Tag Archives: cat

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Yum!

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Monday, 10 March 2014: Forty Nine Weeks Old.

Ayla says “yum!”

For the past few days I’ve suspected that’s what she’s been saying (Ayla’s “yum” sounds very similar to her “mum”) but now I’m sure of it.

Ayla’s been saying “yum” whenever she eats something she likes, such as grapes, biscuits, choc chip pancakes, yoghurt and kiwi fruit.

Ayla was munching away on a yoghurt sucker thing this morning when I heard her say “yum”; the word was so distinct that it made me think there was a big kid in the room!

That’s been happening a lot lately. I’ll be busy doing something and then I’ll hear Ayla say something so clearly it shocks me and for a second I find myself thinking “who said that?”

Like a couple of days ago when I was changing Ayla’s nappy and I asked her if she was a good girl. Ayla clearly, distinctly and without question replied “good girl”…. I nearly fell off my branch.

Ayla has also said “hello” a few times, and she’s started saying what I think is “wow” sometimes.

As for “Cat Cat” and “dog” I’m pretty certain Ayla’s saying those words too. Well, “Cat Cat” sounds more like a high-pitched bird squeal (“Kae-Kae”) but she definitely applies it at the right moments so I’ll give it to her šŸ˜‰

PS – if you haven’t already, please vote Ayla as the cutest baby in Australia and help her win a People’s Choice Award in the Bonds Australia Baby Photo Comp…. Thanks in advance! Click here to vote

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Kissing the cat

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Thursday, 20 February 2014: Three Hundred and Twenty Seven Days Old.

Ayla is a cat person I think. It’s not that Ayla doesn’t like The Dog, it’s just that today well… today I caught Ayla kissing the cat.

The friendship between Ayla and Cat Cat has evolved into something beautiful, built on mutual respect and undying intrigue.

For the first few months of Ayla’s life Cat Cat couldn’t have given two hoots about the pink sweet smelling bundle that only ever seemed to eat and poop.

By the three month mark Cat Cat had started to feel left out and neglected, her vacation from attention had become boring and she wanted to go back to being the household princess (but strangely enough and in true feline form, Cat Cat thought she could reclaim her throne by peeing our bed and defecating on the bathmat which of course did the complete opposite and almost saw her relegated to a different kingdom!)

Thankfully though Cat Cat eventually came to realise that Ayla wasn’t going anywhere and, in the spirit of keeping ones enemies close, made herself a new throne on top of Ayla’s wardrobe.

And there, in Ayla’s room, she has stayed.

While Cat Cats’ throne has changed its shape over the weeks and months – she’s tried the dresser, the nursing chair, the change table – for as long as Ayla’s been able to recognise her surroundings Cat Cat has been there, watching over.

At first Ayla’s interactions with Cat Cat were alway supervised but when Ayla became mobile that became much harder to achieve.

But despite all her relentless pestering and fur pulling Ayla has been scratched once and once only by Cat Cat and it wasn’t even hard enough to break the skin.

So today when the two of them were playing on the floor and Cat Cat had had enough, a no-claw swipe was all it took to stop the game in its tracks.

Ayla sat back, shocked, and shook her head as she stared wide-eyed at Cat Cat. I saw tears start to well up in Ayla’s eyes and my baby girl let out a whimper.

I thought that maybe Cat Cat had unsheathed a claw after all but then I realised that it was Ayla’s heart that was hurt by the fact her friend didn’t want to play anymore.

My heart collapsed in sorrow for my baby so I picked Ayla up for a cuddle and gave Cat Cat some time to regroup.

After a while when the incident seemed forgotten and Ayla was back on the floor with her toys, the house suddenly went quiet and the universal sign of “baby’s up to no good” started flashing.

I turned sharply not knowing what to expect, and found Ayla quietly on her hands and knees kissing Cat Cat on the head as if to say “I forgive you, lets never fight again”.

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It’s all fun and games….

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Tuesday, 7 January 2014: Two Hundred and Eighty One Days Old.

I put Ayla in her walker this evening to keep her occupied while Hubby and I had dinner, and after scooting around the kitchen for a bit she toddled off into her room.

Ayla was being a bit too quiet for my liking so I snuck in there and caught her trying to share her banana chip with the cat!!

Oh my goodness, poor Cat Cat is in so much trouble…. After a good sniff she decided she didn’t want the banana chip and promptly left the room.

But Baby Ayla followed, and chased, and rammed poor Cat Cat against the hallway walls until she finally freaked out and ran up her scratch post.

I was surprised how much Ayla got away with actually, but its only fun and games until someone little, and cute, with blonde hair and chubby legs gets scratched!

