A Hairy Experience

Yesterday, Anna went for the first time to the neighborhood playgroup, held at Miss Amy's house. (Sitting up is a requirement!) It was made even more special by another neighbor who brought her 4-week old kitties by for all the children to see. This lady is a foster mother to cats and has been for eight years. I'll pass on the trivia that she taught us all....Did you know that a cat can have kittens in the same litter from different fathers? Yeah, how about that!

I think Anna is going to love animals and especially cats. She has a meowing stuffed animal and a book about kittens and both always make her swoon. Or, rather, purr. So, this is how it went:

I place Anna on the blanket on the grass and she is completely intrigued with the grass. The neighbor boy is even more taken with her toy, so much so that he carries it up into the treehouse! Anyway, this was not her first time in grass, but she was still very interested in it. Next comes the kitty and me pointing and saying, "Look, Anna, kitty, meow." She is still inspecting the grass UNTIL the furry thing starts moving toward her and briefly grazes her arm. It's so interesting to watch an infant's perspective shift. All attention was now on Huey (or Duey or Luey)....She squeezed those little critters and gave 'em a lot of love, all the while me saying, "Gentle, Anna, Gentle!!!"

And for those of you that know I am highly allergic, *I* did not touch the cats and we washed Anna's hands immediately thereafter. She was perfectly fine. I think and hope she got John's no-allergies gene!

Here is a posed picture from the end of our visit: