Poor Martin...

Here in the Bierer household, we have one family pet...a wonderful cat named Martin, whom we affectionately call Marty. I have written about Martin before...acknowledging openly that this cat only loves Doug...he hates me...and hates Danika even more. But, I don't think I've ever written about what a wonderful, patient, enduring cat he is. :) This cat puts up with so much....and he is so good to our little girl, even when he doesn't like her.

I thought I should illustrate with pictures.

This is Danika and "her" Marty. Anytime she manages to get close enough to touch him, she screams with delight. And on the rare occasions he lets her pet him, she inevitably is overcome with love for "MY KITTY" as she calls him, that this is what happens:



The funny part is this cat puts up with all of it. Sure...he looks for his first opportunity to run and hide under a piece of furniture, but he never hisses, scratches, or even begins to hurt her at anytime...he just lays there and puts up with it until she lets go long enough for him to escape. I really do love having an animal that is so wonderful with our kiddo. And I can't even begin to tell you what joy he brings to her little life. :)




As you can tell by these pictures, he was in an exceptionally patient mood that day. :)

So after I snapped the above pictures, I turned around at the mirror and was curling my hair and applying makeup. Behind me, Danika is on the bed "loving" Martin and chattering non-stop about her little adventure. She was saying things like,
"My kitty."
"I love you, Marty."
"Nice Marty."
"I LIKE the Kitty!"

I was happy to keep getting ready since she was obviously occupied. But after a while, all I heard was the last phrase....over and over and over....getting higher and higher pitched and more excited. I started to wonder why she "LIKED the kitty" so much....so I put down my curling iron and turned around....and this is what I saw:


Danika was saying "I RIDE the kitty!" and she was sitting squarely on that poor cat's back and jumping up and down for all she was worth. All that was missing was the saddle. Poor Martin! Danika was just thrilled...and I confess that it was hilarious. :) She kept "riding" the kitty for a little while longer....and eventually after I stopped laughing I rescued him. He was none the worse for wear, but happy to be out of the clutches of our two year old. ;)

What a great cat.

Marty- I love you, too!