My First Born

Some of you might not know that the gestating fetus in my belly is not our first "child." I am actually a mom to a 4 year old!

Try and tell me this isn't the cutest thing you've ever seen. You can't, you just can't!

When I was 14 my family "rescued" a Birman named Dawny from a breeder my mom knew. Dawny was 5 when we got her, and unable to have any more kittens. One of Dawny's kittens actually became a national champion show cat, you can read about him here, on our breeder's website. The story doesn't paint Dawny in the best light, but she really was a great cat!

After I graduated college I knew I wanted another cat, and just had to get another Birman from the breeder Dawny was from. The timing was perfect. I contacted the breeder in May, and a litter of kittens had just been born. Ant and I went in July to pick out Pearl (I got her name from the Landlord viral video with Will Ferrell). She's the one with the H.U.G.E. eyes on the bottom right.

Picture courtesy of Bojacat Birmans

Pearl was the runt of the litter, but also the most active out of the three (they were all girls). Plus, she was totally goofy looking, which I loved! I brought her home that September, when she was about 4 months old, and we've been inseparable ever since!

Pearl has such a big personality and cracks us up on a daily basis. Here are some of my favorite things about her.

-She hates being alone. About 90% of the time she has to be in the same room as us. Although she's not a lap cat in the least!
-For a cat, she's pretty uncoordinated. I've seen her take more spills and tumbles than I care to remember.
-When she sleeps she has to rest her head on something. Usually it's a pillow, and she uses it just like people!
-No matter where she is in our house, as soon as I open the sliding door she will be in front of it within 5 seconds. She looooves getting the fresh air and looking outside!
-From a standstill she can jump about 5 feet in the air. She does this on a regular basis when we point a laser pointer at the wall.
-She has never once chewed on a pair of shoes.
-I try and give her a bath about once a month. So you think she'd be used to it by now, but she always makes the most pitiful howl when she's in the water, it just melts my heart!
-If I'm eating something with meat or cheese in it, she knows that I'll give her a little bite if she wants (which she almost always does).
-The only time she really ever bites me is right after I get out of the shower. And she'll go to town on my hands!

And my absolute favorite thing about her is...

-Pearl refuses to drink out of bowls. Exhibit A:

Literally 95% of her water comes straight from the sink. I don't quite remember how she discovered the water in the faucet in the first place, but once she did find it, her bowl days were over! She probably picked up this habit around 9 months old. Until recently she would just run in to the bathroom anytime she heard one of us in there and hop up on the sink. But now if she's thirsty, she'll go in there and just start softly meowing until someone turns on the faucet for her. I'VE CREATED A MONSTER! Of course we do keep a bowl of water out for her so she can drink when we're not home, but she only uses it when she's uber desperate.

I will say I'm a bit nervous how Pearl will act when the baby comes. She's never been around babies before, and I don't really know anyone who would want to use their child as a guinea pig. I've read that a lot of cats just ignore babies, so I hope that's what Pearl does (although I don't think she will). I guess we'll just have to wait and see in December!