Bringing Up Bobbin

Puzzled

Tommy's had a few accidents in the house of late. It's probably age related. Usually it happens in his doggie bed in the living room. I've lost count of how many beds he's had. We've tried washing them, but often times it soaks right through and the smell won't go away. So we end up replacing them.

This evening's accident, however, resulted in some significant collateral damage. Bobbin's entire stack of puzzles was drenched in dog pee. I tried washing them but the paper started peeling off. So the entire pile went into the trash. Bobbin's really bummed. She loves her puzzles. She could do puzzles for hours.

So Santa, if you're reading this, please bring puzzles. 12 or 24 piece jigsaw puzzles. Large pieces. She loves the Melissa and Doug ones. And Tommy needs a new bed. And a housekeeper for Mommy and Daddy wouldn't go unappreciated, either.

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Another mystery of the universe

Why do our pets wait until AFTER I've finished cleaning the house and mopping the floors to vomit up the entire contents of their stomachs?

Since I finished scrubbing all of our hardwood floors throughout the house yesterday, the cats have vomited 3 times, and the dog has vomited twice.

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Farewell Barney, long live Barney 2

Barney the fish (the card with lots of spots) sadly passed away a few days ago. It wasn't the water or environment. It was just his time. We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Barney 2, as the fish store has said they will replace him for free since we only really had him a few days. Petey's been hiding under the rock in the aquarium for the last couple of days and Benny, well, he continues to hang out in his hole.

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Go Fish!

We have three new housemates as of this afternoon.

I asked Baby Girl what she wanted to name the cardinals. She said

Pbbbtthhhhbt

and

Bwabwabwa

which I translate as Petey and Barney.

Assuming they're both boys. And assuming Tim's cool with the names.

She hasn't named the blenny yet. But I'm thinking "Benny the Blenny" has a nice ring to it :-)

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Surrogate Mommy?

I think I mentioned just prior to going into labour, Ginger started acting really strange - very over-protective of me, sniffing me everywhere (and I mean EVERYwhere), checking on me, and not leaving my side. In hind sight, she was my early labour warning detector :-)

Since Baby Girl's birth, she's transferred that attention to Baby Girl - I think she truly thinks of herself as Baby Girl's "other" mommy... or at the very least her guardian.

When I'm feeding Baby Girl, Ginger jumps up on the arm chair and sits right next to her, and if Baby Girl makes a noise, Ginger will look at me as if to say "Hey - pay attention - your Kitten needs something!".

The other day when we were changing Baby Girl, and she was going through her usual "I hate being naked" antics and wailing up a storm, Ginger came RUNNING into Baby Girl's room and started meowing like I've never heard her do before. She seemed really upset. I swear she was scolding us - "Hey - you need to take better care of your kitten, because if you don't, I will". She didn't leave the room and didn't quiet down until Baby Girl stopped crying. And then she turned around and daintily exited the bedroom. But not before turning back and looking at me and Tim. I think it was a warning.

Whenever Baby Girl wakes up at night hungry, Ginger always accompanies me into her bedroom and then follows us both into the kitchen and family room where I feed her, and once she sees me feeding Baby Girl, she heads back to the bedroom.

This morning, I ran into her coming out of Baby Girl's room where Baby Girl was napping in her bed. I'm pretty sure she was checking on her "kitten".

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Dogdays of... spring??

Tommy would have you believe so.

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Sad day...

Today we said goodbye to Max.

We love you Max. You are the best.

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Good - the darks are done...

Oh crap! Where'd Ginger go?!

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You tell me: What is Ginger thinking here?

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Panic Mouse!

Tim went shopping today and brought home a new toy for the kitties. It is called "Panic Mouse! The World's Greatest Interactive Cat Toy!". Well, let's just see about that...

Yup - Ginger says it's a hit! But you gotta check out the rest of this little series to see how it ends, and to watch Spicey take his turn at it.

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The Weather according to Ginger

It's the time of year when it's cold enough outside that our heater kicks on automatically in the mornings and evenings now.

But the real visual clue to the drop in temperature this time of year is this:

This is Ginger lying on top of the heating vent under our bed while it is blowing hot air. As soon as she hears the heater click on, she's under the bed like a shot and she stays there until it goes off again.

When she finally does wander out from under the bed she's actually too toasty hot to touch. And her nose and eyes look a little dry. But she's purring and happy. It's really quite comical.

I have to be careful getting out of bed in the morning now, so I don't step on her.

It's a good life.

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Bounce - Outdoor-Fresh-Scented Kitties

Today was blanket and sheet washing day.

