Sooooo behind on these…
In the past month, Maggie has fallen in love with Toby. She has learned there’s just enough room for her when we’re sitting in the glider nursing. I will have Toby on one end of the Boppy and Maggie will be right by his head, resting on the glider’s arm. She even has nudged his head a few times with her head. I’d rather she get comfortable with him now while I can watch them carefully so I’m okay with it.
Toby has definitely started checking out the cats lately. He watches them as they walk past him if he’s on the floor on his activity mat. If we are holding Toby and one of the cats jumps up next to us on the couch, he will reach out to grab them. He’s gotten a handful of Maggie’s fur a few times but she doesn’t seem to mind (yet). Just wait until he realizes the ears and tails are even more fun to pull…
Ellie has even warmed up to him. She will come up and say hi, though she always needs to do it on her terms.
So we’ve been really lucky with the cats being great with Toby. They’ve never scratched him, gotten angry with him or anything that shows they are being defensive. However, they have acted out in other ways. Food bowls have been knocked over numerous times. The water bowl has been moved around the dining room, always leaving a puddle and trail of water behind it. There has been poop in our tub…but I think that was them more pissed the litter boxes were absolutely disgusting and having nowhere to go. The worst part has been the cord biting. The cords to the first white noise machine, my phone charger, two laptop chargers, and the video monitor have been bitten (thank God we saved the video monitor one). We’ve had to hide cords as best we can, which I guess is good since we started early baby-proofing.
Our cats have always loved getting into stuff since we brought them home four years ago, but it’s been a little out of the control the past couple months. I know it’s all about them getting less attention so I try to cuddle with them at night and make up for it. Hopefully they get more adjusted soon…especially before Toby starts crawling!
I’ve been asked a lot lately how our kitties have reacted to Toby since we’ve brought him home. We didn’t do much to prepare the cats for Toby’s arrival, but I do think opening up some of the baby gear early on helped. For instance, we had the pack n’play set up in the living room a couple months prior so they could get used to it being in the corner and sniff the new scents. That backfired a little as they were both caught napping in there once in a while, but since Toby was brought home, they never jump into it anymore, most likely because it smells like him now. They also never jump in the crib, which was my biggest worry, so that’s been reassuring. Though Maggie does sometimes peer in to see what he’s up to:
The only other thing we tried to do to prepare them for a little human arriving was bringing home one of the hats Toby wore in the hospital. When Auntie Hil came to visit the day he was born, we gave her a hat to take home so the cats could smell it and hopefully start to get used to his scent. Not sure if this helped or not since I wasn’t there when they smelled it for the first time, but I’m sure it didn’t hurt trying.
They were not huge fans of him the first few weeks but it seems like they have adjusted pretty well to him now. Ellie doesn’t run out of the room every time he starts crying anymore, and Maggie LOVES when we do tummy time in the living room on his activity mat. She will come right over and sit on the edge of the blankets that I put underneath for extra cushioning. Maggie also keeps me company a lot when I’m in the nursery feeding Toby. She will lay on the floor (usually in a sun spot) and roll around. I have a feeling she’s going to pay more attention to him when he’s older and hanging out on the floor by himself during playtime.
They both will sniff his feet and hands a little, but other than that, they’re not really too interested in him. I have helped Toby “pet” each of them and they were okay with it but they still don’t like being really close to him. It’s rare that they will sit next to me on the couch if I’m sitting on one end with Toby in my lap or arms.
I think what has taken the most adjustment is that they definitely don’t receive the same amount of attention they were used to. The first couple weeks we even forgot to fill up their food bowls until later in the evening (whoops), and we’ve neglected cutting their nails as often which is not good. Any time they see me laying down on the couch without a baby on my chest, they automatically will come over to cuddle. It’s really weird letting them lay on my belly again :) I don’t feel as guilty now since I am home all the time and I’ve been able to pay more attention to them lately while me and Toby are getting more into a schedule during the day. And they’ve gotten PLENTY of treats and licks of ice cream and deli meat scraps these past 6 weeks…they’re probably put on a pound or two!
The best part was tonight during the new nighttime routine we’re trying with putting him to bed a few hours earlier since he’s been so fussy in the evenings. We have been giving Toby a bath, putting him in his pj’s and then I read him a story while Hubby hangs out on the extra bed. As I was getting ready to read the book, I noticed both kitties were in the room with us. Ellie was cuddling next to Hubby and Maggie was hanging out on the floor in front of the glider I was sitting in. Seriously made me want to cry, but what doesn’t these days (freaking hormones)? Love our family time :)
I’m trying to take more photos on my iPhone – I mean it’s a pretty decent camera so I might as well get some use out of it. Here’s some pics from the past few weeks…mostly of the kitties and the bump :)
Sisters cuddlin’…
And distracted by a bird:
Bump hanging out in the nursery on the glider:
And speaking of the nursery, here’s some of Baby C’s friends (don’t worry, the basket will be removed from the crib once he’s actually here):
Ellie just lounging above our bed…she loves laying in the sun in the AM:
Maggie listening to her brother:
And the bump on Mother’s Day:
I’m signed up at The Bump and they have a countdown and checklist of things to do each week. Luckily it’s not as extensive as their wedding one was! Anyways in the next few weeks, they recommend starting to prepare your pets for baby’s arrival. One of the articles suggests spending less time with your pets so they slowly get accustomed to not getting as much attention. It’s better to start now so they’re not completely shocked when a new little human shows up in a couple months. Problem is our cats are SO spoiled with attention. And I feel bad leaving them all day while we’re at work, so I like cuddling with them when I’m relaxing after work. Even though they can be a bit much sometimes, I really prefer them being lap kitties than boring, anti-social cats. I also believe they know what’s up with me right now – they love to lay on my belly if I let them or at least rest their head on me. I wonder if they can hear him moving around in there? I don’t know if I even want to try giving them less attention in the upcoming weeks, as I almost doubt it’ll be worth it when Baby C comes. I am curious to see what they’ll do with the crib once it’s all set up with the mattress and sheets…that’ll be interesting trying to train them not to jump in it.
