If you have want a cat with a very laid-back temperament, my advice is to get it as a kitten and subject it to a preschooler.

Our kitten--Wooly by name, wild & wooly by nature--allows our dotter to pick him up by whatever appendage is available and carry him around the house in cradle carry, fireman's carry, upsidedown carry.  He allows our dotter to pin his ears back.  He allows her to kiss his "cute little button nose!"  He gets put into boxes.  He gets shut into closets.  He gets doll clothes draped over him.

He endures every one of these indignities with great forebearance and--dare I say it?--dignity.  Every once in a while he emits a squeak or a growl, but on the whole, he puts up with an awful lot.

He is paid off for this tolerance by pipe cleaners strewn across the floor...balls to play with...balloon animals to chase around...being force-fed Pounce ("Can I give the kitty some cookies, Mommy?")...scrids and scrads of paper to savage...and having a warm body to cuddle with on the futon.

The scrids and scrads of paper are the result of OmegaDotter's new favorite toy:  her own pair of scissors.

I am dubious about this "toy", a gift from OmegaDad.  I am constantly reminding her to carry them properly (she has to dart about the house with the scissors in hand as she searches for items to cut).  We have already found one (small) lock of hair...I haven't found the area of the head it came from, so--so far--it's not a disaster.  It's just that I have in my memory a picture that was emailed around the IT department four years ago, of a darling dark-haired four-year-old with four-inch brunette curls strewn around her like a brown cloud.

The scissors have resulted in a new type of artwork:  cutting things to pieces and glueing them back together in different arrangements.  Due to preschool having knights, kings, queens, and dragons on the curriculum last week, the dotter arrived home with some splendidly colorful dragons.  One of them she drew all by herself, and it was quite grand, with many teeth, fire coming out its mouth, and spiky horns all over the place.  An artwork-in-progress, which already had a "horse", a door (with glued-on window, doorknob, and doggy door), and green triangular grass, soon was bedecked with dragons as well.

Prior to our weekend trip to visit OmegaGranny, I asked the dotter if she would be willing to give her stupendous artwork to Grandma Julie or Great-Grandma.  Alas, no.  But, she was willing to loan it to them.  "Giving" is a concept that we need to work on, I'm afraid, though she thought giving Grandma and Great-Grandma some of the chocolate-chip cookies she and OmegaDad made over the weekend was a good idea.

So there we are.  A kitten fast growing into a loving, laid-back cat.  A kid developing new abilities left and right (she can skip now!).  Catastrophes a-brewin', I'm sure.

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