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Before Cordy, my "kids" were my cats. I've had cats most of my life, and one of the first things I did after getting my own place after college was adopt two kittens of my very own. When one of them suddenly passed away at four years old from a genetic condition, I mourned his loss as hard as if he had been a human child.

During my pregnancy with Cordy, I was worried about how the cats would interact with a baby. Would they be jealous of the baby? Would they try to hurt her? Friends and family thought they were helping when they suggested we get rid of our cats now that we were having a baby, but I considered that idea ridiculous. The cats were members of the family - I wasn't about to discard them just because they didn't go along with my new role as mommy.

Thankfully, when Cordy was born, the cats were curious about her, but generally kept their distance. When they did come close, it was only to sniff her or lay next to her. One cat in particular seemed to be her protector, often laying next to her or gently licking the top of her head. As Cordy became mobile, I worried she might turn the cats against her from her curiosity and desire to grab at anything in reach. One of the first words we taught her to understand was "gentle", and she quickly learned that the cats had to be treated gently.

Today, she's a bit more of a pain to the cats, but she genuinely loves them. Her first word was "kitty". Now she enjoys sitting next to them and pointing out their ears, their tails, and their claws. She occasionally grabs a tail too hard or pets them in the wrong direction, but she's not trying to be mean. She squeals with delight when one of them yowls and runs away as if they're chasing her.

I think that having pets has been a good experience for Cordy so far, and will continue to be so as she gets older. She respects them now, and we hope that when she is older she'll want to help with the responsibility of caring for them, too. This has been good for the cats, too. They no longer are nervous around children, and while she has scared them many times, they have never scratched or bit Cordy. While I worried in the beginning that pets and babies may not be compatible, I now think that kids and pets are a great combination, as long as the pets have the right temperament and kids are taught to respect their four legged family members from an early age.