I don't remember the exact day that it happened but very early on in Cooper's life...he fell in love. As much as I like to think he loves me and his Daddy more than anything else in the world, the truth is that he has one true love, deeper than deep, and that would be for his best friend "Kitty".
Not only do I not remember when Cooper first became smitten with Kitty, I can't even remember when we got Kitty or who she was from - a detail that would later haunt me as I tried to find a replacement Kitty in case of emergency. I know she showed up after one of my baby showers and to be honest I didn't much care for her. We're more of a dog loving household and so I just regarded Kitty as a strange little gift from an unknown well-wisher...tossed her on the shelf and didn't give her a second thought.
Even worse - I can't remember how she ended up in Cooper's crib. What I do remember is that sometime around the point when Coop was 6 months old I realized that this silly little green cat with the sun on his belly was so much more than another stuffed animal. Cooper smiled at it when we held it in front of him, kicked wildly with glee, and then snuggled into that cat like it was the softest thing he'd ever felt. He loved this cat.
Soon Kitty and naptime became synonymous. And then there was the ritual of the tail. We'd place Cooper in his crib, hand Kitty to him, he'd snuggle in and then promptly flip kitty over and start fidgeting with her tail. Soon he began to rub the tale under his nose until he fell asleep. Super cute...super sweet and it worked like a charm!
Peter and I soon began to realize how important Kitty was in our household. We loved Kitty too because she made our precious boy so happy. With any great love comes a sense of panic and dread over the possibility of losing that love. What would happen if we lost Kitty? How would we cope? Would we ever sleep again? It was something we became committed to never discovering.
Suddenly there were Kitty rules in place - Kitty was to strictly stay in Cooper's crib. If we were going on an overnight visit or were going to be in the car during a time when Cooper might sleep we would carefully transport Kitty like she was another child. "Do you have Kitty?", "Is Kitty with us?" - these became our questions and concerns.
Another concern began to grow - greater than the fear of losing our precious Kitty. What if she fell apart? What if she fell victim to our boy's over-loving and affection? As much as we didn't want to admit it, by the time Cooper was 18 months old our dear Kitty was starting to look a little worse for wear. Her tail was no longer a full tuft of fur but was starting to look sparse and kind worn from months of "nose rubbing".
Of course I couldn't remember where Kitty came from so I was having a really hard time replacing her. Her tags had been long removed before I had an inkling of the importance she would play in our lives. So I did what any mom would do in this situation - I carried a picture of Kitty in my wallet and asked various store clerks if they could identify her. I always came up empty.
Finally I found a bizarre little website where a woman named Rosemary helped reunite people with their stuffed animals. She had a whole network of "volunteers" who searched around looking for stuffed animals that people had posted photos of on their site. As crazy as it all seemed I thought I'd give it a go. I'd already felt like I'd searched the internet far and wide but what the heck - maybe Rosemary and her army could help me. I uploaded the photo, sent a nice message and within hours I heard back from sweet Rosemary - she thought she could help and she posted my story. Not 2 hours later one of her "people" had located a Kitty on ebay. She was in Tennessee and I would pay 3 times as much to get her here but we didn't care...we finally had a back-up-Kitty!
I made the transaction and waited. Soon the new Kitty arrived in the mail. She was plumper and had a freshness to her that the other Kitty had lost. Her tail was much more substantial too but she was Kitty and we were so happy to have her.
I decided to start immediately switching out the Kitty's so that the original Kitty could have a bit of a vacation and the new Kitty could get broken in before Cooper (who was just shy of 2) would realize the difference. I made the switch and at first all seemed to be going well. Then my smart little man grew wary of the new Kitty...something was wrong with her tail...something just wasn't right. I played dumb but I could tell it wasn't going to work. Naptime clinched the deal - he couldn't be lulled to sleep with this new and improved tail. Damn!
As time went on I use Kitty number 2 as "the laundry stunt Kitty". Whenever it was time to wash the original Kitty I would make the switch. One day I got sloppy and put the laundry basket down with Kitty inside. Cooper spotted her and it was like worlds collided. He was holding one kitty but there was another in his laundry basket. What was going on? I had to come clean!
I gave in and let him have both. He promptly (and all on his own) named the original Kitty "Happy Kitty" and then he named the new kitty "Fat Kitty" because of her plumpness. From that day on he loved them both and as I sit here typing they are all together in Cooper's bed, fast asleep.
We used to be a dog household but I have to say that I really do love our 2 Kitty's.
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