i’m a dog person. i’ve always wanted a puppy, and i never wanted a cat. mostly because i hated cats. but we had some friends that got a kitten, and she was pretty cute, and they convinced us to at least consider getting a cat.
so we considered it. we thought about it. we talked about it. and one day, i was bored so i pulled up the humane society website and looked at the kittens they had for adoption. i fell in love and we went the next day and adopted a kitten.
quick note: it had to be a kitten. i had to get it when it was cute and irresistible and watch it grow, or i would have hated it.
we struggled to find a name for her, but we finally settled on one: louisa. louisa is a german name, and we’re currently obsessed with germany (on account of tayte’s internship and my favorite book being the book thief). louisa is also the feminine form of the name louis, and we happen to be living in st. louis. it’s perfect, really.
because i’m currently obsessed with her, i’m gonna tell you all about her. it’s my right as a new parent. now, please refrain from saying things like “that’s a cat thing” or “my kids do that” or “sounds like my husband.” just let me have this one.
she was born on july 4, 2015, and she’s a domestic, short-haired, white and red tabby. she purrs constantly; as in, her body is constantly vibrating, except for when she’s fast asleep. she has an insatiable curiosity and better hearing than me (that’s saying something—just ask my former students). even if she’s fast asleep, she’ll jerk awake whenever the door to our complex downstairs opens. she loves playing with whatever is behind the oven, but she hates the water that gets sprayed in her face every time she does. she is constantly testing her own limits (as well as ours) and she learns new things every day—mostly she just finds new things she can jump onto or get into. even though i’m annoyed, i’m proud of her for trying new things, even when she misjudges and lands on her face or hits a leg as she falls. all i know is that if i were to get hit as hard as she does going as fast as she does, i would be out for the count. she’s one tough kitty.
she loves pens. she likes pencils too, but mostly pens. she likes to push them around on tables, and then push them off. we’ve learned that no matter where she is in the apartment or what she’s doing, if we click a pen she will literally come running. she’ll wait until we throw it (and we actually have to throw it. we can’t fake it like we would with a dog—she’ll just stare at us until we actually throw it), then she’ll attack it, picking it up in her paws and biting it. she’s kind of a spaz. we should probably be more afraid that she’ll poke her eye out one day, but it’s so entertaining. downside: we’ve lost so many pens to the under-the-couch, out-of-the-cat’s-reach area. we were skyping my mom and brother today, and my brother got a pen and clicked it, and she instantly perked up and started looking for it, just like she does here. she kept walking at the computer screen and looking behind it (she’s only a baby, we can’t expect her to understand technology), looking for the pen she heard.
she has a serious FOMO (fear of missing out). i can’t get anything done. even if she’s happily playing with something, she’ll saunter over and try to get in on whatever i’m doing. earlier today, i got her playing with a pen of her own, then tried to write some stuff down, but she saw me writing with a pen and came over to get it from me. if i’m on my computer, she’ll get in my face, or walk on the keyboard, or constantly play with bite the cord. i can’t even distract her with a pen! if we’re sitting at the table eating, she’ll jump on our laps, (sometimes from lap to lap), and try to get on the table. if i’m standing at the table, working on something, she’ll jump on a chair and reach out her paw to get my leg (although that will probably stop, now that she knows she can get onto the table). anytime i walk anywhere, she runs as fast as she can in the exact direction i’m going, or at least in the direction she thinks i’m going. after accidentally kicking her in the face for the 12 billionth time, i’ve learned to take a step, then wait for a minute for her to whiz by. the other night, we were going to bed. tayte looked around for her, saw her all the way across the room, turned off the light, took two steps, and stepped on her.
her favorite things are naps, and they’re my favorite too, obviously. but lest you think that i wait for her to fall asleep then get all crazy and productive, let me set the record straight. when she gets tired, she’ll come and climb up in my lap, give herself a quick bath, then fall asleep. i know i should keep her up for as much of the day as possible so that she’ll sleep when we do, but i can’t bring myself to do it. she’s just so dang cute, sleeping there in my lap. so i just sleep with her. man. it’s therapeutic.
and oh how i love her little meow. i mean, sometimes when i hear it, i wish it weren’t 3 in the morning, but i still absolutely love it. it just tugs on my heartstrings in all kinds of ways. if we’re trying to lock her out of our room at night, her little meows break my heart. but if she just woke up from a nap and she looks up at me and meows, it melts my heart.
i’ve had some heartbreak recently, and there’s a little hole in my heart. at first, i thought this little kitty was starting to fill that hole, just a little. but today, i realized that she’s more like a band-aid on my heart. not the wimpy ones that lose their stick if you look at them too many times. more like the ones whose fibers meld themselves together and you can’t get the band-aid off.
ok bad analogy.
the point is, she is exactly what i needed. this little thing has helped me get over that last hurdle of pain, and i’m able to look to the future instead of dwelling on what could or should have been. it’s amazing that something so tiny has had such a profound impact on me. even though i can already sense her true cat coming out (meaning she is becoming indifferent to us at times), there are still those moments where she’ll come up to me (instead of tayte—she likes me more and we both know it) and meow to get my attention. she still wants me around, and she likes me. that’s my favorite part. i don’t think she likes us as much as we like her, but i don’t even care. i love this kitty.
the first few nights, we left our door open, so she could come and go as she pleased (don’t worry—we’re smarter now). there were multiple times when i would wake up to see her walking up to my face, meow-ing. and i was surprised to find myself smiling and legitimately, honestly happy to see her. i wasn’t even in the least bit annoyed that i was awake. and there were times when, as we all drifted off to sleep, tayte would be holding me, and i would be holding louisa, and i realized that i just love this little family of mine. for those 5 seconds of consciousness, i was so grateful for my loving husband and for this sweet little soul that has brought so much happiness to us.
so yeah. i guess you could say i’m a cat person now too.
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