Kitty

I cannot continue this blog without first introducing Kitty. She is, after all, a member of our family. She is Kinley's best friend...does "best friend" do this relationship justice?

The back story: My sister, Allison, gave Kitty to Kinley as a baby gift when she was born.

The back-back story: We had a calico cat, Patches, growing up and another, Puddin', who now is my mom's cat

One night, when Kinley was maybe 8-9 months old, she became inconsolable at bedtime. This was a rarity, and we tried EVERYTHING to make her happy! Nothing worked. Finally, either Jeff or I randomly picked up Kitty (who had been in Kinley's bed for quite a while, just sitting in the corner) and put it in the bed with Kinley. Like magic, the crying stopped. She clung to Kitty, started chewing/sucking on Kitty's nose, and went to sleep. We were dumbfounded. So began the greatest friendship between a girl and her kitty.

If you look closely at the first picture, you will see that Kitty has no nose. Kinley had a habit of biting Kitty's nose when she was tired or sleeping...hence the no-nose. She almost bit it completely off, so I had to finish the job with scissors to avoid a choking hazard!

She has just recently begun to question the whereabouts of Kitty's nose.

"Mommy, Kitty's nose is poked out. Where is it?"

The love for Kitty is so strong, we had to buy back-up Kittys off the internet in case we lost her. We had two that both lost their noses and had pretty equal wear. One night, after a visit to Kroger last fall, we realized Kitty was missing. Jeff remembered placing Kitty on top of the car while he buckled Kinley in... our guess is Kitty went car surfing. I was so distraught, I made Jeff go look for her at 9:30 at night (no luck). I then went looking--at 10:00--in my pajamas--in the ditches around Kroger, everywhere. The Sherriff's Patrol pulled over, lights flashing, to see what on earth I was doing. I explained as best as I could. Did they help? No! They left my crazy self there in the ditch with my flashlight. No kitty was ever found. Down to one Kitty :( I still catch myself scanning the sides of the road every now and then when I go to Kroger...

We locked Kitty in the hotel safe on our trip to Mexico. God forbid a maid should throw her out with the linens!

Okay, this is the last cute Kitty story. When we came home from the hospital with Kallen, we were so curious to see how Kinley would react. That girl looked at Kallen for a minute, and then ran to her room. She promptly returned with another of her own kitties (failed attempt by KK to duplicate "Kitty") and gave it to Kallen saying, "She needs a kitty!" How sweet, right?

Kitty is the theme to most of our make-believe stories, a comfort when Kinley is sad or hurt, a companion on the swings. She has been dropped in the toilet, bathed many times in the washer and dryer, operated on. She has a "poked out" nose and a tail that has all the stuffing squeezed out. We have a back up Kitty that Kinley will have nothing to do with because she is too new--it still has a nose, too clean, too fluffy. Has ever a greater love existed between a girl and her kitty?