A New Way to Play

All by himself, Apricot has invented a new way to combine the Bird wand toy play with what has become his favorite toy, the star and moon tunnel. It's funny because I never realized the tunnel itself would be a toy; I thought it was a place to play in.

Ooh, lookit the birdy!

He introduced me to the concept of using the tunnel during Bird play by dashing through it after the Bird. I'll admit I was trying to coax him into this by convincing him that the Bird couldn't see through the tunnel even though he could.

But suddenly he was diving through it even though the Bird was off somewhere else taunting him. It was like the beginning of the run after the Bird had to be through the tunnel sometimes.

For a few days he didn't feel so good, just tired. And during this time he didn't want to play anywhere but the tunnel. He'd simply go back to it if I made the Bird "fly" somewhere else. So, okay, we'll play around the tunnel.  

The tunnel is next to my computer desk, and I made the mistake of trying to incorporate the desk into the allowable "tunnel only" play. Oh, it worked a treat; he loved being able to peer under the cabinet (you can see in the picture above how it's slightly above ground level due to being on wheels). But the mistake was when I jumped the Bird onto my chair and inadvertently taught him to grab it off the chair.

This means now when I sit there to work on the computer, I occasionally get bopped in the butt by a kitty paw or two as he tries to grab me off the chair like he grabs the Bird. He doesn't use his claws so I mostly just roll my eyes at him and say in a softly exasperated tone, "Now Apricot, don't do that."

Alla Alla Upside Down Kitty!

The culmination of all his tunnel antics came when he would get in the tunnel, roll over (using the tunnel's ability to roll, not his!) and try to grab the Bird as I would drag it over the outside edges. He'll grab the edge of the tunnel and compress it down toward him (the whole thing is on a spring enabling you to collapse it down and store it in a much smaller space). 

He'll even use his paws to snag the fleece edge (the white part inside) where it meets the star fabric on the outside, and pull the star fabric in to the inside. The point is that the Bird feathers are resting near the edge, and by rolling the edge toward him like this, he can flip the feathers down on top of him. Whereupon he grabs them between both paws and ecstatically chews on the feathers.

He seems to play in cycles. Sometimes the hallway is the favorite place; sometimes the living room crepe tree is, and lately it's the tunnel. And I think he looks so absolutely adorable on his back inside the tunnel, grabbing at the shadow of the feathers!