My first post would be about my cat

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed... When I was little one of my favorite books was Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses, sweet, imaginative poems for children. It didn't hurt that my copy was beautifully illustrated...I can still see those soft, pastel images in my mind. Anyway, this poem, "My Shadow," was one of my favorites and has popped into my mind at least once a day over the past week as I've discovered that I do indeed have a little shadow...one evil kitty named Silas: (No red eye removal needed...that's just his true nature showing) I spend a great deal of time at home. Mostly because I don't have a job (soul-searching continues), it's a billion degrees and humid here in Florida, and well, I love our home and have a list of projects I'm working on to get it ready for baby/make it ours. You would think the cats would get bored with me but it seems Silas has made it his mission to be at my side at all hours of the day. This is sweet, most of the time, but often leads to mischief and mayhem when I'm doing things I'd rather he not be around for. These include: sweeping (piles of dirt! Fun!), using the bathroom (fascinating, apparently, invasion of privacy, definitely), watering houseplants (we're already down one potted bamboo - it tasted too good and was too much fun to knock over onto the ceramic tile and shatter into a billion pieces), and eating (cat has NO table manners...what's mine is his, so he thinks). Justin asked me the other day if I talk to the baby when he's not around. I said, "Well, I yell at Silas." Uh. Not good. All this baby hears half the week is me yelling at the cat? So in an effort to be kinder to the cat, and therefore the baby, I've been trying to speak more words of affirmation...ok, so I'm just talking to the cat, but...I think it's working. I feel like as a whole we (Silas, Lucy, baby and me) are happier and less destruction is being wrought on the house. Of course, I haven't replaced the bamboo plant. When it comes to this bad kitty, live plants seem to be the ultimate test of good behavior.