What precious stories! Your baby truly does have a guardian kitty. And a good one to boot.
My guess is your little one will notice the cat in time. That’s what happened at our house. People kept warning me that one of the cats might hurt my daughter. Not even close. Our then male Siamese put up with it when she dressed him in her T-shirts and rolled him around the house in her dolly carriage. It was adorable. I have yet to see anyone look at those photos (including card carrying cat haters) and do less than smile. That cat lived until my daughter was 15-years-old. It was a terribly sad day when he had to go to kitty heaven but he certainly had been a best pal to us all.
The other nice thing was that my daughter learned to be kind to animals at a very young age. She caught on rather quickly when I’d correct her and show her what the word “gentle” meant. Well, I mean, Edgar was one of her best buddies. Kitty might cry if you hurt him, etc. Funny how I can remember that after all these years but those aren’t things parents forget.
Enjoy! Here’s hoping you take lots of pictures of your baby and her guardian kitty. You’ll treasure them in the future. That’s a promise!
When he was a bit younger (maybe a bit over a year old?), he did slap one of the cats -- once. Not real hard, but a definite slap. The cat looked at him, like, "Whoa!" -- and immediately slapped him right back! Not real hard -- open paw, munitions remained "holstered" -- but, a definite slap.
The baby stopped everything, and had this look of realization, it was obvious that he quickly figured out that there was no percentage in taking that business any further. That was the last time he was ever aggressive to a cat. (There was one time he tried to pick up his "guardian" and hoist him over the edge of the playpen. The cat wasn't having any of it. He just went limp, and slipped through the baby's arms. Funniest thing I ever saw. "Passive resistance", cat-style. Should have named him "Ghandi" instead of "Hobbes" :)