept her dominance.

When Nicholas starts crying, Molly will go to him and yowl at us as if to say, "Do something about it!" I'm not sure if she does this out of love or because she can't stand the sound of his crying. She'll try to comfort him, too, by nuzzling him with her chin. A couple of days ago she sat under his high chair and he threw her pieces of roast beef. I was thinking maybe he didn't like roast beef, but then I fed it to him today and he liked it just fine. Babies are fickle, I guess.

Nick likes to show his affection for Molly with big hugs. Unfortunately, he often tackles her to the ground with these hugs. Other cats would run away, but Molly stands her ground and refuses to leave, even after having her ears pulled or her fur yanked. Molly's patience has increased in recent months, and she mostly just growls until Greg or I come and peel him off of her. It's not surprising that one of his first words is "Kitty." When I gave Nick a bath this morning, Molly sat on the toilet lid and watched, intrigued as to why someone would want to be sitting in all that water.

There was lots of time for cat-human interaction this weekend. Today we stayed home and relaxed, and the cats got plenty of exercise while running from Nick. It must be something about winter, but I never feel like doing much around this time of year. I'd rather just stay inside and dream of warmer days.

Babies are Contagious, but Pretty Darned Cute

Greg's mom came up today to spend some time with Nick. She brought us lunch and diapers. The perfect mother-in-law. :) She took this picture of Nick showing off his very white teeth. He seems to be feeling better today, and we saw him crawl about 3 feet today, forward.


Nick did, however, give me his coxsackie virus. I have been running fevers as high as 102.7 since Saturday afternoon. Greg has been wondeful, cooking dinner for us, making me tea, and letting me rest. I'm hoping to feel better tomorrow, since I can't take off work and I'd rather not be running fevers at school. Hopefully it will end soon. My immunity is usually decent, because I've been working in schools for ten years, and in daycare centers for five years before that.


I spent a lot of time reclining on the couch today, as I dosed with tylenol and drank tea for my painful throat. Sebastian laid down with me, and he enjoyed some fine tummy rubbing. Despite being sick, I kind of liked having the chance to cuddle up with my kitty on the couch. It is my favorite spot. I'll show you why.


#1--This is part of the damage that comes from having 3 kitties who are not declawed.


#2--The book Greg is reading. I love that I'm married to a man who reads. We can sit together on the couch and read, literally for hours.


#3--My magazines. I believe these are "Mental Floss" and "The Week." Mental Floss is a magazine that celebrates the nerdiness in us all. I love the way it is formatted and I get excited whenever it comes in the mail. As for "The Week," it is a news magazine that gives a good overview of news from around the world and from multiple perspectives. Greg and I have been known to fight over who gets to read it first each week.


#4--My Sebastian. I bought him as a tiny kitten on the day I graduated from NIU with my bachelor's degree. He was my present to myself, and he is the most loyal kitty you can imagine. He likes to sit next to me and make biscuits and purr.


#5--My coffee. I love to buy the flavored coffee (like double dutch chocolate), and make it with warm milk, Splenda, and whipped cream on top.


#6--Thermometer. Not what I wanted to have on the table this weekend, but whatever.


#7--A good book. This one is "Full House," by Stephen Jay Gould, and I've barely started it. I did just finish reading "Food Matters," by Mark Bittman. It is a totally reasonable way to eat in a healthful way and still have a positive impact on the environment. While not as well written as Michael Pollan's books, or as in-depth as Marion Nestle's, it gives a good overview of how you can eat in a better way.


Hopefully this week will be better than last. All that would take is for all three of us to stay healthy. I'm hoping we can swing that. Nick is certainly in a better mood.

Nick had a spectacular day today. He took two good naps, ate well, and wasn't really bothered by the teething. He also got to see his Grandma Toni today. She's been in Hawaii the last few weeks, and as you can see, he was just thrilled to see her again. He is pushing up to a stand at every opportunity, and getting braver and less cautious about falling. I guess that is a good sign, but I foresee some bumps in his future.

We took him out to the pet store, because our kitties are eating us out of house and home. I don't think that the special diet food does any good, either. They eat Science Diet for old, overweight kitties, but they're not getting any peppier or any less chunky. But we shall persist and continue buying giant bags of the exhorbitantly expensive special food that our vet recommends. Although, I'm sure the cats wouldn't mind if we just switched them to a much cheaper diet of tuna and fancy feast. . .

Nick loved going to the pet store, because he was able to see all of the animals. This PetSmart had little finches, which I haven't seen before. They were cute and little. I love finches.

If I didn't have cats, I would love to have a few birds. But I think it would be torturous for both cats and birds if they had to live together. Even if I could prevent outright slaughter, I believe it would be traumatic for the birds to constantly see predators circling their cage. As for the cats, it would be like baking homemade gingerbread cookies in my kitchen everyday and not letting me eat even one. Cruel and unusual temptation.

Nick knows what to do with kitties. He tried to reach out and pet the kitty immediately. Thank goodness for the glass, though. Otherwise he would've reached out and grabbed a wad of this poor kitty's fur. Then he would laugh uproariously and try to put the fur into his mouth. That's what he does to our cats, and to my hair as well. This cat looked curious and eager, but after one minute with my son, she would run and hide. Smart kitty.

Nick also loved looking at the fish. We've been thinking of taking him to the acquarium sometime. I bet he would like it; he sure seemed enthralled by the fish at the PetSmart.

Switching gears, I have been acquiring prizes for my students all summer. One of the great things about being a teacher is that I get to buy prizes all the time. I give them to my students every time they do their homework for ten days. In order for this to work, I have to make sure that I have really cool prizes. I found this cool site called http://www.raymondgeddes.com/, where I was able to buy a ton of prizes for my kids. My favorite one is the skateboard eraser. It has wheels that really roll. I'm secretly looking forward to playing with them myself. I guess it's a good thing I'm a teacher, or that would be a little weird.

They also had bracelets that were also pens, scented pencils and pens, and little rolling car erasers. I am hoping my students will go crazy for them. Bribery? Yes. But if it makes my students do their homework and read with their parents, it is worth every penny.