The Big Brother

I've been thinking that there's been a bit of neglect on this blog of our other "child" and decided it's high time I devote a post to Calvin. =) Calvin has been our "baby" for 5 1/2 years now. He's a very special cat - loyal, affectionate, handsome, fun, etc. We jokingly tell Abby that he is her big brother and we also tell Calvin that Abby is his little sister...I know, neither one can understand us, but that's probably good or they might think we're crazy.

Over the past month or so as Abby has grown, she has become enamored with Calvin. She usually lights up the second she sees him trot into the room and often makes happy noises and waves her arms in excitement at his antics. It's so cute and we're so happy she enjoys her kitty so much. Calvin, on the other hand, stays clear of her for the most part and begrudgingly allows us to help Abby pet him occasionally. We plan on teaching Abby to treat Calvin with gentleness and kindness, and we hope that someday Calvin will learn to love her like he does us. Already there have been a few hints that maybe he is warming up to her. For instance, he often hangs out right next to her bedroom door especially if she's crying, almost as if he is concerned about her (or maybe he's annoyed by the crying and wants us to do something to shut her up =).

Today when I put Abby down for her afternoon nap, she had a very difficult time falling asleep. After checking on her twice, fifteen minutes apart, I had decided that was enough crying and I went into pick her up. Calvin, who was sitting right next to her door, followed me in. Right as I got next to her crib he meowed loudly and Abby instantly quit crying. I paused. Calvin continued to meow about a dozen times and Abby settled down and finally fell asleep, seemingly to be calmed by his meows. I'm not sure if she even realized I'd even entered the room (it certainly hadn't helped the first couple times!).

The whole situation cracked me up because for months we've gotten mad at Calvin for meowing close to Abby's room when she's trying to fall asleep. Back when she was a newborn, he had woken her up several times with his meowing. Since then, whenever he meows right at bedtime/naptime we whisper-yell at him to stop it (as if that does any good at all with a cat!). After today's event, maybe we should actually be encouraging his meows...nah, I don't want to push my luck! Anyway, now that I think about it, it's been a long time since his cries have stirred her at all. I'm guessing that now that she knows who Calvin is and enjoys him, the sound of him calms her and brings her comfort. This afternoon we told Calvin that he was a very good big brother. =)