A girl and her kitty

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not really a cat person. However, Jason is a total cat person, and Caitlyn loves anything with fur, scales or feathers. One rainy Sunday, we stopped by the local shelter to see about volunteering and to just kill a few hours. I should have known better.

We'd been there for all of 5 minutes when a sweet, gray kitty claimed Caitlyn. I say claimed because he watched her walk by his cage, got up, stuck his paw through the bars, and began meowing. When Caitlyn bent down to pet him, he turned on a nonstop purr and rubbed against her hand. How could we not bring him home?

Nermal, named for the character from Garfield, is a really neat cat. He loves people, he is gentle with the girls, he likes to snuggle and play, and he comes when you call his (ridiculous) name. He also drives me crazy sometimes. At least twice a day, usually naptime and bedtime, he is overcome by the urge to race through the house, leaping into doorways, knocking over toys and generally creating chaos. 
I always forgive him though, simply because the girls are in love with him, especially Lorelei. She is crazy about the silly animal. In fact, I think he was one of her greatest incentives in learning to crawl. She chases him all over the place. Surprisingly, he is really tolerant of being the object of her affection. He will often lay still and let her crawl right on top of him. Lorelei likes to pet Nermal, which mostly means that she grabs handfuls of his fur with her sticky fingers and pulls. He tolerates it for a minute before he seeks refuge on the couch or under the bed. This, of course, gives Lorelei the giggles, and then she is off to chase him down again.

Poor kitty. He doesn't know that in a short while she will be walking. I hope having two little rambunctious girls to contend with doesn't ruin his sweet disposition.