friday brain dump: things i've learned from my new kitty

Things have been a little hectic at home lately, what with work stress, consulting work stress, and kitty stress. Actually, the kitty stress is fine. I'll be able to deal with kitty stress better when Jesse and I can finally get a good night's sleep.

Oh! And the name is Dominick! Thank you to everyone who emailed me their ideas on kitty names. I assure you that Jesse and I took all of them into account. We went with Dominick because it's versatile with the nicknames: Nicky, Nick, Dom. And Nicky sounds like Kitty (which is what we've been calling him since we brought him home) so now that Jesse and I call him 'Nicky' every once in a while, he won't get confused (look at us being so considerate of Nicky's feelings).

• Nearly a week into being new parents, Nicky's only slept through the night once. Last night was the worst night ever. Although I thought Jesse and I had played with him enough during the evening in order to tire him out, Kitty wanted to play. He's jump on the bed and nudge us to get us to play. I ignored him, hoping to get some sleep. In doing so, Nicky decided to make his point clear by biting my fingers. It was a little nip, nothing vicious. But it was enough to wake me up.

• A couple of times last night, Nicky felt that my back would make a good place to sleep. So, he did his little dance to make sure my back was comfy and then proceeded to curl into a little ball. It was all very cute, until he began to dig his claws into my back whenever he stretched his front legs.

• At around 4 a.m., Nicky decided to play with the Anaheim Angels rally monkey hanging from my side of the bed. It hangs above my pillow. Needless to say, Kitty woke me up and the rally monkey is now hiding from Nicky the Predator.

• Nicky also kept me from packing last night. Every time I would place an article of clothing on the bed, he felt it would make a nice napping spot. And then when I opened my over night bag, Kitty would try to get in. I would love to take him with me to California, but someone's got to watch Daddy while Mommy's gone.

• The best thing to do when you don't get what you want is to meow. Loudly. Plaintively. Kitty likes to do this because this makes Mommy and Daddy come running to make sure he's ok (so we're worrywarts).
  

• Several times in the middle of the night, Kitty tried to play with the straps of the tank top I was wearing. Nothing like the occasional nibble and swiping paw (with claws out, of course) to wake you up.

• Jesse had it worse though, what with Kitty walking on top of his head and nipping his ear several times.

• Yet, besides the kisses Jesse showers me with in order to get me up sometimes, there's nothing cuter than a cold, wet nose and the gentle nudge of a kitty who's looking for a little love and affection.

It truly is kitty's world. Jesse and I just live in it.