So, I'm gonna tell you a story about Pippin. Pippin has these toys that he loves. They are soft, fuzzy and the perfect size to carry around in his mouth. The first ones I got him were bunny rabbits which were holding hearts in their hands - hugging the hearts, so to speak, so I started calling them Huggy-Buddies. Pippin also loves a good story. He will knead everything, spin around in crazy circles and try to climb into my lap when I tell him a story. (some of you may remember the story I wrote for him and posted here a few years back). The key to a good cat story is the tone of voice and the emphasis of certain words - Mommy, Lady, Treaties, Kisses (with kissy sound effects). For Pippin, I always start his stories with, "Once upon a time there was a beauuuuutiful boy named Pippin and everybody loved him!" Then I end with a bright and final, "The End!" He gets so over-stimulated by a good story, it's adorable.

The other night he gets into bed with me, but he couldn't seem to find a comfortable spot, so I decided he needed a story. During the story, he proceeded to spin in circles and climb all over me. Anyways the story was about Pippin, whose job it is to guard the castle and how one day a huggy-buddy tried to sneak into the castle and Pippin told it to go on its way and when it refused, he attacked it and killed it and ate it up so good, like a ferocious boy! Then he took the Huggy-Buddy to his Mommy and she told him what good boy he is, such a good hunter, good boy, good job, Pippin! And she gave him a treaty and a kiss and they all had a nappy cuz the castle was safe from all Huggy-Buddies now! The End!

Then I lay down to sleep and so did Pippin. All was well. I woke up two hours later and Pippin was gone. I rolled over and ouch, something was under my back. Oh yeah, you guessed it...a Huggy-Buddy! His favorite Huggy-Buddy. Because I said the word like eight times during the story and as soon as I was asleep, he went and got one and brought it to me!

The point of this story is...Pippin is a genius!