Shadow

A few weeks ago, we got a surprise guest at our back door.  A SKINNY, young, black kitty.  She was clearly nursing kittens and was total skin & bones.  Though Lee tries to deny it now, he was the first one to go downstairs and get the cat some catfood.  My mom was visiting that day and we walked around looking for where this cat's kittens were.  We never found them, but everywhere we walked, this skinny little cat followed us like our shadow.  And thus, Taryn gave the kitty her name.  Shadow. 

 We like to take walks over to the cul de sac by our house.  The road was made just before the housing bubble burst.  So, on the whole road, there is only one house.  Needless to say, that makes for very little traffic and a very good place for toddler biking. 

 We took Taryn and her tricycle over there and our little Shadow followed us all the way over.  She has really adopted our family! 

After seeing Shadow playing in the long grass, Taryn decided she needed to as well.  Is this really the same girl that was SCARED of grass when she was little? 

Close Call

"Oh great. I'm trying to get in my 22 hours of sleep and here comes that darn toddler."

"Shit, is that a blanket she's wielding? Is she going to smother me? I'm only 4 years old child! It's not my time!"
"Crisis averted... I think."

"Yes, yes, she's just putting a baby blanket on me. Cats don't use blankets... The things that I have to put up with these days."

"Ok, so I dodged the close call with the smothering, but now I'm getting beaten. Where are her damn parents?"

Snack & Spin

One of Taryn's gifts for Christmas was a Sit & Spin. I totally had one of these back when I was a tot. Taryn didn't quite get it at first, but she has been spinning away since. This morning she decided to take her cup of raisins and eat them while on the Sit & Spin. Now that's thinking!

Jasper has been enjoying the Christmas gifts as well. "What? I am a princess too!"

Furry Friends

With every passing day, Taryn gets a little more mature and gentle with the kitties...
And they start to realize that she's here to stay...

But, I have a feeling that what started as dislike has turned into tolerance and someday Taryn's love for the kitties will actually be reciprocated.

Just as soon as she gets her foot out of Darby's face.

Best Friends

Darby, you sure do make a good pillow.

Can I tell you a secret?

I love you.

And then there's that other cat... I don't so much care for that one.

Amoxicillan

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I'm pretty sure that Taryn & Jasper are conspiring together to make sure that one of them goes to the doctor/vet each week. They have each been twice in the last two months. While the vet trips are easier, I just put Jasper in a cat carrier and drop her off, they are more expensive since Jasper doesn't have health insurance!

Whose week is it to be sick? Mine or yours?

Today, however, was Taryn's turn. I took her to the doctor. She has an upper respitory infection. Which was actually a huge relief since there were two kids at daycare with pneumonia! Anyway, we were given a prescription. I went to fill it and had to swing by the vet to pick up a refill on Jasper's prescription for her bladder infection. I realized while driving... They were the same freakin' thing! So, 2/5 of our house is on Amoxicillan now. Apparently that stuff cures everything!

Sick, but still Smurfin' cute!

When I picked up Taryn's prescription, the lady asked me if I had ever given someone Amoxicillan. I said "Only my cat." She looked at me like I was an idiot.

A true sign of too many doctor/vet visits... I'm starting to confuse them. Today I said something about taking Taryn to the vet. Yeah. I sound like a great mom!

Dumbo in a Bumbo

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I have mentioned before on this blog about how our cat Jasper thinks she is the baby... And all of Taryn's things are really hers. It is just getting out of hand now.

We didn't even put her in here. She got in on her own. She is ridiculous!

*Note, from my old blog post link of Jasper in the sling... Jasper liked the sling much more than Taryn.

My what a furry baby you have... Part deaux

Our cat Jasper STILL thinks that everything for the baby is actually for her. She is thrilled that we are finally finishing up her cat-nursery... Nothing is more exciting than when the closet in the baby room is open. And it was just pure genius of us to finally buy her a cat-crib.

Since Jasper thinks she's a baby, I decided she could model some baby clothes. She fits well in a size 3-6 months!
Here she is in "her" crib. Really very kind of us to get a crib for her.

Also, since this is a blog about Jasper, it is only right that I acknowledge her birthday! Yesterday, on April Fool's Day, she turned 1 year old. Happy Birthday Jasper!

My what a furry baby you have...

Last night I got my Hotsling in the mail. A Hotsling is basically a sling that you can carry your baby around in so you might actually be able to do something that requires two hands... Like blog. Or doublefist beers.

Anyway, I really wanted to try the sling out, but clearly, I do not have the baby yet... So, I used the next best thing. An 8-lb cat named Jasper.

She was not at all happy about being put into the sling. But, once she was in there, she was happy as a clam, purring and letting me walk around with her chilling in the sling.

Poor Jasper is in for a RUDE awakening in 2 months when the real baby shows up!

(P.S. Don't mind the fact that I look like I hadn't slept in a month... It's really only been a couple weeks.)

Can I take your order?

We buy them a cat condo and various cat toys... And they love this empty box. It totally looks like Darby is working at a concession stand and Jasper is ordering.

Perhaps this is what the CTA needs...

This cat, named Tama, is a stationmaster at the Kishi Station on the Wakayama Electric Railway in Japan.

The station went unmanned in April 2006 as the line was losing money. But Tama stuck around.

She rose to national stardom in January 2007 as the railway company formally appointed her as "stationmaster".

Her appointment had an immediately positive effect, boosting the number of passengers using the line in January by 17 percent from a year earlier.

For the year to March 2007, the number of passengers rose to 2.1 million, up 10 percent from the previous 12 months, according to Yamaki.

Happy with her successful job as stationmaster, the company promoted Tama to "super-stationmaster" in January this year, making her "the only female in a managerial position" in the company's 36-strong workforce.

Judging by some of the CTA personel I've encountered, they might be better off with a cat. A litterbox & some catfood is definitely cheap... This could help out the CTA's money crunch!