The Bunny Baby

29 weeks 2 days

My husband and I have decided to impliment a few new changes for the sake of the cat.  He's used to getting a lot of attention and having the run of the house (except our bedroom which he is never allowed in without supervision).  So when we cleaned out the baby's room a week or so ago, we went ahead and shut the door to it and declared it a no cat zone.  Aside from not wanting him to pee on the spare mattress we set up in there (he has a history of peeing on beds), we don't want the cat in the room with baby unsupervised.  Starting yesterday, we began the next phase of cat/baby acclimation: operation bunny baby.

I took a stuffed bunny about the size baby should be when born and swaddled it in a blanket we've been given already.  My husband and I have been taking turns holding bunny baby in our laps.  Kitty has been somewhat interested in this new thing in his world, but he's so far been acting how we want him to around a baby.  He sniffs it and even gave it a lick, but he's been careful not to step on baby bunny or lay too close to it.  He must be getting the message by the way we hold bunny baby (and occassional talk to it when we feel the silly urge) that this is something to be respected because it is important to the humans.  Our hope is that he will be so used to having bunny baby in his life that he won't be completely horrified at a swaddled baby in our arms.  I plan for the last stage of operation bunny baby to include swaddling the bunny in a blanket baby has used so that the cat has a day or two to associate the swaddled bunny with the smell of a swaddled baby.

There will likely be mention of bunny baby in posts to come since he is a surrogate baby for us as well.  I'll be using bunny baby to teach hubby how to properly swaddle baby as well as how to work a cloth diaper.  Bunny baby will also be good practice for him to learn how to properly hold a newborn.  He made the comment that bunny baby is like the high school parenting class assignment of taking care of an egg.  At least we don't have to worry about bunny baby cracking if we drop him and getting a bad grade.

As for the cat, I think he's more upset about losing access to the baby room right now.  I'd be a bit miffed too if I was confined to the living room/kitchen and a bathroom.  He's still our fuzzy baby, and we want him to still feel loved even after we bring our baby home.