Since my last post, we celebrated Christmas, Aaron and I moved from Dallas to Ft. Worth, we celebrated the New Year, we switched churches (church campuses at least; we're still at the same church), and we got a cat! :) It has been a busy couple of months, but it has been full of good changes! Speaking of our new cat, here he is:
Isn't he adorable?! :D His name is Gandalf. (Yes, my husband and I are nerds but we're perfectly okay with that). He is adventurous and playful and loves to be held and cuddled with, when he's finished playing. He is five months old. We got him from an organization called Kool Katz that comes to Petsmart on the weekends. This organization rescues animals from animal shelters and puts them in foster homes with some of their volunteers until they can find them a permanent home.
Here are some fun facts about our little Gandalf:
- He is afraid of several things in our apartment: my blow dryer, the washing machine, the dishwasher, and the ice machine.
- He loves waking us up in the morning. He is my second alarm clock!
- His favorite place in the entire apartment is under our bed. I don't know what he does under there, but that's where he runs when he hears anything he is afraid of.
- He knows Aaron and I control the laser pointer with the little red dot, but he continues to chase it anyway! And recently he has been hiding it from us.
- He loves jumping to and from high surfaces.
- He loves to be center stage when my husband is playing computer games—standing right in front of the screen or on the keyboard. (My husband has not been a fan of this, but I've found it rather amusing).
- He loves to type on our computer; it's just in a language we don't understand, I guess. ;)
- He likes to jump like a gazelle every now and then and stand tall like a prairie dog.
- He loves playing board games with us.
- He may be teething right now because he keeps biting anything and everything in sight, including us! Do any of you have suggestions on what we can do to help him? Or to get him to stop biting us? See the next point below to understand what steps we've already taken to get him to stop. We know he's not biting us maliciously because he looks like he just wants to play. After we get him to stop biting us, he just starts biting blankets or pillows, which makes me think it's a teething problem.
- He isn't like the other cats we've read about online. When reading about disciplining your cat, here's what we were told works--all of which Gandalf is immune:
- Clapping your hands loudly and saying no!
- Bopping him gently on the nose and saying no!
- Spraying him with a spray bottle. (Seriously, I had a cup of water with me so I flicked him with the water--plenty of it--and he just came up to my cup and started drinking out of it)
- Putting him in time out in his carrier.
- He is very good at only scratching his scratching post, which has been awesome! We haven't seen him scratching our furniture or noticed any damage.
- He has learned how to open doors on his own.
- He is a wonderful kitty, despite our difficulties, and we really love that he is apart of our family! When he cuddles with you, it just warms your heart.
- And finally, we're teaching him how to use the human toilet. It's not a joke, even though it seems like it. Apparently, teaching your cat to use the toilet is actually a thing. We bought the kit off Amazon and so far it has been successful.
It's messy at first, but now we have those two inner circles cut out and it has less litter in it. He's actually going directly into the toilet now. It's so crazy! We've been asked by many of our friends if we can also teach him how to flush. From what we've read, that's one thing you shouldn't do. Cats are so entertained by it that they'll just flush the toilet all day long--and no one wants that utility bill!
Other Updates
In other news, we are finally settled into our new apartment. I still need to put curtains up, but I've been putting that off because I'm not sure how our cat will cope with them. Will he look at them curiously and just gaze at them from a distance, will he try to climb up them and inevitably rip them down, or will he hide in them and pop out when we aren't expecting him?! I would guess he would probably try each and every one of these things.The job I started back in October is going very well. I love everyone I work with and I'm loving what I do! :) I write for their blog, which has been great. I've been learning a lot. If you're interested, be sure to check out some of my posts at 1Dental.com/blog. You can also find me as 1Dental on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+. Check us out!
This has also contributed to why I've been away from writing on this blog for such a long time. I've been trying to adjust and get into a routine writing for that blog too. So if you don't find me here, you know where I'll be. Although, I am going to try to get better about keeping up with this blog! I really have missed writing to all of you. :)
I'll set a goal for myself though so you know I'll be back! Next week, I'm going to be having an Easter crafting night. I'll be sure to post pictures and talk about what we made! You might even be able to make an Easter craft of your own this year!
Finally, as a follow-up to my Christmas series: Did any of you try the gifts I showed you? Were they a success?! What did you make? What other ideas did you come up with? Leave your answers in the comment section below.
