I try, but I fail miserably....

I really try to record the developments I see, when I see them, but I forget to write them down. I forgot to document when T started calling herself T-T. Her name is kind of hard for her to say, and I call her T-T a fair amount, and now that's what she calls herself. It's been at least 2 or 3 weeks since she's been doing it. I can't remember if it was before or after our trip over Memorial Day weekend....... I *think* she started right around Memorial Day. She does it all the time now and it is so cute!

Sigh.

I think I err on the side of not wanting to repeat myself on the blog.... I was pretty sure I'd recorded that. I probably sent it in an email to someone, so I probably have the "date" but I didn't write it here.

Here's another one we don't want to forget.

Right before this trip, T started trying to say N's whole name instead of just the first syllable twice (N__-N__). When she says it, it sounds kind of like Nan-ny. At first it made N kind of mad to be called "nanny"... but now she likes it and encourages T to say it.

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Another thing T learned, the difference between bite and scratch. No, it wasn't her sisters who taught her this, it was my parents' cat. The cat, is mean. She's about 12 or 13 and when you pet her, she will periodically, out of the blue, decide to bite. She's lots of fun. She should have a sign, PET AT YOUR OWN RISK.

T loves kitties. I tried to keep her away from my parents' cat... It was like trying to keep a fish away from water. The first afternoon we were there, I heard T scream from the kitchen. I was in the next room and went running in to see what was the matter. The evil cat was there. T was crying and pointing to the cat saying, "Meow scratch. Don't want Meow. Meow scratch." (T calls cats meow.) I looked at her and found the teeniest scratch on her arm. The skin wasn't broken. However, T was traumatized.

I comforted T and put the evil cat in her room. T told us over and over about how the "meow" scratched and how she didn't like the "meow." If she saw the cat, she'd shriek until we got the cat out of the room. After a couple days, T wanted to pet the cat again. I kept telling her not to. I explained to her that the cat didn't scratch, she actually bit. T would nod solemnly.

On Friday, T cornered evil cat again, and once again, the cat snapped at her. However, this time, there wasn't even a slight mark. I think T pulled her hand/arm away more quickly. T screamed and cried nonetheless. From then on, until we left, we got, "Meow bite. Don't want Meow. Meow Bite. Don't like Meow." Over and over and over and over. She would say this when we saw the cat, and at other random times, like when we were driving around and the cat was not there. Evil cat made quite an impression.

I'm sorry the cat got her, and scared her, but I knew that evil cat wouldn't really hurt her. Obviously, if I thought evil cat would have really hurt her, I wouldn't have let T anywhere near her. Pretty much the same thing happened to K last summer with evil cat. And the same thing happened to N a couple of summers before.

Background
I have a soft spot in my heart for evil cat. I was the one who brought evil cat in the house/family Christmas of '96.

Evil cat can be really sweet. She was a stray and was beaten up in a fight and stumbled into our yard. We had a big dog then. She and the big dog became fast friends. She wouldn't let any person near her for the longest time. The big dog nursed her back to health after that awful fight, shared his food with her and let her sleep on his back. It was very sweet. They loved each other. The dog was very scared of thunderstorms, but the cat had a calming effect on him during them and he was much less scared.

My dad, a big ole animal lover, let her stay with the dog, got to know her and pet her, eventually took her to the vet, and started giving her real kitty food. The kitty lived outdoors with the dog until he passed away. Christmas of '96, the dog was gone and I felt sorry for the kitty, outside, cold and lonely on Christmas, so I befriended her and brought her in the house. I am surprised that my Mom let the cat stay inside all the time. Soon the cat found a nice warm spot to sleep.... In bed with my parents... Heh.

Wrap-up
To end the story, T was so scared by evil cat that she thought our cat, her bestest kitty friend, would bite. She was scared of him when we got home. After about 2 minutes of me reassuring her that C (our cat) would not bite she gave his tail a good yank. When he just sat there, she seemed happy and lunged and hugged C.