ON FAMILY ~ Cat's In The Cradle...

Wow. Is it possible that I haven't done a post about Tedy the Cat in over a year here?! Because that's what my post archives say. Well, before you get to feeling all sorry for Tedy not getting any attention in Bumble Town, don't you fret. Not even a newborn could detract from the love this cat receives.

Before Sammy was born, we picked up a changing table from Freecycle. The kind people giving it away also threw in the pad they had. It was old and ragged and needless to say, we registered for a nice new one. When we set it up, who do you think realized quite quickly that this new piece of furniture with the cozy pad cover might make a very comfy new bed? I had to run Tedy off of that changing table a gazillion times. It was Andy who realized that the old pad sitting in the basement waiting to be thrown out could make a terrific alternative for Tedy. He was right. We had that stupid old pad sitting in the middle of our floor for months and Tedy sprawled out in it non-stop. He still jumped up on the changing table here and there but for the most part, that nasty old pad suited him just fine.

He also decided that the new stroller that we had tucked in the dining room just to get it out of the way was an awesome sleeping spot. It took a while before we discovered this hiding spot of his. And when we wheeled him out to the family room, he enjoyed the free ride.

When Sammy came home from the hospital, we were a little anxious to see how Tedy would respond. Would he spaz out whenever the baby cried? Run away and never come back because of all the different visitors traipsing in and out? Lash out because the baby got so much attention? Uh....no. Tedy thought this baby was the best thing to happen. It meant that someone was always home to let him in and out and that someone was always up to feed him or snuggle with at all hours. He enjoyed trying to hop up on the lap of whomever was feeding the baby, sniffing him out and settling for a spot on the arm of the chair. He seemed to be immune to Sammy's screaming - I was very jealous of that trait.

One of the baby related acquisitions that Tedy never quite trusted was the swing. He was always quite curious about it but that fast motion, the noises and the fact that when he tried to put his paws on it, it gave way, made him walk right by with a sideways glance every time. As happy as I was to finally be able to move the swing out of our family room and into the play room due to less need of use, I think Tedy was happiest of all to see it gone.

Though some may say that Tedy was just being curious about Sammy, I feel he was truly very protective of the little guy. When I would come home with my little Bumble still sleeping in his car seat, I would place the seat gently on the floor to continue napping while I unloaded groceries. Every time, Tedy would go over and poke his head in the seat to see if that baby had come back with me. And then he would sit there next to it until I came back to Sammy's side.

In addition to doing quality control on the changing table and stroller, Tedy also inspected the diaper bag, Sammy's bouncy seat, his play mat as well as his portable cradle. It seems that instead of going to Petco all these years in search of a bed that Tedy would enjoy, we should have just gone to Babies R Us.

Because Sammy has always been a great night sleeper, it has left us plenty of time to bond with Tedy, just like always. Although we ran him off of all of Sammy's things, we never turned our laps away when he sought them out.

One day, when we built our first fire of the season, I pulled out Tedy's old bed that he had randomly rejected one day back in the Spring. I set it in front of the fire and lo and behold, when I turned around he had snuggled himself right back in there. He now sleeps in it every night again. We've got the baby sleeping in his crib and the cat sleeping in his bed. We have reclaimed our bedroom and Bumble Town is a happy place. Until about 3:30 in the morning. No - Sammy isn't waking us for a bottle. Tedy comes in for a visit looking for something to eat. Apparently he didn't get the message that Sammy sleeps through the night and once again, so do we.