fwinston

My good friend, Jenny McCuen, brought us a gift from her mom last night. Her mom has been very generous to our family - she's sewn Charlotte fun things like baby booties, given us books, and most recently, she's given us a large cat-puppet that looks like Winston. It's crazy, because it really looks a lot like Winston. It's even the same size as him. The color is very similar, as you'll see in the pictures below - the cat-puppet is white where Winston is white, and brown/tan/black where Winston is brown/tan/black. Its legs and arms even look like Winston's! 

Because this cat-puppet looks SOOO much like Winston, we named him "Fwinston", meaning Fake Winston. Fwinston has given both Matt and I many scares today, though. When you glance at Fwinston from your peripheral vision, it looks like a dead Winston. I think it happened to me literally 15 times today where I walked into the Living Room and gasped when I saw Fwinston because I thought Winston was dead or dying, or that he had turned into a raccoon, or that he was demon possessed, or that he had cloned himself and the clone was just a little bit off, etc. But, no, it was Fwinston.

What does Winston think of Fwinston? I thought he'd be kind of perturbed by it. I imagined him growling or batting its face with his furry, furry paws. But Fwinston is to Winston as any other stuffed animal is to him: whatever. I guess he doesn't see the resemblance. He doesn't even mind having Fwinston placed right next to him:

What does Charlotte think of Fwinston? She likes him! I think she treats Fwinston how she wishes she could treat Winston - pick him up by the neck, swing him side to side, scream in his face, pat him strongly on the back, etc.

What does our Bible Study think of Fwinston? Since Jenny gave it to us at Bible Study last night, they were able to react to Fwinston along with Matt and I. We decided (or was it just I who decided...?) that Fwinston will be the new mascot of the Bible Study.

What do I think of Fwinston? I love him! Even though he almost causes me to have a heart attack numerous times per day, it's nice to have a fake version of the cat we love so much. It's gotta come in handy sometime, right? If ever Winston can't fulfill one of his cat-ly duties, and he just needs a stand-in, we've got Fwinston. Maybe Fwinston can pose for Winston in photos...? If Winston was ever selected to be in a sleeping cat commercial, but went crazy right before the shoot... Fwinston to the rescue! I think I mostly appreciate Fwinston for two reasons: 1) Jenny's mom's generosity to our family. It is so sweet and kind of her to continue to think of us, and even give us such a very thoughtful and personalized gift! 2) I appreciate Fwinston because he just looks sooooo much like Winston. It's amazing. I'm really impressed by this. It's almost as if we had an artist make a soft sculpture of Winston for us. Once Winston passes on, we'll always have Fwinston to remember him by.