I used to think that the Potters were really pleased to see me enter the kitten room because they loved me however I am now convinced that they are so happy to greet me because it's the only time they're allowed out of the kitten box! It doesn't matter what time of day, or how often I go in the room, all babies are in the box and come scrambling out as soon as I call to them. Cacao simply will not allow them any freedom at all. At one stage, poor Hermione was trying to run in the box, chasing Madam Hooch just to create some excitement in her life. I do hope that the babies will soon learn not to listen to their mum and will start to come out whenever they want and just ignore her. It doesn't help of course that as soon as one of them is out, she is picking them up and putting them back in. This morning, I was sitting on the floor in the room and the babies were all walking/running about when Cacao came back into the room, lay down on the floor in front of me, grabbed both McGonagall and Madam Hooch, held them in her front legs and tried to hug them together so they couldn't escape. At some point towards the end of next week, I will be opening up the kitten room door during the day and blocking off the stairs access so the babies can start to learn that there's more to life than a cardboard box.

I'm so pleased that the Potters are still so young as we were out for most of the day today so thank goodness they aren't up to the "weaning" stage yet. For the last 2 days now the babies have been coming out of their box, mainly when I'm in the kitten room because if I'm in there, Cacao is happy to let them come out and walk all about. It's really very sweet as they are now at the stage where they can walk properly. Up until yesterday, the front legs were moving just fine, however the back legs really didn't know what to do. As I watched them today I was most impressed to see that all 5 babies can now coordinate their front and back legs and walk properly. Naturally they still have the little accidents where they will topple up or where they will push each other over but on the whole, they are doing very well indeed. Their weight gains are still quite good and I will start weaning the babies on Monday I think.

I thought I'd show you all individual photos of the Potters as it's so very easy to determine who is who. I can also confirm that all 3 Siamese babies are Blue Points and obviously our 2 Orientals are Black Torties. This is the first time we've had 2 boys in a litter before so I'm rather excited about that. The Potters are STILL living in the kitten box and I'm beginning to have my doubts about them ever venturing out. Mind you, it's still very early days. They weren't very happy with me today as they didn't want their photos taken, nor did they want their bedding changed. They are such good little babies though on the whole, their only fault is their vocal chords which are still so incredibly loud. You only have to hear them to know that there is no doubt whatsoever as to who their mother is!

When I went into the Kitten Room this morning I was surprised to see 3 of the Potters out of the box and sitting/lying on the towel at the front of the box. They must have really been driving Cacao mad because as soon as I opened the door this morning, she bolted out like a shot. Guess they are becoming slightly uncontrollable now. I make sure that Cacao comes away from the babies for short spells at least 3 times a day to give her a break and let her wander through the house and see everyone. She's such a "people cat" that when she has those few weeks in the kitten room with her babies, she finds it very lonely. It wasn't so bad last time as she was in there with Tia's first litter so they were good company for each other. Before I went to bed last night I checked on the Potters as I normally do and they were in a particularly "loud" mood. They started squealing and trying to climb out of the box to get to me as soon as I called to them. I then realised the best way to quieten them down is to sing softly to them. As soon as I started singing, they started to become very quiet and then just lay there in front of me while I stroked them. Of course, it could be that my singing is so bad (which it truly is) that they went quiet in the hopes that I would stop!

These babies can truly squeal for England. This is only our 4th litter but out of all 4 litters, this is without a doubt, the loudest. I pity the future owners of these darling babies and will have to make sure they all know exactly what they are letting themselves in for. When I first went into the Kitten Room this morning to feed Cacao and check on the little ones, I noticed that Cacao's tail was in "Basil Brush" mode. She was lying at the door of the box, with an incredibly bushy tail and after watching for a minute or two, it didn't take long to realise that the reason for this was due to the Potters. They were trying to get past their mother to get out of the box and she didn't want them to leave. So she sat blocking the door while the babies were crawling over her trying to escape. Cacao likes to keep her babies as "little babies" for as long as possible. She's extremely protective and hates the thought of them becoming little individuals. We had this same problem with her when she had her first litter. She just refuses to let them grow up. She'll soon learn, as she did last time, that when the time comes, there is no holding them back. Before I forget to mention it ahem...................it looks like instead of having 2 Siamese girls and 1 Siamese boy in this litter, we actually have 2 Siamese boys and 1 Siamese girls. It's for this reason that "Ginny" has now become Ron Weasley!!! Of course I could be wrong but I'm hoping not.

Where has the time gone? The Potters are now 2 weeks old and are doing very well. I'm very proud of my babies as they've now turned into real little kittens and they can move properly. When I went into the kitten room last night I was amazed to see that the Potters were all climbing out of the box and trying to go for walks. They were so incredibly funny that I spent ages in there just watching them. Poor Madam Hooch didn't get very far as every time she tried to get out of the box, one of the Siamese babies stood on her head and used her as a stepping stone. Right at the end, Madam Hooch made it out of the box when one of her sisters knocked her out onto the towel. I really love it when they reach this stage and are finding their feet.