Lily The Kitten

As I posted about earlier, Payton had a wonderful 8th birthday.  She got so many wonderful great presents...clothes, shoes, stuffed animals, and toys.  But, there was one present that was definitely her favorite...

This is Lily the Kitten (and Payton).

Payton and Grandma Tammy found her on Craigs List.  They went to the house where the kittens were born and decided Lily was their favorite.  There were five kittens in all, but Lily was the sweetest.

As we were not exactly sure about bringing a pet into our house, the initial plan was that we would keep Lily at our house for a few days, then she would go and live at Grandma Tammy's house.

Well, this silly little kitten must be fairly smart.  She has cuddled, snuggled, and meowed her way right into our hearts.  She was already litter boxed trained when we got her.  She loves to play with all three kids, and besides the occasional unintentional scratch, she is very loving and gentle.  Her worst trait so far is that she wants to sleep right on our faces!  So, she has been confined to the bathroom at night and seems to be just fine hanging out in her bed with some food, water, toys, and a litter box.  And we feel better knowing she isn't wandering all over the house.

Needless to say, Payton ADORES Lily.  She does all the feeding and litter box clean up without reminder or complaint.  She sets up agility courses for Lily and trains her with strings and ribbons.  She plays with her for hours at a time.  She has been a very responsible pet owner and we are very proud of how grown up Payton has been.

So, as of now, (Payton did her own hair in the picture below, fyi) Lilly is going to stay.  I guess I have realized that our daughter is passionate about very few things.  She's ok with school, ok with sports, but passionate about animals.  So I had let go of what I wanted, what others wanted, and choose my daughter this time.

And this silly little kitten.