Meow.

Here are some things Jaden is particularly good at doing:

• eating Cheerios


• laughing hysterically around bathtime
  
• crawling
  
• napping

In respect to the last item, note that I did not say sleeping at night. No, these are two different items indeed. But he is a rock-star napper. At 9:10 am Jaden yawned and we went upstairs to take a nap. I hugged him, kissed him, kissed his blanket (much to his delight) and laid him in his crib. No tears, no drama. He was content. I listened to him babble on the baby monitor while I filled out some paperwork downstairs. After about 20 minutes I started wonder why he hadn't drifted off to sleep. His babbling was a little more consistent than usual, like he was actually talking with someone/thing. His toys? His crib? His sweatshirt? And then, I heard it. "Meow." Dear god, the cat-who-shall-not-be-named had surreptitiously entered the baby room and gotten stuck upon my exit. Undoubtedly Jaden had been beside himself with excitement watching the cat do goodness knows what around the room. This is the same cat who categorically hates children and promptly peed on the guest bedroom comforter when my nephew (age 1.5 at the time) came to visit us in California. To give him some credit, he has been fairly tolerant of Jaden. But he has never been in close confines with him either. Until today. I don't want to know what happened in those 25 minutes. But now, it is 9:45 and Jaden is asleep.