I Guess We're Cat People Now

Chase is adorable and that's a problem for Michael and me because, well, it makes it really hard to say "no" to him. Sometime last year he decided he was getting a cat. He didn't really even ask for one he just kept saying things like, "I'm really going to love it when we get my cat." or "I'm going to name my cat Rock. But only if its really solid." Well after a year of this kind of talk we finally broke down and told him he could have a cat. How could we not?

Chase checking on Millie

As it turned out we had a neighbor, Karolyn, who had a cat that was expecting kittens and she promised Chase he could have pick of the litter. Chase insisted on visiting Millie (the mamma cat) as often as possible. He said, "I just want to make sure she's eating right and stuff." So we checked on Millie at least once a week and sent Karolyn frequent texts to keep track of Millie's progress.

The morning of April 24th Karolyn sent me a text saying Millie was having her kittens so I checked Chase out of school so he could watch. Most cats, understandably, don't really like people to be around when they are giving birth but Millie doesn't care one bit. She'll even let you hold the babies right after they are born. It was a pretty awesome experience and Chase loved every minute of it.

Chase watching Millie give birth

Bringing our kittens home

After they were born Chase insisted on visiting them every day. He spent a lot of time getting to know each kitten as he tried to decide which he wanted to take home. 

He was having a hard time deciding between two of them. Fortunately for him, Michael and I are suckers... and our friends kept telling us that two kittens are better than one. We fell for it and told Chase he could keep them both. He chose the smallest kitten (he was the runt) and named him Miryang (which Grandpa told him is Korean for smudge) and he chose a striped kitten which he named Anyoung (Korean for Hello) because it was the only other Korean word he knew. 5 weeks later we took Miryang and Anyoung home.

I have to say, these kittens are pretty darn cute and we quite like them. I think Michael even likes them, though you may never get him to admit it.

Top: Miryang
Bottom: Anyoung

Summer So Far

I knew this summer was going to be good when I picked Kai up on the last day of school and he asked, "Mom, I have stuff left over from class and I want to bring it all home, but my teacher said I have to ask your permission first. So can I run back in and get the rest of my stuff?"  How I didn't realize that question was vague and loaded is beyond me. It was begging for follow up, but I was in a hurry so I told him to go get it and hustle his little butt back to the car. It turns out the "rest of his stuff" was a small food container (the kind you buy potato salad in at the deli counter) with a Darkling beetle inside.

Kai's New Pet

He named his beetle Tunnel because he likes to dig tunnels, obviously.  As disgusted by the idea as I was, I have to admit he's really not a bad pet. For starters, he'll only live for about 3 months (short term pets are good pets). We rarely even see him because he spends the majority of the day hiding under the oats and soil in his small Tupperware box. Really the only draw back to the beetle is trying to explain why you have a box containing  dirt, oats, and an apple slice on your shelf.

However, I do have one word of caution to those of you who are now thinking about ordering one of these little babies (you can get them at Amazon.com btw). If you were to say...leave town for a week and leave your beetle in grandma and grandpa's care. Make sure they tell the house keeper to leave the weird dirt and oat filled box on the counter alone.  Otherwise grandma and grandpa may spent the better part of an afternoon trying to figure out where she "put it away." Though I have to think that day and a half Tunnel spent in my parents dark pantry were probably some of the best days of his short little life.