Pitter Patter of Little Feet

4 of them!

We have a new family member. His name is Jedi and he is about 4 months old. Here's how it happened...

A few months ago, my husband started mentioning how the boys might need a kitten. I was pretty shocked considering Dave doesn't particularly like cats (or so he says). My old cat, Oscar, died a couple of years ago - he was 13 and I'd had him for 10 years. He was super cool. He thought he was a dog! He'd wrestle with my husband like a dog and he'd growl when strangers came to the door. Dave said he didn't like cats but Oscar was cool.

Dave was making noises about getting the boys a kitten for Xmas. I said it wasn't a great idea because think of the logistics of it! Where would we hide the thing until Xmas morning? In the basement? No, the boys would hear it meowing. Rachel's house? No, her daughter would be heartbroken when it had to leave their house.

So we waited until after Xmas and we took the boys to the Dumb Friends League. Amazing place! It's Denver's version of an animal shelter but it seems like a giant pet store! It's very clean, they have viewing rooms and a pet shop where you can buy toys, food, leashes, etc. We looked at all the cats and kittens and small animals (rabbits, hamsters, etc.) and all the dogs. (My favorite dog was an ugly little beastie. He had the head, ears, and bulgy eyes of a chihuahua, but was about twice the size of a big chihuahua. His coloring was that of an Australian cattle dog and he was missing one of his back legs. His name was Splinter! I would've named him Tripod.) I gotta say, they grow 'em BIG out here when it comes to cats and rabbits. There were so many enormous cats and rabbits! Not just fat, either - I'm talking 2 feet tall, softball head things. Must be all that mountain air.

We couldn't find anything that really spoke to Dave and I was leaving the choosing up to him. So we went home and the next day (Sunday, Dec. 30) we went to the Dumb Friends League in Castle Rock. We looked at 3 kittens there - the first was a brown tabby and he was sort of timid and went you picked him up, he'd rag doll and if you sat him in your lap, he'd stay there until you moved him. I looked at Dave and said, "I don't think he'd survive the boys."

So the next one was an all-black male and he was a nut job. He kept attacking my legs when the boys were playing with him!

Then the third one came - he was right in between the other two. Playful but willing to sit and be petted as well. He's black and white and the shelter had named him Roger (for the Jolly Roger?) but we renamed him Jedi (the boys are really into the Lego Star Wars Xbox game). He's got these really beautiful eyes. They're blue around the pupil, going to green, going to yellow at the edges.

Well, turns out he's a little crazier then we thought. He will come rocketing across the room, leap onto your body, fly up your chest and head butt you! He loves to rub his head against your face and lick and nibble at you! We should've named him Ricochet.

He also thinks he's a parrot...

It's nice to have a pet again, Ruth!