Rosie and the Pussycat

There was a point in time when everything that Rosie did absolutely amazed me and astounded me. Like when she tried to get out of her crib for the first time…on the same day she started to crawl…at the ripe old age of 7 ½ months… I was shocked and caught completely by surprise. Totally unprepared. These days, with nearly 21 months of experience under my belt – there isn’t much that she comes up with that surprises me.

This morning, however, my little angel had me beyond flabbergasted. I was on the phone with Kim, my boss, discussing a quote that we want to send out today. Rosie had played in my office with me for a little while, but then settled herself on her chair to watch Big Bird’s Dance Party (her new favorite video). Kim and I hammered out the pieces of our proposal and she hung up to get other work done – and I to play with my toddler until lunch time. My warning bells went off immediately upon entering my family room.

I look around the family room – no Rosie. Poke my head in the laundry room – no Rosie. Kitchen…Sunroom – nothing. Now I’m starting to panic. Where could she be? From my office through the kitchen and sunroom is pretty much childproofed, gated in and a safe play space for Rosie. What could she possibly have gotten herself into?

It was then that I heard it…a sound coming from my dining room. Dining room? The dining room is gated! Not gated enough for my little explorer! We leave room between the bottom of the gate and the floor for our cat, Messier, to fit through. Not only is her food in there – but we want her to have an easy escape from Rosie when she just doesn’t feel like dealing with a toddler. Usually, the gate is just high enough for Messier to fit through – but not big enough for Rosie’s head to fit through. The gate had been moved last week during the Fantasy Football Draft party that was held at our house. When it was put back on, it was not low enough to prevent a nearly-two year old from finding her way underneath it.

So – Rosie figured out that she could squirm under the gate to the pot of gold on the other side – the cat food. When I saw her, she looked up at me with a mouth full of Iams and said “Hi Mommy. Cat food yummy!” Blech. After I had finished gagging, I picked her up, put her in the kitchen, put the gate back up – lower this time, and explained to her that no – Cat Food is not Yummy…Cat food is gross.

Once I had her sitting and drinking milk (Iams and Milk…what a faboo combo…), I took a minute to pee. I can see pretty much the entire family room when I leave the door open, so I can keep my eye on her and she can easily find me.

Well – she sat for about 10 seconds then was up and running in the direction of the dining room. Confident that I had lowered the gate enough to prevent her from getting through, I took my time washing, drying and applying lotion to my hands. When I walked into the kitchen, she wasn’t where I expected her to be…she wasn’t in the room at all. I made a beeline for the gate to the dining room.

Somehow – she managed to fit under the gate again. Instead of eating cat food this time, she was on all fours, drinking out of the cat’s bowl. When I said her name, she picked up her head and said “Good wady, Mommy.” At least is was fresh wady, Rosie…
Messier...Rosie's favorite dining companion. Rosie actually took this picture with our camera - which is why Mess is so fuzzy and out of focus.