Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty

There's a neighborhood cat that has adopted us, and it is without a doubt the cutest, sweetest, most friendly kitty that has ever used our yard.

The first time I saw it, I opened the door to shoo it off the fence. Instead of running off, it hopped down and came running up to me, tail held high, eyes bright, little furry face all open and sweet.

It started coming up to the back door and tapping on the glass, peering in as if to ask, "Hey, friends, can you come out to play?"

Thomas began announcing the cat's apperances with a gleeful, "Kitty! You're here!"

When we are out in the yard, Kitty would appear like magic, joyfully running with the kids and nudging us to pet him. Thomas loves the cat running with him, but he's not sure he likes it... they race each other and kitty does a sort of herding motion to get in front of Thomas. The touch sends Thomas in a high-pitched screech of mingled delight and shock, followed by giggles that ring out across the neighborhood. The giggles are contagious -- and watching the two of them, you are convinced the cat knows Thomas has special needs and is reaching out to him in his own special way.

After a few weeks of calling the cat "Kitty," I decided we should come up with a name for him. We ran through a bunch of choices and settled on "Murphy," which he seems to like just fine... or at least as well as whatever name he was given at his true home. Of course, he comes to Murphy as much as he came to Kitty, but that's beside the point.

Last week Megan announced that she knew the boy who actually owns the cat, and that that cat's name was "Junior." The boy lives behind us, and he's the one who will toss the ball with Thomas, playing a sort of catch over the fence, but who calls Thomas "Jack." I pointed out Thomas has a perfectly good name, and he could call him by it, but the boy -- C.J. -- said, "Well, he likes Jack." We were glad to know where the kitty lives, but after a few moments, we decided we'd continue calling him Murphy rather than Junior... because, well, he likes it!