Lydia the Puffy Silver Princess

Lydia came to Rosehaven Cottage as a kitten along with her three siblings (Thomasina, Suzette, and Gus Gus) courtesy of her mother back in June of 2002 (read the whole story by clicking here). As I have written previously:

"Lydia is our little silver puffy princess. She is the epitome of girly
kitty-iness. Her tiny voice sounds very Marilyn Monroe-esque and she likes to
flit her big plumy tail around for effect. Her fur has a pearlescent quality,
particularly on her paws that makes her shine like silver. She is prissy,
adorable, and extremely affectionate. She loves to have her ruff groomed with a
brush and will often 'ask' for grooming by going to the brush and patting it
with her paw until one of us picks it up and uses it on her."

Lydia has a theme song (I think all of our kitties do). Hers is particularly memorable because it is an homage to one of our all-time favorites films, The Philadelphia Story (1940) starring Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. In fact, Dexter ( the head mancat around here) is named after the character C.K. Dexterhaven. Anyway, Lydia's theme song is sung to the tune of "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" as sung by the film's character Dinah Lord with the following lyrics:

Lydia, oh Lydia, say have you met Lydia,
Oh Lydia the Silver Tabby

That's as far as we've gotten lyrically. We often just repeat it over and over to make each other laugh. Lydia just looks at us through half-closed eyes waiting for the silliness to disperse so the pettings or brushings can commence.

Lydia's other theme song is sung to the tune of the Howdy Dowdy Show theme:

It's the Puffy Princess Hour,
The Puffy Princess Hour,
Although she looks quite dour,
It's the Puffy Princess Hour!

Yes, we are completely nuts. Moving on...

Lydia is named after the character of Miss Lydia Bennett from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Her belly was quite round when she first showed up as a kitten, and it reminded us of the line "I can scarce draw breath I'm so fat!" Therefore, she ended up named Lydia.

Since kittenhood, Lydia has trimmed up and has a wonderful ladycat figure. She keeps trim by playing quietly by herself (which she prefers to rough-housing with the other kitties). Her favorite toys are old shoelaces, any feline flier, and lately a small stuffed tropical fish that she kicks incessantly. Sometimes she enjoys chasing a little furry "mousie-schmousie" (the small ones covered in real fur).

Lydia has an internal clock that tells her when it's around 11:00 pm and time to go find Mommy and Daddy in the living room. She descends from the upstairs master suite (of which she claims ownership of the bed) and finds us usually in the living room where she then regales us with squeaky breathy meows and displays of flopping on the floor next to a small scratching post so that we coo over her.

Lydia loves bedtime because it's her time to "own" Mommy. She climbs up on me after I'm all snuggled into bed starting at my feet and waltzing up toward my head. She stands there purring and squeaking letting me lavish her with loves. Then when she's been sufficiently petted in her estimation, she lays on me, often falling asleep perched on my torso. She loves to snuggle against our feet (on the outside of the covers), particularly in little nests created by our legs. She is very patient if we have to move around during the night and just rides it out until we settle down again.

We suspect that Lydia secretly has a desire to be an only kitty, but that isn't the lot of her "royal" life. Much to her royal chagrin, she is required to share Mommy and Daddy with her brother and sisters, her father (Tom Tom), and the head mancat and ladycat, Dexter and Dee Dee (she likes Dee Dee very much). She is happy nonetheless, and we happily claim her as our "Puffy Silver Princess".