Life as we now know it...

My cat Petey who would be turning 6 years old this weekend died. He was my best friend in the whole world. Petey was loved by everyone who met him. We had been trying to help him get better for a few months now, he has FLUTD (he couldn't pee, it was partially blocked and this last episode he was completely blocked) and the amount of pain he was in got too much for everyone to handle, especially him. I will always remember him. I don't think I have ever been this sad before, Caitlyn isn't old enough to remember Petey for the wonderful cat he was. I am not sure how to get through this. I know he was a cat but in my eyes he was my best friend and a family member, because of him I survived through many things. He was always very vocal and got me up every morning and told me when it was dinner time every night. He would cuddle with me all night and when I was on maternity leave he never left my side. Petey, I will always love you.

I wanted to thank everyone again for all of your support through this. It was very sad going home yesterday and not seeing Petey. He would always greet us at the door and immediately run to his dry food bowl and eat as fast as he can showing us that he is hungry. Then he would meow and meow till he got his canned food. We would put his bowl down and Simons at the same time, she would walk away and we would have to try to defend her bowl... he ate her food 99% of the time. Every morning he would wake us up in time for breakfast, he was our alarm clock and even allowed us to sleep in on the weekends. Petey loved to sleep with us at night, he made you put your arm around him and hold him tight. His favorite position was between us so that while one person was holding him he could massage the other person (yes, it did hurt quite a bit). For some reason he loved to smack Quang in the head in the mornings to wake him up, I absolutely loved that. If I was ever sick he would take care of me, sit by me the whole day. He loved to play with his toys, nothing like seeing a fat cat run! He had the kindest eyes ever, you could look into them and feel peaceful. His love for catnip will never be forgotten, he could open the container all on his own and loved to sleep in a nice cool sink. During dinner time he would stand up on his hind legs and put his paws on the counter top and try to say "Where's my food!" Mr. Pete was a well traveled cat, he has experienced great foods and even gone on vacation to Orlando. Lived in 5 cities, gone to the beach... seen snow and humid weather. I wish there was something I could do to bring him back but I will always have his wonderful memories. Thanks for letting me ramble on and on... his 6 years of life were well documented and I will be doing a scrapbook for him. I need Caitlyn to know who her 'brother' was when she gets older.

Mr. Pete - You will always be loved & missed!

Last friday 3/31/06 Caitlyn received her first hearing aids, it was a really tough day on me. I think everything that is going on had finally hit me. My little girl has to wear hearing aids for the rest of her life. I love her so very much and only want the best for her. Today we had our first meeting with Early Intervention and I know that this will help our family out quite a bit. Cait seems to be hitting all of her milestones but has a slight problem with rolling over from front to back, they said not to worry since she is so chubby and usually bigger babies take longer to roll on their own. We were given some exercises for her and will do them as often as possible. She is such a happy baby and so very outgoing and friendly. In a way I think all of this is so much harder on me than it is on her. I will always ask myself if I did something to cause this. Maybe this will make her into a better and more understanding person as she grows up. Technology is certainly on her side, she has the best digital hearing aids possible and so much love from both parents and everyone around her.