Good Kitties, Good Boy

Tommy loves his "brothers," Tux and Tails as well as his "Uncle" Frasier, my parents' cat.  He actually gets excited to see just about any animal, and for the most part understands being gentle.  Tails thinks he's a dog half the time, and wants to be buddies with Tommy.  He rubs against him, comes in to check out bathtime every once in a while, and allows Tommy to hug him and get close to him. Tux, our scaredy-cat, wants no part of his "little" brother.  He runs and hides when Tommy is heading in his direction, though he does that with most people.  I think Tommy senses this, because the past few weeks he likes to yell and run after Tux just to see his reaction.  He does the same thing to Tails too, but Tails doesn't get himself completely out of reach very often.  Both cats have been venturing into Tommy's room during story time right before Tommy goes to bed. Tails will nudge open the door, which Tommy notices, and insists on giving him a kiss. Tux     will usually enter the room when both John and I are in there because Tux is Daddy's boy. He'll meow to let us know he's there and was feeling left out. It's quite entertaining to watch the interactions, and I am looking forward to see how all of their relationships develop.

On Saturday morning, there was a chipmunk outside our front door teasing Tux and Tails. Tommy has spotted him a few times as well.  Here are some pics, minus Tux and the chipmunk, neither of whom would cooperate for this photo shoot:

Tails:  Bro, if you want to see the chipmunk, you need to be quiet.

Keeping watch for the chipmunk

Frasier, my parents' cat, is a bit older. We got him in 1998 (with his brother, Niles, who died last May), and think he's between 13-15 years old.  He sleeps a lot, but he does have his wacky moments when he tears around the house, which always amuses Tommy.  He'll run after him but as he's running down the hall one way, Frasier is usually tearing past him going in the other direction already.  When we got to my parents on Saturday, Tommy searched his "uncle" out right away:

Giving his Uncle Frasier a kiss

Being "gentle" with the Fras



Tommy asked me to move the highchair so he could do this

I hope Tommy continues to love animals and be nice to them as he gets older. We've tried to teach him that his actions can hurt people and animals, and he needs to respect all living things.  We've got some good kitties, and a good little boy!