new tricks

She may look like she is not capable of getting her fat belly off the ground and she may look like the stereotypical teen that doesn't participate in activities like "fun", but when it comes to playtime she is wide-eyed and ready to kick some hair tie ass. Turns out our attention span does not quite match her enthusiasm for throwing things back and forth across the apartment or moving a stick back and forth across the floor. Therefore, Lily has managed to learn how to play alone. She picks up the hair ties, gives them a slight toss then goes for the kill. I think this behavior developed shortly after she went through her little bout of depression. I always associated it to the unbearable heat wave and lack of air conditioning but maybe there was a deep seeded reason for her lifeless body sprawled across the floor. Once in a while she would raise her head giving us the "are you going to do something about this" look.

She has also taken an unusual interest in putting anything she can pick up into her water dish. She then looks at it, taps the water with her front paw, shakes the water off with disgust and then looks at us like it is our fault her water dish is wet. This does not stop here from getting another toy to drop into her bowl. Her range of toys coming out of the toy box has expanded as well. She finally played with the wooly bully purchased many months ago and she is even getting better at tracking insects that errantly fly into the house through the door that is never ever closed.

So now, instead of us making an often failed effort to entertain her, she is the one keeping us laughing while we brush our teeth to go to bed as she slams herself against the wall while chasing a toy. I think she decided she was better at playing than were we. She did always have that condescending look as though we were not doing it right.

Everybody wins.