April 4, 2002 - Thursday
It's taken quite a while, but Harry is slowly regaining the cat's trust. Of course, at first before Harry was mobile they were good friends. Paavo was looking for attention and Harry seemed as good a place as any to get it. And, Harry certainly enjoyed the cat, too. "Cat" was Harry's second word, maybe even his first.

But, somewhere along the way Harry began to use his arms more efficiently and, for that cat, that meant grabbing and pulling. Harry's excitement also meant screaming and the cat soon learned to run away.

We've been telling Harry for months that the cat doesn't really like the grabbing and the yelling and, after much first hand experience, Harry is starting to appreciate the two-way street that is a relationship with the cat. For the last several weeks Harry has been far more gentle with Paavo, patting him nicely and stroking his back. And, the cat has noticeably started to linger for longer moments when Harry approaches. Unfortunately, this new access to the cat would fill Harry with a joy that inevitably manifested itself in squeals of delight, noises that Paavo simply could not appreciate...more advising from Harry's parents.

Lately, just over the last week or so, Harry has seemed to put the entire package together and the cat is responding. Harry is gentle and quiet and takes the opportunities with the cat as they come. Of course, there's plenty of margin for error still and the cat's independent mindedness leaves plenty of room Harry to refine his interactions with other beings, but he's coming along.




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