Day Nine through Twelve

Today is Day Twelve. (Double digits! Woo!) I just came home after an evening playing with my two adorable nephews, Jett and Kingston, and Melvin (my cat) is clinging to me like a baby chimpanzee on its mother. Apparently being gone a few hours is akin to being gone forever, according to him. At this moment, he is laying claim on my arm—literally. (He's laying on it, making it rather difficult to type, to be honest.) But I don't really mind, because, let's face it, I love him and sometimes you do strange things for the love of your pets.

I'm glad Melvin is so attached to me though. Cats have a bad reputation for being aloof and distant, but not Melvin. He is offended if I don't want to cuddle with him at that moment. He looks up at me from where I've deposited him on the ground like, "Mother? How could you do that to me? I just want to love you!"

(He's officially moved to my chest, his wet nose nuzzling my chin. A rather icky feeling, that cold wet nose.)

A lot of times, Melvin acts more like a dog than a cat in his affections. If I am home, he is usually wanting to cuddle with me. If I've been gone all day and just come home, I better give him attention or he is going to purposely put himself in my way in order to get it. I don't know what the first six years of his life were like before I got him, but whatever it was, I am glad for them in that they made Melvin the cat I adore so much today.

Enough of the cat; it's making me feel like the old crazy cat lady. What I really want to talk about are my nephews.

Jett Timothy Vettel

Jett is about 1 1/2 now, and is going through what we call a hulk phase. Meaning, he can be pretty destructive. He likes to throw things, especially when he is frustrated when he can't figure it out. The current method is taking away the toy he throws to try to teach him not to do it, but so far it hasn't seemed to be working. The kid has an attention span of a—well, I don't know what, but its short. He'll whine for a few seconds, maybe, and then it's on to bigger and better things. Who cares about the silly truck I just threw!

He is usually a grandma's boy. He LOVES grandma! I did get him to sit and play with me for a bit, though, which I call a win. He has a truck that has the shapes cut out in it, and he figured out the circle and was so excited that he did it all by himself! We clapped for him, of course, and I said, "ta da!" holding my arms out to either side. So, when he put the circle in the hole the next time, he looked at me and did the same, throwing his hands to either side and said "da!" or something similar. (He hasn't quite mastered speech yet.)

Kingston Lee Vettel

He did this a few more times, before I tried to get him to try other shapes. He didn't like them very much, but we figured it out, and when all the shapes were in the truck he held it to his chest and sort of squeezed it, making his hulk-grunting sound. So I, of course, did my own best hulk impression, flexing my arms and making my hulk-grunt. He thought that was just the funniest thing! It made me incredibly happy to be able to make him laugh! Even if it was just from a hulk impression!

(Melvin has moved from sitting on my arm to sitting next to my arm. He is perched a little sideways on a pillow, his back/butt against my elbow. "Close enough to touch you" sort of thing, I guess. Silly cat.)

Kingston is just over one month old and as precious as can be. I like to greet him every time by saying "Hi, your favorite Aunt Megan is here!" Maybe when he's older, it will be like subliminally ingrained in him that I'm his favorite. Well, I hope anyway...

I did get to feed him a little though tonight. My sister had to take a trip to KC apparently, so he had to take a bottle, which he wasn't too happy about, but once we had the right one, he was okay. It was nice just holding him and watching him drink the milk, his brown eyes looking around at me like, "You're not my mother, but you're interesting."

When I left, Jett was cozied on the couch next to Grandma (my mom) with his milk and blanket and Kingston was quite literally passed out on her lap. Seriously, he was sprawled out, his hands over his head like he'd passed out into a milk-coma. I heard my mom say, "I think he's still breathing...Yeah, he's breathing." Ah, the joys of babies.

Spending the evening with my nephews is always rewarding for me, even if Jett refuses to hug me goodbye or play with me (which is more often than not). I don't claim to be any good with children—I never have been, really—but I want to be able to enjoy my nephews at any age as they grow older. I want them to be excited when they see me as they grow older, and not "ugh, the dreaded Aunt Megan!" I'm REALLY hoping for the former....

But it has also shown me that I am NOT ready to have kids yet. Being almost-25 (On Saturday!) many people my age are getting married, settling down, having a baby (or a second in some cases!) And, while I do want that in my future, I know I am not ready for it yet. Which, for me, is a major step forward. I love spending time with my nephews and my family and even the couples that I am friends with, but I am not ready for it to be my own life yet. Not yet.... I still have a little growing up to do of my own!

I don't know what God has in plan for my future or when, but my hope is by the end of these 101 days, I'll be a little closer to being ready for it. I don't know where this challenge is going to take me, but God has a plan, and I intend to follow it as best I can.

Note: Days Nine through Eleven were rather uneventful. Frustrating days behind a computer or typewriter or scribbling in a journal, really, with no progress made at all. I got a few books from the library today "How to get Around Writer's Block" sort of stuff, hoping maybe it will have a few ideas for me. I'm going to try one of the exercises tonight and see how it goes.

Oh, I did break a glass on Day Nine. Long story short, the case of water fell out of my hand and onto a glass of water—I'm just thankful it didn't damage my computer as it spilled ALL over it! Still finding little pieces of blue glass...usually with my feet. But no injuries!

An old picture of Melvin from two years ago.
He wouldn't stay still for a new one....

(Melvin has decided that the kitchen is apparently a much better place to nap than on the pillow against my arm. I quite agree, actually, because I was starting to get a little numb-elbow. Or would it be kitty-elbow? Like tennis elbow?)