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.

First Baby Road Trip!

We've just returned from our first vacation with Peanut. We visited our family summer cottage out in Pohjois Karjala. This meant a 7 hour car ride, 20 mins in a motor boat, living on an island without electricity or running water (or indoor toilet!), a few nights in hotels and restaurant meals.

And, it all went just fine :-)

Hitting the road with baby
The drive went surprisingly well. We would drive for about 2 - 2.5 hrs and then make a pitstop for about an hour to feed Peanut (she's still only breastfeeding), change diapers, let her stretch out and play.

The first gas station we stopped at I searched and searched for the baby bathroom -- i now know its often shared with the handicap WC. Just pack everything you need with you and don't forget a diaper changing cloth or cushion to lay the baby on.

I also sat in the back seat with her the whole trip so I could pass toys to her and better monitor her moods -- and respond quickly.

Hotel stays
We stayed overnight in the Sokos Hotel Kimmel in Joensuu. Reserving a baby bed was just a matter of mentioning it. The hotel provided a cot complete with child-sized bedding and a potty in the bathroom. We found the bed to be a bit flimsy and on further stays there used our own travel bed, but continued to request bedding from them.

For the breakfast and dinner, we just wheeled Peanut to the restaurant in her stroller and pulled up a spot. No one minded.

We also stayed a few nights at the Anttolanhovi outside of Mikkeli. Their restaurant provided a selection of canned baby food at each meal. And the HoviNeidit spa was also very accomodating about having Peanut with us. We enjoyed a facial, pedicure, Indian head massage and back massage while Peanut took turns sitting with either mom, dad or in her stroller.

Cat babysitter
Somewhat unrelated to baby, but still good to know information for cat parents who need the occassion care for longer times.

We had a cat sitter visit our house to feed Miuku & Mauku while we were gone. He also cleaned the litter box and spent lots of time just entertaining the kitties. We came home to a detailed daily report and two happy cats.

Peanut and our cats

Before Peanut came, we were first the proud parents of two "fur kids" - our kitties, Miuku & Mauku. Naturally, as the only "children" in the house, they were quite spoiled with the amount of attention they got from us and I was concerned about how they would react to Peanut.

When I raised the issue to my midwife and later doctor at the Neuvola, the response was mellow. Basically, they said to take a wait and see attitude and that most pet/baby relationships work out in the end. I had also been concerned about Peanut being allergic to the cats, but the doctor assured me that babies are not born with allergies and they have to be exposed to the irritant before allergies develop. Indeed, she told me the current wisdom was that babies raised with pets tend to have less allergies than those not exposed to animals.

To keep the cats out of the baby crib before Peanut arrived, we placed pieces of tin foil, the texture of which is supposed to be unpleasant. Well, it worked and it didn't work once they figured out it wasn't that annoying. Because we did not have space for a separate nursery there was no way to close the furniture off. We then took the extra precaution of hanging a summery mosquito net (bought from IKEA) over the crib. The effect was cute - more effeminent than malarial.

But, in the end, it was Peanut herself that has kept the cats off her furniture. Miuku & Mauku have been very cautious around Peanut from the beginning. Only coming close enough to take a sniff and turn their tails to head in the opposite direction. There has never been any aggression or sounds/actions that would concern me. Their relationship still remains cool after three months. Every once in a while a kitty will take a sniff and end up with a little uncontrolled waving hand bopping them in the head :-)

We've tried to make sure that the kitties still know they are important. In the first week that Peanut arrived, we gave Miuku & Mauku several special tuna dinners and brought out some new toys. We still try to have a bit of kitty cat time in the evenings once Peanut has gone to bed.