Keeping it Light

So as not to be too depressing, a quick update on something everyone finds adorable: kids and animals.

Lily is our smaller cat.  She weighs about 6 lbs, but looks like a 12 lb cat because of all of her fur.  She is an extremely attention-hungry animal, but very particular about whose attention she seeks: mine.

It is adorable except when it is annoying -- which is most of the time.  It's just too much!  She lolls on my keyboard,waves her big fluffy tail under my nose (or in my food if I'm at dinner), occupies my lap the moment I sit down, whenever, wherever I sit.  She never settles in, but rather turns in excited circles purring until I decide to stand instead.  She follows me around the neighborhood, faithful as a dog, then sits tight and meows as I walk outside her territory.  She waits for me to return, then follows me home -- or should I say leads me home, staying so close that she gets underfoot at every step.  She's sweet, but needy, and I am generally too exhausted and cranky to return her full-on affection.

However, there is another family member whose affection and enthusiasm matches Lily's, and if we could only get Lily interested, this could be a match made in heaven!

Lily has recently started showing some active interest in Elsie.  The picture might look like a snapshot of a two-year-old grabbing a cat's face as she walks by.  But no!  It is, in fact, the cat rubbing her face up into Elsie's eager little hand.  Lily walked back and forth snagging this kind of affection for 15 minutes straight.  Elsie was giddy with the thrill of it. 

Someone on this blog left a comment before Elsie was born to the effect that it would be interesting to see how I felt about my cats after having a baby.  The insinuation was that I would feel less fond of them -- and that was absolutely exactly the way that it worked.  I don't know what it is, but having a baby made me much less attached to my pets.  I still like them.  I'm still happy to have them around.  But it's definitely different now.  I don't have the patience for them that I used to.  I certainly don't worry about their health and safety the way I used to.  They're now almost exclusively outdoor cats, and I do not lose a moment of sleep over that.  Elsie has taken all of that instinct, every iota of it, for herself. 

It would be wonderful if the girl could make up for what I've suddenly lost in the way of attention.  She's ready, willing, and able.  It's just a matter of the cats deciding she's okay.  I'm seeing a glimmer of that in Lily these days, and it's adorable.

This could be the start of a beautiful friendship!