Practice makes perfect ; )

I am so excited to be pregnant, waiting for our little one to arrive, reading a million books, going to classes, and still probably having no clue what we are doing. I have never done anything with a baby except hold it. Everyone laughs when I say our cat, Miko, is good practice. When he was little he used to want to be held all the time. After he has a nap he wants to be snuggled. He hates if I leave a room and has to follow me. He loves his butt tapped and you can put him to sleep from it. If he gets scared he always comes right to me. I love to rock him to sleep. I love bouncing him and walking around, he loves it. I realize a cat is nothing like a baby, but for someone who desperately wants a baby, and is trying to be patient, doesn't this seem like a perfect solution? It kind of gives me my baby fix. And we 'parent' our animals and always end up talking about when we have kids and what were going to do and I think having the animals and treating them like kids is great practice. Sometimes I like to be silly, but secretly serious. Tonight I was holding Miko and saying we should practice holding a newborn, so I was supporting his head and gave him to Brent and told him to support his neck. I just get irritated when people say mean things about it. I am not seriously thinking I have to do these things, and I'm not pretending our cat is a baby, I just love doing certain things with him that you would do for a baby. It helps me get my baby fix, and also makes me want a real baby even more. But no matter what anyone says, practice makes perfect ; )