29 Week Pic:
And what I wore to work…maternity top and pants from Target, lace tank from JCPenney:
Hi. My name is Maggie. And while I may look cute and innocent, I’m far from it. My newest obsession? Pushing full glasses of drinks off Mom’s nightstand. It’s my favorite new hobby. I love watching it spill everywhere and the best part is I never have to clean it up! I’m just preparing Mom and Dad for all the messes they will have to pick up once Baby C gets here ;)
Since Hubby is away this week on business, I am spending a lot of time with my kitties :) After all, who else am I supposed to share this king bed with?! Here is a tribute to each of my babes.
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I had been looking on Craigslist for kittens as soon as we moved into our apartment, since the complex allowed cats. I found a listing for an adoption service that fosters their cats in homes and brings them to a local pet store each weekend for people to check out. The weekend after Christmas 2008, we went to the store just to look…
I instantly fell in love with “Pansie”. She was so little and had the cutest face. She was gray and white and the markings on her were perfect, including her gray chin.
One of the volunteers took her out of the cage she was sharing with her two sisters so I could hold her, and she was instantly glued to my chest. She was definitely coming home with me.
Once home, I re-named her Ellie, as “Pansie” just wasn’t quite right :) Ellie is a sweetie pie and wears a pink collar as she is most definitely the princess of the house (Hubby likes to say besides me). She will only cuddle with you on her own terms, but once she’s in the mood for attention, she will not leave you alone. She particularly loves laying right on Dad’s feet. She’s a purr machine and you can always hear her across the room. She also loves to talk and has a high pitched meow that always makes me smile.
Ellie Bean is a scavenger and will beg beg beg for human food. She loves waiting for Dad to make lunch at night because she’s guaranteed some lunch meat scraps. It’s rare when she’s not in the same room as you, but if you want to find her, all you need to do is shake the treat bag a little and she will come running. Unfortunately Ellie also loves eating plastic…any kind of plastic…so we’ve had to baby-proof the house.
Her favorite toys are sweatshirt strings, cheapo Walmart mousies, and the decorative balls that sit in the bowl that makes up my dining table centerpiece. She gets away with murder because she knows she’s damn cute. She is still my “Little One” even though she’s such a chub now.
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There were two kittens left at the pet store – a "cow” kitty (black and white markings) and a tortoiseshell kitty (black and orange). I felt horrible about leaving the third kitty behind as we only had room for 2, but the volunteers assured me there would be plenty of families that would only want one kitten and she’d be adopted soon. I let Hubby decide which remaining kitty he wanted since my heart was set on the gray one, so he chose “Maddie”. I wasn’t totally fond of the name “Maddie” as it reminded me too much of the bratty twin on Jon & Kate Plus 8, so I switched it slightly to Maggie.
Maggie is a tortoiseshell colored kitty and apparently these cats are known for being trouble-makers. I will come right out and say it -Maggie is such a shit. She will get into EVERYTHING and has very selective hearing. She loves opening up closet doors (the kind that hinge in the middle), even though she already knows what’s inside. I call her my “little pup” because she she acts like a dog – seriously. She follows you around the house and loves playing with the bouncy balls and catching them, though, she’s not very good at bringing them back. She enjoys waking you up exactly two minutes before your alarm is scheduled to go off and will not stop licking your face…I really think she grew up with dogs in her foster home.
Maggie is such a talker – I swear, we have legit conversations when I get home from work, like she’s so excited to tell me about her day. She also tends to “moan” a lot when she’s snuggling or sleeping, since she needs to remind us she’s here and has SUCH a tough life. I think Maggie’s a tomboy, but she’s very very very attached to Mom which makes Dad sad sometimes.
I also have given her the nickname “Sweet and Sour Patch Kid” because she is totally like one of those commercials. You know, when the Sour Patch Kid does something naughty and then makes up for it 2 seconds later? Yeah, that’s so Maggie. She will make a mess, swipe stuff from the table onto the floor, get into my arts and crafts supplies, etc, etc but then just a minute later she will be cuddling with you, nudging your face, and purring like she did nothing wrong. She is completely ridiculous but always makes me laugh – I think she knows she’s funny.
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I realize everything I just wrote makes me a crazy cat lady but I am fine with it :) I love my cats so much and seriously don’t know what I would do without them. They are attention whores and quite the characters, but I wouldn’t want it any other way as they make me feel very loved.
No, these are not in my house :)