In other news;

I caught Ayla eating her first “no no” today…. A bit of stick, kind of like a piece of knotted wood, complete with spikes and sharp bits. I’m going to keep it as a memento šŸ˜‰

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Animal lover

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Monday, 7 October 2013: Twenty Seven Weeks Old.

We can tell Ayla’s going to be an outdoorsy people-person who loves water sports, but it looks like she’s going to be an animal lover too.

Ayla’s shown a definite interest in The Dog and Cat Cat over the past few months, and this has now grown to include any animals in any situations.

Ayla’s interest doesn’t just stop at real-life animals either.

If there’s animals on TV, Ayla’s glued. She likes the RSPCA “All Creatures Great and Small” ad the best, but shows and documentaries will also stop her in her tracks.

I can see why animals are so amazing to Baby Ayla though… One minute they’re stuffed and she’s holding them in her tiny little hands, the next minute they’re fifty times bigger and they’re moving around themselves.

Animals make strange noises, they’re furry, or scaly, or feathery, they move differently, they act differently.

They’re and endless source of entertainment and wonder, and I love watching Ayla absorb every tiny detail she can.

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Bump in the night

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Monday, 2 September 2013: Twenty Two Weeks Old.

Talk about things going bump in the night!

Last night Hubby and I found that fear has a whole new dimension when a baby is involved.

It was around 1am and I had stirred to a noise coming from the baby monitor. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to disturb me.

I was sleeping lightly because we’d opted to leave Ayla’s door open to keep her room cool overnight.

I knew Cat Cat would take full advantage of the open doors and curl up on top of the wardrobe (fortunately for us 33 degrees and 80% humidity means Ayla’s safe from possible cat suffocation), and I was worried about things getting knocked off the dresser.

Anyway, I went back to sleep after seeing Ayla was safely in her cot, completely undisturbed by whatever noise it was.

But, I must’ve only been asleep for a minute or two when an almighty crash sounded from down the hall and echoed in the baby monitor.

Hubby sat straight up in bed and grabbed my arm, but all I could muster were the words “Ayla’s room. Go.”

He was out the door as quick as a flash, but not before my mind filled with thoughts of our baby daughter being crushed by a wardrobe, or injured in a freak cot collapse.

I have never felt fear like that, and on talking to Hubby today he felt the same.

It wasn’t a fear like when a spider runs across your windscreen or when a mate hides in the shadows to scare you, it was a fear like my very heart was being wrenched out, dragging my soul behind it.

Fortunately nothing had collapsed or crashed. Cat Cat had simply made a less than graceful dismount from her place atop the wardrobe and a box of new sheets ended up as collateral damage on the floor.

But nonetheless it was a shocking wake up… Literally!

Before Ayla people would tell me you’ll never sleep soundly again… They were right!

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Interest

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Monday, 26 August 2013: Twenty One Weeks Old

Ayla’s started to take an interest in our pets.

Whether she’s happy or sad, as soon as The Dog or Cat Cat come close Ayla goes quiet and freezes.

It’s cute to see her watching them; she must be trying to workout what on earth these strange furry creatures are.

It helps that both animals seem to have taken a liking to Ayla too.

Whenever I take Ayla outside The Dog gives her big slobbering kisses (he’s 45kg so his tongue is as big as her head).

And even Cat Cat slinks up to Ayla looking for a scratch nowadays, but I bet that will only last til Ayla starts pulling her fur!

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House Cat v Dairy Cow

Tuesday, 18 June 2013: Seventy-Eight Days Old.

Iā€™ve always said that if I was reincarnated Iā€™d like to come back as a house cat or a dairy cow.

Now though it appears that house cat is probably the better option.

Aylaā€™s going through another growth spurt and all she seems to want is food, food, foodā€¦ its exhausting!

Iā€™d say sheā€™d be drinking about 100ml each feed, and thereā€™s about 8 feeds a day!

Thatā€™s nearly a litre of milk every day so Iā€™m chewing through the water like a camel and flopping about the house – ironically – like a fat happy house cat.

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Pets

Saturday, 8 June 2013: Sixty-Eight Days Old.

Iā€™m a big believer in pets being an important part of childhood; they teach us about responsibility, boundaries, unconditional love and loss.

But knowing what itā€™s like to lose a pet doesnā€™t make it any easier when you get older.

Last night our beloved ā€œCat Catā€ escaped and we donā€™t think sheā€™ll be coming homeā€¦.

Already, after just one day without her, our house feels empty. To us, Cat Cat was more than just a pet – she was family.

Itā€™s a tough lesson and one that Ayla will have to learn one day.

Aylaā€™s pets will be her friends, her confidants and her adventure buddies but one day, after sheā€™s raised them, trained them and loved them with all her heart the time will come to say goodbye.