Day 20, Kittenly Love

Well, little Dreamy Dreamer must have known that I told you all that he's a lazy big lump last night, because today he's a different kitten! He's actually bothering to walk, and, get this, even drags his behind over to have a cuddle! He's starting to talk now, but because he hasn't used it much, his mew is still a little scratchy compared to the others. He absolutely loves chin rubs.

They've all made strides today. Stripey has got yet another first. She's just cut two teeth! How do I know this? Well, her brother has obviously been whispering in her ear that the human tastes kinda nice, because she's discovered an absolute love for lying on her back, having her belly tickled and chomping merrily away on whatever part of me she can reach. I thought something felt a little different, so had a poke around in her mouth, and sure enough, there was the start of her teeth! Nobody else has got those yet, although they've all got the nubs under their gums, so it won't be long now. They're so funny though. Even when they're chomping away on you, they'll always stop long enough to give you little kisses in between. Bluecream has decided she likes grooming, and gave my finger a very thorough bath today! I was suitably appreciative...

Stripey will now pop her head up and squeak hello to me almost every time I crawl into the pen for a cuddle with the babies. If she's not engaged in more important pursuits like falling over, squealing or trying to bite her brother's nose off, she'll even come over to me and yell at me until I tickle her! Bluecream, Berry, has obviously been watching, because she's suddenly decided that the big scary human thing is her favourite thing in the world, and she needs to love it and climb all over it and cry at it. Every single time I've gone in the pen today to help Apache get a good feed, she's come barrelling over to me for a fuss. She even dragged herself up onto my forearm tonight, then settled down for a kip! I need to turn into an octopus! Can you imagine how hard it is to keep that arm still so as not to dislodge her, plug Apache into a nipple with the other hand, keep the others from fighting her off, grab Dreamy and stop him from bullying everyone else off their nipple just because he can't be bothered to actually do the work and get the milk flow started for himself, plop red boy back in with his mum to stop him squealing from the other side of the pen and making her upset and get up because she thinks there's something wrong, then tickle a Stripey who screams every time you stop? I was struggling!

The pairings are definitely becoming stronger now. Stripe and red show a very definite preference for each other, and the other three have banded together, although their alegances change all the time in that threesome. They love each other, but they're not as tight as Stripe and red.

Today, the last lot of photos from when these guys were 2 weeks old. I'll give you group shots this time so that you can see how much they love each other!

Day 18, Red Boy

So, today it's the turn of my little red muffin. He's the only one that I don't have a tentative name for yet. Nothing suits him yet, so he's just little boy or little fatty (why does my brain always insist that little fatty is an affectionate name!). Fatties are cute though. That huge belly is just so smooshable!

Red is now enjoying his daily smooshes, but oh is he a fierce boy! Today I got brutally savaged again, and my hand barely lived to tell the tale of the all out gumming. He gets so excited when he manages to catch your hand in his paws, then he holds on for dear life, lifts his head up, wobbles from side to side with the effort of holding it there, mashes his face into your hand just to check you're still there, falls over because his traitorous head wobbled and pushed him off balance, repeats the performance so far, then opens his mouth as wide as it will go and chomps you. I'm sure he only does it because he knows that the tummy tickling will increase when he does. When this happens, the dreadful attack will cease mainly because he's physically fallen over and is rolling around with his paws above his head.

Red has, just today, taken his first full, belly off the ground, legs actually straight, non falling over steps. He managed a whole 10 inches before he fell on his face, but after that, there was no stopping him. He was determined that he was going to leave his littermates and crawl to me for a fuss. This upset mum as it took him slightly out of her line of sight and she was feeding at the time so I kept putting him back. I must have put him back 6 or 7 times at least, and in the end, the only way I could get him to stay there was by tickling his tummy.

His teeth are definitely coming. I can feel little bulges below his gums. He's a greedy little monkey and is feeding at every chance he gets. He's also an absolute suck with Millie, a mummy's boy through and through. He climbs up and lies along her neck for a cuddle, he feeds on the front nipple just so that he can get a cuddle at the same time (Millie gives lots of lovin and snuggles to whatever bit of a kitten she can reach when they're feeding.

I'm working with this boy now on being picked up without screaming, and have discovered that I can have him in my hands inside the pen for as long as I like. He just shrieks when you lift him totally out of it. I held him under my chin for ages today, and he kept popping his head up for kisses and just to chunter at me.

He was the first kitten to break 300 g, and today he weighed in at a whopping 311. he's currently the biggest! He loves his sister Stripey, and will cry and shout for her until she comes to sleep with him or play fight. They love wrestling together! If things continue as they are, this pair might be very hard to split.

So, here's some photos of the little love. Enjoy!