Peanut and our cats: Rounds 2, 3, 4, and 5

Round 1 (ding!): Cats

Round 2 (ding!): Peanut aged 6 mos - just started crawling and pulling herself up on furniture. Cats looking very surprised when they are suddenly roused from a nap on the edge of the bed by little hands reaching up for them. Still very easy to escape.
Tie

Round 3 (ding!): Peanut aged 9 mos - getting more confident in her walking. Can now chase cats and loves to try and pet them. Mama & papa desparately try to teach concept of 'gentle' pets. Peanut doesn't always get it. Cats don't always run away. Peanut gets her first swipe from grabbing sleepy cats paws. Cat gets in trouble. Mama spends hours a day rescuing cats by moving them to bedroom which is gated off from Peanut.

Round 4 (ding!): Peanut aged 12 mos - in llloooovvveee with the cats. Luckily one cat enjoys (or at least doesn't mind terribly) the full on body-slam hugs. When he's done, he wiggles out of her grasp and heads to the next room. Other cat is a bit more unsocial and stays out of Peanut's way most of the time. On occassion, Peanut finds him, corners him and usually ends up getting scratched. Mama & papa get upset at cat as swipes are too frequently at Peanut's face. Papa wants to know if we can get cat declawed or have him permanently sedated.

Round 5 (coming up!): Its hard to know how to keep a warm relationship between Peanut and the cats. It seems neither party really yet understands how to behave with the other. Peanut has gotten pretty good with the gentle pets, though she still likes to try to pull on cat paws or to show she knows where their eyes are.

Our kitties were our little ones before Peanut came along, but now they have to take the back seat. I see they are still confused and notice their behavior changing from the overly loving kitties to more hesitant ones.