Friday, October 6, 2017

kittens - our newest family members


As a child, every so often, to great excitement, cats and kittens turned up, in various bedraggled states, at our back door, and my family took them in. While they received such names as Ella-Lucy-Tiger-Flower, they tended to answer to Pussy. As a child, my Beloved had a much loved ginger tom he trained to bite, and who took to his lessons very well.

So when our kids started campaigning for kittens, we were inclined to say yes. Particularly in light of the face we live next to an easement and vermin are a problem.

Our son received a lizard for his seventh birthday - our eldest daughter demanded a pet for her seventh birthday. I initially considered Guinea Pigs, however, my Beloved considered them snake-bait.

So after a mouse sighting, I began perusing the cat adoption web sites.

I was looking for descriptors like 'bold' 'assertive' 'kid-friendly' 'dog friendly' 'fearless', 'brilliant mouser.' Most descriptions instead read 'will warm to you after a few days', 'best in a kid-free home', 'gentle nature'.

Finally, I found the description I was looking for. Mischief. Likes to wake his foster mum biting toes at 3.am. Bold. Eureka. I'd found our new family member.

But then. Our irresistible ball of grey fluff had a brother. Equally mischievous. And Adventure Boy began begging for 'the naughty one'. And I began considering that a partner in crime to help our new one cope with the overwhelm that is our family would probably be a good idea.

So I got in touch and the lady organising the adoption was delighted to place the two brothers together and said we could get them right away.

Sooo... we began the long trek to Toowoomba and back - a five hour round trip. But the kids agreed that the kittens were completely worth it. They were little balls of beautiful fluff.
And they were indeed bold. And brave. And had a purr you can hear two rooms away.

It took me six weeks to work out that they're bold and brave because they're a wee tad dim.
However, they are also affectionate, playful, bold and brave, so intelligent as well was probably a bit of an ask.

The children adore them.

The dog is entranced. He wants to keep them captive and clean them and clean them and clean them. They are becoming quite blasé about him.

Also about the Monster-Baby who loves how they squeak when she squeezes them. By use of judicious scratches they are teaching her Gentle-Hands. They love to sit on me and purr and purr, while the baby loves to lie by me and feed and feed so they clash more that might be expected. The kittens deem it essential to be close to the Food-Giver, even at the price of an over-hands-y eleven months old.

And she truly adores them. Her face lights in overwhelming glee. And I separate them dozens of times in a day as she hugs them and they meow plaintively.

I try to explain to them that they are mini-lions and much faster and more agile than my little tottery one but they haven't caught on yet.

As I write Smudge has come to join me, lying on the bed as close to me as he can get, and Wolfie has come to join him, so Smudge sits between Wolfie's massive paws while Smudge is resigned to being licked and nosed and licked. He is a very well-groomed (if dog-smelling) gentleman.

And I am remembering the things I find trying about cats - the cleaning up of  'accidents' in the very hardest to reach of spots. The way they always want to walk across the computer keyboard. The way they try to steal my porridge...

And I am remembering all the things I love about cats - their dainty paws, the tickle of their whiskers, their purrs of content, their snuggliness, the light and grace with which they leap and play.









Monday, October 2, 2017

eleven months



Wonder-Girl is now eleven months old - and it is completely impossible to imagine a world without her. She is now revealed - at least partly - as the person she is and will be.

She is happy and big-belly-laughing, affectionate and determined, cheeky and curious. She adores her older siblings, the dog, the kittens (too much) and water bodies of all kinds.

She has the most determined crawl-stalk I've ever seen and is responsible for the only time I've heard a four year old wail "The baby's chasing me!" while she's crawled him down.

She has mastered climbing onto our bed, chairs and couches. At her Nana's she scrambles up onto the couch, then march-crawls across the coffee table to the armchair, then sits back and surveys her domain before crawling back across the coffee table.

She adores the sea - the pool, (wave pool or normal) baths and showers. As soon as she hears water running she's there, demanding to get in. "Eh! eh! Anna!"

Already she has a very clear idea about her rights - whatever the big kids have and then some.

She sees our dog as an accomplish/climbing frame/pillow and luckily he accepts his role, although he looks somewhat pained when she explores his teeth and ears.

She thinks the kittens are particularly wonderful teddy that squeak if she holds them tightly enough. They are quickly teaching her that they are not.

There is nothing she likes better than to play with her brother and sisters - she greets them with massive giggles and hugs and great big belly laughs if they actually play with her.

Her sense of humour is somewhat warped although she is slowly coming around to the idea that biting is not the most hilarious thing in the world and - furthermore - is not allowed. She went through a stage of constantly biting while she was nursing but after a month of being put on the floor every time she finally got the idea that - although clearly the funniest thing ever and guaranteed a response - it wasn't worth it.

She still thinks pulling hair is pretty cool. We're working on it.

If music she likes comes on she dances - which involves throwing her arms around and giggling. A lot.

As a concept she doesn't appear to think much of walking. Why walk when there are people to carry you? She stands, squats, stands, squats, picks something up, stands, squats, and crawls off. But walking? Hmm. Not something that seems to appeal.

While four is definitely a handful - it's entertaining when I only have the two babies and people at the supermarket remark 'you've got your hands full' and I smile and think - these are the easy ones. These two are just fun. My theory is kids get harder and take more work the older they get. Babies are wonders of simplicity and cuddles and then every year brings more worries and frets and run-arounds. At eleven months Wonder-Girl is a delight of giggles and hugs and smiles like the sunrise.

She is entertaining even when she's giving me a big hug and open-mouthed kiss and I know she's considering biting, thinking, thinking... big cheeky grin. The times that I'm too tired to distract the three year old and they both nurse at once they hold hands and smile at each other. Other times Wonder-Girl nurses she plays with her toes - flex, point, curl. Flex, point curl, stretch one leg out and hold the toes. Let go, flex, circle. Toes are amazing. She studies them the whole time. Other times she explores my teeth and nose. Her toe studies are much preferable.

At night, she sleeps in my curve, in the morning, she wakes with a grin. If I wake and move in the night - even if for the minute to go to the loo, she wakes and wails. I admire her survival skills - perfectly primed to ensure adults are around to protect her from hyenas are lions. Perfectly formed with battalions of cuteness to ensure willing, doting protectors and nurturers for her twenty-five formative years.

She is, quite simply, irresistible. There's not a waking hour that passes that she's not kissed and hugged, raspberries blown on her tummy or her neck smooched. On the other hand she gets a lot of benign neglect while I try (and spectacularly fail) to clean the house, or wash dishes and clothes, feed animals and change cat litter. Each time our attention is not 100% she wails with abject betrayal. Luckily, older siblings can be called in.

She plays now in the cot with her three year old sister - laughing and waving her arms in paroxysm of joy - because - Amazing Person is Playing with her! They have a Peter Rabbit - in-the-box and are alternatively playing with it and wrestling - either way she thinks it's the funniest. thing. ever.

She wears a yellow dress and she is our sunshine, our rainbow, our Wonder-Girl.