Oh, Boy

This is Mr. S.  I can't resist those eyes.

Mr. Squiggles has been back with us for over 8 months now.  It seems like just yesterday that we got him back.  But 8 months is a long time.  I still stare at him a million times a day, not believing that he's here with us.  I can't get enough of his big, adorable eyes.  Of his fluffy fur, growing longer, darker, and thicker every day.  Of his tiny mouth, rubbing against anything he can find, to claim it for his own. 

He's almost back to his pre-missing weight, after having lost nearly half of his body weight during his adventure.  His teeth still need to be repaired, his biggest souvenir from whatever ordeal he endured.  His left eye, once bright and vibrant like the other, is cloudy now, another casualty of being gone.  That one, we can't fix. 

For the first seven months or so, Mr. S was nearly inseparable from us.  If we were on the couch, he was on the couch.  And not just on the couch, but on our laps.  For hours.  And hours.  And we couldn't bear to lift him off.  Plus, he couldn't get enough of our touch.  He wanted to be constantly adored, and we were happy to oblige.

But in the last few weeks, we've noticed something: the old Mr. Squiggles is coming back.  The old Mr. S was occasionally aloof, choosing when and where he sat on us.  Attention was only desired if it was initiated by him.  Petting him at the "wrong" time got you a dirty look.  And that's how he 's starting to act again. 

Maybe some of you look at this and say, "How sad."  But for us, we're nearly overjoyed.  Because with each day, with each new (or really, old) habit, we're getting more of the original Mr. Squiggles back.  We can't take away what happened, but as I see more and more of the old Mr. Squiggles returning, I can hope that maybe, someday, it'll be almost like he never left.