Thursday, October 20, 2005

chat, cat, gatto, katz, kitty, minou...

No matter what you call them, they are Solanne's favourite animal.

A few weeks ago, she and her family spent the weekend at her grandparents' house in the country where there are a number of semi-tamed outdoor cats. When Solanne discovered the furry creatures, she was fascinated. The moved! They made funny sounds! The crawled around at her level! But best of all, they had fur everywhere!! This is an important fact for a little girl who loves to touch hair — she can't get enough of it. So she spent the weekend convincing the adults in the house (and there were plenty: two parents, two grandparents, two aunties, and two uncles) to walk with her. And when she had the adult in her grips (literally), she would lead her or him to the door, tap it hard, and make a "purring" sound. She wanted to go outside and visit with the cats — again.

Solanne came home after that weekend and sought out all the cats in her house: stuffed animals, pictures in books, figurines... she found them all. One would never have guessed that there would be that many cats to be found, but there they were. Now, Solanne's best friend is a stuffed cat named "vanille". She is comforted by its presence and happy to see it. And if it's not around, she calls it by making her special purring sound (she makes the sound by making her lips vibrate. It's a kind of raspberry sound).

So when Solanne's first word came out two weeks ago, it was no surprise to anyone that it was "chat."

No comments: