Piddy & the Monkey

I was in the midst of writing a post this week about our little monkey - grabbing her feet and sucking on her very own toes - when my dear cat Pidd-o was diagnosed with cancer. It takes me a long time to write posts these days, what with all the other stuff to keep me busy (like work, and Molly), and now I'm a bit distracted again.

For those of you who don't know, Piddy (aka, Pidd-o, P-Diddy, Piddster, Piddaroni, etc.) came to me 9 years ago when I was in college in Florida. He was dropped off at my house with a bag of cat food and a bag of kitty litter by a friend of my housemates. I adopted him when his person didn't return at the end of the semester. I've dragged him to no less than seven new homes in 3 different states over the last 9 years and he's always had more friends than I have (he likes to get to know his neighbors). He's celebrated two graduations with me (see left), a marriage, many new jobs, and now a kid (although I'm not sure he would use the word "celebrate" for that last one).

Needless to say, I'm a wee bit attached to him. But also realistic (hopefully). I've fortunately been spared the decision about what lengths I would go to keep him alive (his cancer is considered untreatable). But the prognosis is still fuzzy; it's not clear if we're looking at weeks, months, or years with him. Any way about it, he gets all the wet food he wants.

As for the little monkey, she has been a very active young lady. And Zach has been doing wonderfully with her at home. It's such an amazing thing to see how good he is with her, how excited he gets about all the funny things she does, and how much she responds to him. He faced a rough first week, with her getting a cold and having to go to the doctor, but he dove right in and did splendidly. Yes, there were some rough periods, but he figured out what she needs to keep rolling along.

And roll they did. According to reports, Miss Molly rolled from her front to her back several times last week. Of course, I've only seen it once. That's been the hardest part about leaving her: not experiencing her milestones. One day last week I came home and put her on the changing table to change her diaper (one of her favorite places to be). She immediately started putting her feet in her mouth and I excitedly called Zach in to watch, only to have him casually tell me that she'd been doing that for the last two days. (!). I felt so distant. But it's great that he's getting to experience all these things with her. And see what a challenge it is to take care of such a young baby all day.