Aidric's First Friend
Biharkeresztes, Hungary

Though many have befriended my infant son, Tatiana and I believe Aidric has developed his first friendship. He misses him when he's not around, squeals with delight when he's in sight, and loves to play with him at every opportunity.

The character that's recently entered into Aidric's life is that of a nameless kitten, whom we've personally dubbed 'Loco'. This particularly feisty feline is the offspring of Josef's longtime family cat (now living with the couple), and some anonymous neighborhood male.

Remembering how a cat nearly took Tatiana's eye out when she was very young (or so her story goes), she promptly cut and buffed Loco's nails down to a level she felt comfortable with. Since then the two have pretty much had free reign to play with each other—that is, when Loco's been crafty enough get himself into the house (where he's generally not permitted to be, especially by Teri).

What's really been amazing to watch is how this fun kitty has actually motivated Aidric to start crawling properly. In less than a week he's gone from a typical "commando crawler" (on the stomach), to a full-blown hands and knees crawler. He now chases the cat around the room with ease and speed (while effectively expanding his realm of terror and trouble that he can get himself into).

The baby and kitten play with each other daily, and these are just a handful of the dozens upon dozens of memories captured by camera: