surprised

As you know, I reluctantly got a cat. Jack William Sparrow has been delightful. I cannot explain how much he has added to our house. He follows Max like a loyal friend...walking so close to Max's feet that he trips him. Lilly gets the most delighted look in her eyes when she spies Jack sleeping under the table. "Jack!" she gleefully yells. Actually, the way she says "Jack" is like a mix of 'Jack' and 'Jaques'. It is very cute! Lilly will scoot onto the floor and under the chair to get an eye to eye view. Then, in a softer voice, she says "Hi honey." Jack tolerates her with a healthy scepticism. If she gets too excited he darts down the stairs to his "safer" spot. Lilly follows him, though. With both Max and Lilly, Jack seems to be a perfect pet. He never gets mad at them. He tolerates being stepped on, pet incessantly, etc... AND a fly got in my kitchen the other day and Jack just reached up and swatted it down. Dead. He is helpful :) Max totally loves the fact that Jack has chosen to sleep at the foot of his bed at night. That is Max's dream come true! Really. Max gets a little tear in his eye just talking about it. Max is inherently one of the most social people I have ever known. He loves playing with his friends. But, if his friends came over and just wanted to have a staring contest Max would be fine with that. He just loves having people around. This cat has filled some void for Max. I love the way kids so readily turn an animal into a person. You know what I mean? In Max's mind, Jack has the attributes of a brother. It is heart-warming to see. And, to top it off, Jack hasn't been hard to care for at all. Much easier than the guinea pig. He is very neat and tidy. Yes, I do find bits of cat hair around...but I clean it right up. I have stocked up on lint rollers. It has been completely worth it. Jack is a gem. We feel lucky to know him. (by the way, these are all pictures that Max took)