Jellicles

Pi adores our kitties, Emmet and Jasper. They tolerate him as well as cats can be expected to tolerate someone who screams in their ears, chases them all over the house, bats at their tails, and buries his heavy head into their hindquarters in the name of lurve.

He's not quite as enamored of dogs. He is remarkably good-natured about their slobbery kisses, being knocked over with their exuberant love, and their constant desire to play, but it seems like every time he starts enjoying a dog, the fun is ruined by a sharp bark which reduces Pi to blubbery rubble. Pi is not a fan of the loud, unexpected noises, and the dogs just can't help it - it's what they're supposed to do. Hopefully we can reach some sort of detente with the canines soon, because I really like dogs and would like to get one someday. Yes, it has become my mission to create sworn enemies of my poor cats. I can't imagine what they'd do to me if I threw a puppy into this crazy mix. Maybe it's good that Pi's scared of dogs.

In keeping with the title of this blog, we let Pi watch TV sometimes. He really loves Puss in Boots from Shrek 2, the one cat who doesn't cringe in fear at his grubby, drooly approach. Puss coughs up a hairball at one point, which sends Pi into paroxysms of glee every time. He enjoys it when Smitty and I perform our renditions of the hairball expulsion, and the other night we were regaling him at dinner, when he busted out with a version of his own. He flattened his tongue against his bottom teeth, curled his lips, and gasped out something that sounded like "hhhhhheeeessssshhhh, hhhhheeeeesshhhhh, hhhhheeeeeeessssshhh", before leaning over the side of his high chair and pretending to vomit. Perhaps we should put the kibosh on public dining for a while. Notice how the obvious solution of limiting the TV is completely glossed over - I haven't laughed so hard at dinner in months.