Sniper's 4th birthday

Sniper, age 17 weeks on the day he came home to Mama

Today, Sniper turns 4.  He came home to me after my ex and I split up.  As the resident old man in this crazy group of 4 cats and 2 humans, he has seen a ton of changes in the last (almost) 4 years.  He started out super whiny and he's just kinda gotten worse as he's gotten older. 

Sniper is crazy attached to me.  He follows me around like a dog and, well, I've kinda trained him like a dog.  Since he's most likely a Maine Coon mix, I figured that he was gonna be a big cat and needed to learn some manners.  So in addition to his name (which he knows so well that he'll look at the TV if he hears it), I taught him how to sit, stay, wait, up, around, come, drop it, leave it, bring it to Mama, get out of my room, out of my kitchen, don't be rude, and the most important one of all, I'M DONE AND DON'T WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE.  He runs when he hears that one and will meow pitifully from under the table like "I'm sorry Mama" so I'll pet him.  Fortunately, he doesn't hear that one too often.  Of course, he IS a cat so he will only comply with these commands when HE thinks it's a good idea.  Or for food - he'll usually comply for food.

he still sleeps like this a lot

He sleeps with me most every night.  Well, "with me" meaning that he's on the floor beside the bed under the air conditioning vent.  I have yet to find a people food that he won't at least try.  He loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with some milk to go with it.  And yes, he does get his own teeny sandwich.  I've never known a cat that will eat watermelon and apples, but he will. 

Fortunately, Sniper is very tolerant of all 3 kittens that he's had to be introduced to in the last 3 years.  He still kinda hates Georgie, but he's as attached to Harper as he is to me.  He's still waiting to see how he feels about Saturn but he really likes chasing her and swatting her feet out from under her so she'll turn flips. 

Happy birthday Sniper!  I hope we get a crap ton more years with you. 

Love,

Mama, H, Harper, Georgie and Saturn

First day of school

School starts tomorrow. My son - my little boy - will be a sophomore in high school.  A sophomore!!!!!  It just doesn't seem possible.  I know all parents say this, but it really does seem as if he started kindergarten just yesterday. I can't believe that he is almost 16 and pushing 6 feet!  I miss him being that sweet little boy that had only given up his passy 6 months before kindergarten started. So I thought about a timeline of his (so far) 10 years in school:

Kindergarten:  his teacher sent a note home asking us to tell him not to write in cursive because the other kids couldn't read it. He also got sent to the principal's office for the first time.

1st grade: awful teacher but he met his first real friend, Wesley. They got into lots of trouble together.

2nd grade: got rezoned into a different school. He stopped saying "cunshtibull" instead of comfortable.

3rd grade: I finally let him stop riding in the booster seat. He stopped calling me Mommie.

4th grade: AMAZING teacher. He had a project to explain who he was (favorite book, movie, his hero, etc). The other kids chose a human for their hero. Not my kid. He chose the cat because Bucky licked him one time.

5th grade: the end of elementary school. Middle school here we come!!

Middle school was a blur of bad grades, his dad and I splitting up and temper tantrums (from both the kid and from me).  I was never more thankful than when he was diagnosed with ADHD and Oppositional Defiance Disorder.  I know that sounds weird, but there was finally a reason for his behavior and his grades.  He got started on meds in March of his 8th grade year and we have never looked back. High school is looming!!!!!

9th grade:  the change in him was amazing!  He started marching band and really found his place. Something that he is good at and loves. His grades turned around and for the first time since 5th grade, he didn't even come close to failing anything.

Now here we are starting 10th grade. He's continuing in marching band and even starting Latin.  I think it's gonna be an awesome year!!

Good luck buddy!! Mommie loves you!!!!