The kitties love a clean bed. I've discovered that after a couple of hours of the kitties napping on a clean bed, if you pick them up and smell them, they smell like fabric softener. It's kinda goofy.

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Playtime!

I just love the expression on Spicey's face :-)I was just about to vaccuum so I had picked up all the kitty toys and was throwing them at Spice while he was lying on the bed.

I think I need to cut back on the toy purchases. This is only about a quarter of their loot.

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MaxTV

Max loves squeezy toys. He has a whole huge tupperware bin full to attest to that fact. Ok - maybe that more accurately attests to the fact that we love to buy them for him. But that's only because he enjoys them so much :-)

He didn't always love squeezy toys. 4 years ago Tim and I bought him a little monkey that made little monkey sounds when you squeezed it. Max didn't like it when his monkey "cried" so he would pick it up ever so gently in his mouth and carry it around, and lay it down gingerly in a safe spot when he got to wherever he was going. He'd lie right next to it, and growl at anyone who attempted to pick it up. And if you dared to make it cry, Max would get visibly agitated, and take it from you and go sit with it protectively until it stopped crying.

Eventually though, he figured out it's not actually in pain when it makes noise, and in fact it's MUCH more fun (and much less stressful) to just chomp happily on the squeaker and make as much noise as possible until your jaw gets tired, or the squeaker breaks - which ever comes first. Invariably it has been the squeaker breaking that brings the silence. And the silence is very temporary. When a toy stops making noise, Max will simply get up, walk over to his toy bin, and rummage around in it until he finds a new squeezy toy to satisfy himself with.

I think Max also thinks he's communicating with us. He'll sit there for hours (HOURS) in the living room at the foot of Tim's chair squeaking his toy over and over and over and over again. He strings the squeaks together like phrases and it almost sounds like he's expressing himself; carrying on a conversation with us. Albeit a 1-way conversation since neither of us can get a word in edgewise when he's doing this. Nor can we hear anything else when it is going on.

Last year February I was in Petco and bought max a plush squeaky-valentine that says "(insert child giggley noise) I love you (insert child giggley noise)" when you squeeze it. I thought it was cute when I squeezed it a couple of times in the store. I dunno what I was thinking :-)

Anyway - here's a little clip of Max with his latest squeezy toy - a pumpkin (halloween is just around the corner, afterall). He's just getting started here. Play this clip repeatedly for 2 hours, increasing the volume exponentially as you do, and you'll get taste of what it is like in our family room in the evenings.

But we wouldn't change it for all the world :-)

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Cats and Dogs

This is probably the closest we'll ever get of capturing all four of 'em together in the same place at the same time. Tommy is the one on the floor. Max is the one on the bed. Ginger is the one sitting up watching Tommy like a hawk, and Spicey.... he could care less about Tommy or Max. He just wants to get back into that dream with all the bunnies and squirrels and birds... what a great dream.

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Happy Vibes for Max

Max isn't feeling so good right now, so any extra happy puppy thoughts for him that you can spare would be much appreciated.

We love you Max! You'll be back out chasing crows and squirrels again before you know it :-)

xoxoxo

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Spoiled and Pampered

It's 2:30 in the afternoon and I haven't made our bed yet because doing so would disturb the kitties from their warm and peaceful slumber.

We're pushovers.

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Milk? Why yes - don't mind if I do.

Ginger and I have had a routine every morning since I brought her and Spicey home from the shelter when they were kittens. This morning was no different, EXCEPT that I had the camera handy. Hehe.

Every morning I get up and go into the tv room with a big glass of milk and my breakfast (usually some kind of breakfast bar, or cereal. I don't like milk ON my cereal, but I love to drink milk WITH my cereal. Don't ask.)

Ginger will pester me until I'm done my milk. At which point, I'll set the glass down on the floor, and let her finish off the little bit that is left at the bottom.

For some reason, Spicey's never figured out how to do this, even though he's sat there and watched Ginger do it almost every morning. Or perhaps he thinks it's too much work for such a small amount of milk; in either case, to be fair, I always dip my finger into the glass and let him lick it, before I turn the glass completely over to Ginger. But once it's in her possession, she'll sit here and do this until there is literally not a drop left - you'd never know it wasn't a fresh clean glass right out of the cupboard by the time she's done.

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Strike a pose

This is Ginger's favourite napping position. I'm thinking if there was such a thing as "Playcat Magazine", this'd be the centerfold.

A slightly different angle:

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It looks like the pie was a hit...

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