Yes, our cat and our son have a very strange relationship, and this video gives only a brief glimpse of it. And before start feeling sorry for the cat let us remind you that she clearly hangs around, even coming back for more. Besides, she has a room all to herself where she can get far away from his grabby little hands whenever she wants.
Today we lost a beloved member of our family when we had to say goodbye to Diamond. The past couple of weeks have been very difficult for us as we grappled with this decision, but in the end we know that it was the merciful and graceful thing to do; her physical abilities had declined rapidly in the past few months, as we knew they would some day, and keeping her here with us any longer would have been selfish. 
Diamond lived a very long and full life. When she came into our lives the vets said she would not live more than a year, that her disabilities or our limitations would get in the way. Since then she celebrated eight birthdays. There is no way to sum up a life so richly lived, nor describe the courage with which she lived it. Everything we gave her she gave us back a thousand fold in love. No amount of time with her could have ever been enough, but we are thankful for the years we had, thankful that she met our son, and thankful for all the love she gave us. 
The vets nine years ago could not have been more wrong when they told us we would not have the strength to care for her special needs. Keeping her alive was easy, it was letting her go that required all the strength we could carry.
If tears could build a stairway,
and memories were a lane,
I would walk right up to heaven
and bring you home again
Calvin had carrots for the first time yesterday and they were a big hit, but there's more to the story. Since Cortney makes Calvin's food there's quite a bit of prep work involved, so while she stood at the sink washing, peeling, and chopping whole, organic carrots, she gave Calvin one to play with. It seemed like a good idea - it was too big to swallow, it was cold on his teeth, it was clean and organic, and it made Calvin pretty happy to explore the strange orange thing. And while she stood at the sink peeling carrots she was not surprised to hear Moose trot into the room, because he is always checking on the baby. And it was even less surprising that when she heard Moose trot out of the kitchen Calvin let out a little cry, because Calvin always gets frustrated when the animals get away from him. But what was surprising was that Calvin didn't stop crying, and when she looked down his carrot was gone, and Moose was in the other room chewing happily on it under the piano. The situation was quickly rectified - Calvin got a new carrot and Moose lost his, but it looks like both Calvin, the dogs, AND the parents have a new lesson to learn.
Calvin is always intrigued by the dogs, and everyone seems to get along well. Diamond ignores him for the most part, Moose wants to protect him (from us whenever he is crying), and Ollie is in awe of him. Today, though, was the first time any of our four legged family tried to snuggle him. 
Ollie was the courgeous canine who took it upon himself to keep the baby warm on such a cold day, and Calvin couldn't have been more thrilled. Of course, his excitement was mainly due to the fact that he was sure Ollie was a new toy to chew on, but to Ollie any attention is good attention and he just soaked it all up. And, no, we didn't let Calvin chew on the dog, but we did take a lot of pictures that we posted in the 22nd week album.
We need to warn all of you who might be owners of video game consoles - there is a video troll on the loose. We returned home today 
to find that our house had been visited by said troll, and, though we have not removed our gaming equipment from the TV cupboard for over three months, this (see picture) is how we found our living room upon our return - two controllers and a microphone removed and left on the floor. We don't believe there is any danger in being the receiver of such visits - nothing else in the house was disturbed, and even the gaming equipment was unharmed and left in neat little piles, but we wanted to let you all know anyhow.
[Disclaimer - it is highly likely that no such troll exists and that, instead, the disruption of equipment that was noted upon our return is due, in its entirety, to a cat wishing to enjoy the warmth inside the entertainment cabinet. ]
Thursday, May 3, 2007