His first child...her first cat....

S. & C. brought Bella over this afternoon to meet his lordship. Both baby and cat were a bit nervous, uncertain what the protocol was, puzzled, but more curious than afraid.

Taiga, as a stud of great worth, was sequestered from regular human intercourse. He was kept in a chamber of considerable comfort but little variety. His two humans visited him, walked him. He was exhibited at shows in his youth. He did what he was expected/required to do. But he didn't live in a house with shelves, with pictures on the walls, with a bathroom and a kitchen, with objects. He didn't live with a person whose lap he could sit on for hours. He didn't meet children.

It was a great moment when Bella met her first cat, and he met his first child. I blew it by not being able to get a single picture that had both of them in focus. There was one lovely moment when he walked up to her to sniff; I cut her head off in that one. There was another moment when she was happily playing on the floor and he perched overhead to watch. I got her back instead of her face. I just posted the rejects on Flickr. This is about the best I can do. I may delete it later. I often go back and delete blips if I feel the picture is--an expression I learned on Blip--pants.

But this does show some of the mutual curiosity and wonder. One charming delight: Bella, who is 11 months old and not yet talking, has been learning the sounds animals make. She kept saying, "Bow wow! Woof!"