Tribute to Billy the Cat

Oh Billy, we'll miss you. From the first days we had you, when you would wake us in the morning by sinking your sharp little kitten teeth into our sleeping cheeks, till the last days when you would still nurse yourself to sleep by sucking your own paw. You made us literally have to jump into bed as you would hide underneath the bed and attack our ankles if we were too slow. While you were feisty, you were absolutely a lap cat, all 17 pounds of you (hey, he was tall). From the 2 live birds you brought into the house to the live possum, a boring cat you were not. I've never seen (or heard) of a cat having to wear the large plastic cones on their head that dogs have to wear when they are nuetered. You gave me that visual not once, but twice. We always new you would pick a fight you couldn't win one day, though we assumed it would be with another animal and not a vehicle. We'll miss you Billy, you definitely weren't cheated in your 7 years of life and we thank you for the memories.

Are we friends yet?

Something clicked with Audrey in May and she began . . . well . . . I won't go so far as saying she began playing with Sam, but more along the lines of Lisa and I didn't have to fear so much for Sam's safety at all times.

I mean in the photo above, you could argue that she is downright affectionate . . . unless you view those hands as poised for a back jolting push.

I can't even argue that this photo shows anything but unconditional love of a younger sibling. Almost "Don't worry about a thing Sammy, I've got your back in life".

"Uh-oh Sammy, stay with me . . . I'm not losing this photo shoot because you can't quite stay upright at all times . . . stay with me Sam . . . stay with me . . . "

" . . . and you're on your own kid, I'm not losing this chance to model the new suit".

Sam is full on walking everywhere he goes now. His head is always on a swivel trying to locate Audrey. He's like to moth to a flame with her, however, as soon as he approaches her, his eyes do the fluttering blink as he never quite knows if he is going to get the hammer or a kiss.

While you love your kids the same (it really is a baffling feeling of balance), you can't help but compare them. Sam is full of smiles for all his photos while Audrey was always quite serious in front of a camera. I will say "boy genius" above however doesn't seem quite as observant as Audrey at that age. Come on Sam, show some self awareness!