Trotter, Water and "Fur Mouse"

Last night I was sitting at the computer and noticed Trotter bouncing his head up and down near the water dish (and plastic glass) on the kitchen counter.  Yes, I know, what is a kitten doing on the kitchen counter?  You try keeping two curious munchkins off the counters when they can jump onto the computer desk and onto the breakfast bar of the kitchen.  It's a losing battle.  Anyway, I had to get up to see what was going on with Trotter.  What I found was a very happy kitty with a very wet fur mouse toy he had been dipping into the water.  I managed to grab the phone to capture a little video of the events that ensued... including Maddie taking control of the situation.

 

This is the first thing I caught when I came into the kitchen. Then...

Changing Focus

I started thinking last night that maybe I should change the focus of this blog a bit.  Maddie and Trotter continue to amuse and entertain me every day, so there are plenty of adventures.  But, there is another joy that comes from having such lively youngsters in your life... education.  As I watch them grow and play, I begin to remember the simple innocence and pleasures of childhood.  Since I've never been a parent, I guess I've not been exposed to the rediscovery of innocence that comes from being around children.  Instead, I get a similar experience with my non-human-speaking children.  So, thus begin LIFE LESSONS BY MADDIE AND TROTTER:

Lesson 1: Bottle caps make great bathtub hockey pucks. 

Last night I was in the bathroom removing labels from empty medicine bottles.  Trotter jumped up on the counter and immediately deposited himself into the sink.  The trouble is, there is a tiny drip from the faucet that falls on kitty's side when he's curled up there.  Sometimes he reaches over and licks the spigot to catch the drips.  So, I decided to hold an empty bottle under the spigot to help him out.  That didn't faze him, but what did catch his attention was the bottle cap.  He came over and grabbed it out of my hand and ran for the tub, where he realized it made the most awesome sound... and, it came back to him when he batted it up the side!  Maddie then appeared and there was a very brief soccer match until Trotter picked the cap up and ran with it to the living room.  There it became the toy du jour and stimulated lots of mysterious whumps and thumps in the dark after I went to bed.  Those whumps and thumps translated into books and other precious belonging knocked to the floor by flying kitties. But, it reminded me that sometimes unexpected joys come from inexpensive toys.