This is the third consecutive day I find myself walking around the village at the crack of dawn — pushing the baby trike with Baby Girl on it. She’s been waking up early morning, before six, and there’s just no stopping her. She just wants to go out and look for cats and dogs (but hands down cats are her favorite). Just say “cat” and she says “meow.”
So here I am, with four hours of sleep (since she’s been restless at night lately), I can’t go back to bed, and still woozy from our early morning “safari.” By now, I know exactly where the congregation of cats are — along Roxas Street. And yup, there are bonus points along the way: she’ll get to see at least a couple of dogs and — here’s the clincher — four roosters sounding the alarm clock.
Baby Girl gets a kick seeing all these animals. She especially likes cats (and I and Mommy Princess happen to hate cats, or at least dislike them). She checks under the car (there’s usually one or two hanging out in our garage) but the main tourist spot for cats is really along Roxas Street. There are probably 5 to 7 cats just chilling out, surprisingly unafraid of humans. Baby Girl says a sweet “hi” with a friendly wave of her hand and a big smile on her face. The cats are often aloof (as is their nature) and sometimes suspicious, but my daughter is just the Ms. Congeniality of Cats.
If cats were to someday rule the world, I’m sure they will name her Honorary Feline. (She also likes lions and other members of the cat family). She immediately drops her toys the moment I invite her: “Wanna look for cats?” When we say goodbye to her, our departure becomes less stressful for her with the promise of a quick cat search. She has perfected her “meow” and now just offer lame interpretations of other animal and insect sounds (a weak bear or bee sound, whereas they were quite distinct before).
When Mommy Princess pretends to be a cat, Baby Girl gets very gentle, brushing the hair of her cat, er, mom and meowing back. It is very sweet and disturbing at the same time.
Oh well, she’ll get over it one day. Meow!
