ella has always loved the doggies and kitties, she loves to pet them and play with them and for the most part, they let her. she especially loves to give them bites of her food, and she squeals and kicks and claps when i let her help me feed them. she finally took it upon herself to feed them on her own--she got into the pantry and pushed the kitty chow bucket around to the piano (we have to feed the kitties up high, because the dogs eat their food if it is on the floor), so i let her help me scoop out some chow and then she pushed the bucket back to the pantry.
she is so smart--i have never tried to teach her to do these kinds of things--but i've always included her in everything i do, and so she learns. she hasn't tried to do this again--i think it was a lot of work for a tiny girl to push a big bucket!--but that's ok, i'm happy to carry a squealing, kicking, clapping baby while i do it myself.