Rico, Not Dave : What's in a Name?

We used to have a ginger cat named Chopper. We loved him dearly, but he never ever forgave us for introducing a child to the mix, and was positively livid when we added 2 more at once. So he took up residence next door with #1Brother, and only deigned to acknowledge us at meal times. He passed away almost 2 years ago, and while I've missed him, I admit that I have enjoyed having one less mouth to feed and water. One less person to crap on everything (figuratively, occasionally literally). One less person to constantly whine at me for food. The kids never really spent much time with Chopper, on account of his deathly hatred for them.  And so, they've never really been into pets, other than to acknowledge that we did have a cat at some point but he died and now he's buried outside and can we dig him up to see what he looks like now? Besides that morbid curiosity, they don't really seem that fussed by the notion of having a pet.  And so we've gone pet-free since Chopper met his demise. Recently, I noted my kids had developed a wimpy aversion to animals. It's like they've regressed from their curious toddler selves, who were all happy to pat a spitting alpaca on their grandfather's farm (while Super Dad, #1Hubby, crapped himself at a safe distance from inside the car)...or Miss9's approximately 4 1/2 year old self with this bad boy wrapped around her:

Coffee shop stop, Bali style.
I yelled to the cafe staff from my spot climbing atop the farthest table at the back, that they were responsible for her, and if shit went down, they had to save her because I. WAS. OUT.

Mstr6 is the worst.  He is the epitome of girly-man scared of anything with 4 legs.  One of my best girlfriends has a gorgeous little dog named Tammy - just screams vicious, child terrorising animal of doom, right? Hardly.  She plods around the house, kindly allowing us a wide berth in her own territory.  She steers clear of my kids, because dogs are smart and she can't be arsed with Mstr6's girly-man-ness any more than I can. And yet, still, he loses his shit when he sees her. Miss6 plays it tough but she's always slightly further away than he is - because she's smart enough to know that the weak get taken first... Miss9 is a cat lover and ignores Tammy for their newest family member, Daisy the tortoise shell kitten.  Daisy is all energy, tearing around the living room, and Miss9 loves it.  She shrieks with laughter, ignoring her friends playing outside to be a crazy cat woman in training instead. It was after a recent visit that I decided we needed a pet. I valiantly and selflessly declared that I would take one for the team and invite another mouth to be fed, another being to be loved and cared for, into our family. But only if it was a ginger kitten, because my selflessness has limits. Yesterday our 10 week old bundle of fur arrived - a total surprise to the kids who had just been whining for a ginger Fur Real Friends kitten they'd seen on TV. Naturally I took all credit for exceeding their expectations.  #1Hubby rolled his eyes and I offered him a one finger salute in a loving flick of the wrist. Mstr6 was totally confused.  Was he excited?  Was he shitting himself with  fear that this orange ball of fluff that weighs about as much as his glasses would come for him in his sleep? Should I really be convincing him this is the brother he's been asking for, in order to get him to man up and go within 4 feet of the kitten? Yes, yes I did.  Because I'm fairly confident the potential therapy fees will still be far less than the cost of another child. First things first, a name.... Here were the initial suggestions: Donut
Cupcake
Icecream
Milkshake
Chocolate
Marshmallow I'd just been out for lunch with #1Nana, so I'm guessing either #1Hubby forgot to feed them, or fed them the above list of nutritious items to shut them up while I was out. A quick word about appropriate names for a boy kitten, and a second round of suggestions: Chopper (not Chopper II, but exactly the same as its predecessor, who would likely be turning in his garden grave at being so easily replaced with a younger model - totally understandable). Orange (the neighbours have a ginger cat named Mango, and the kids decided they wanted to call ORANGE AND MANGO). Puss In Boots Speedy Meng (I have no idea...) And finally, the kicker.  The one that came out of nowhere, and they all loved.... Dave Yes...DAVE. For some reason, they had their hearts set on DAVE. I could just picture myself standing at the front door of an evening, calling for DAVE to come in...and being met by any number of middle aged Aussie blokes named Dave... And so one final discussion about finding an appropriate name, while #1Hubby Googled pet names and started at A and we all wanted to punch him by the time he got to Anastasia. Finally, Mstr6 emerged from the toy room where he had been watching the Penguins of Madagascar, and announced very matter-of-factly...Rico. Now, ignoring the fact that Rico is a penguin, it just worked. And so, without any further painful ado, I present to you Rico :

The latest love of my life (you had your chance, George), and current front runner for all of my jewelry when my time comes.

All of the cute. I can't stop myself cuddling this tiny little ball of cuteness, while whispering in his ear "My precious...". Fingers crossed Mstr6 comes out of his room / down from the lounge and makes nice with his little bro some time before his 21st birthday. I am now going to start researching how to create catchy cat videos and various witty meme's so that I can branch out from blogging.... Once I have harvested a kidney to pay for the little darling and its associated bloody expensive bits and pieces and fancy arsed kitty food that costs more than what I spend on meals for the rest of the family....