the cat shirt

Lucas has recently decided that cats, and everything related to cats, are awesome. He has a little animal book that has a picture of a cute kitten playing with yarn and he'll open it to that page and chuckle, he breaks into a fit of giggles if you meow at him, and he really digs when Old MacDonald has a cat on his farm.

And, of course, there is Puma. To Lucas, Puma is the best toy/pillow/playmate that ever walked on four legs. Those gray fluffy pantaloons are a constant temptation for Lucas's hands and, ickily enough, face. Sometimes Puma is in a good mood and sometimes not, but Lucas doesn't even care. The moment Lucas comes into the living room in the morning and sees the cat he lets out the most adorable breathy squeal and tries to lunge out of our arms. Anytime Puma tries to lie on the ottoman, Lucas makes a beeline for him, up on all fours and chortling the whole way. If Puma dares to enter the Realm of Lucas [otherwise known as the closed in section of our living room that is pleasantly cluttered with everything fun and colorful], he has an 85% chance of literally being tackled to the ground in a potentially life-threatening takedown. Lucas has improved his "petting" technique but hasn't quite grasped the meaning of gentle in all other aspects of cat handling. We will often find our 22-pound baby sprawled flat out on top of the cat, face buried in belly fur and chubby arms wrapped tightly around twitching ears and whiskers. Poor Puma. [Please don't report us to PETA.]

With this awesome cat obsession, coupled with his ever-developing ability to recognize things [it's so incredible to watch his little mind whirring!], we had a funny experience today while out shopping. I have a shirt with a very large picture of a cat smack dab on the front of it. I put it on today not thinking anything but "sweet, that doesn't have drool on it." Lucas, however, had other thoughts. Between the grins and giggles and groping hands, we quickly realized what was going on: Lucas had found another cat.

All through the store, anytime he got a glimpse of the cat on my shirt, he would happily paw at the kitty and gurgle excitedly. If he got particularly feisty, he would attempt to bring the cat/shirt/me close enough to bury his face in it. It was adorable... and not at all awkward. Walking through the grocery store while a tiny person gets a little handsy is what parenthood is all about, right? Boy, I love everything about this awesome little kid.

Moral of the story: Be aware of the placement of cats on your shirts and don't let your cat-loving boy ever learn about YouTube.

With the arrival of summer, Jason will be teaching his last class ever at UD. Five weeks of calculus and then it's on to Missouri. The next couple of months are a bit overwhelming to think about but also rather exciting. Life is plowing on full steam ahead and it's quite the adventure dreaming big dreams and watching everything unfold. I love our family of three so much.

To life! Love! And baby-proof cabinets!

Adoration.