Well we do have some rather exciting news today, well exciting for me anyway. I'm thrilled to say that Loganberry will be remaining here at Schimmel to become part of our feline family. I must admit to be absolutely over the moon at this announcement because I adore both Berries but there is just something about Loganberry that I personally think is so very special. What is also nice about this is that we will then have 3 generations in our home as we have Cacao (the grandmother), Drambuie & Sambuca (Cacao's daughters) and now Loganberry (the grand daughter). Blackberry has also now found her voice, remember that she has never been as vocal as her sister. That is, until this morning, when she let me know in no uncertain terms that she is a typical loud, demanding Oriental. Both our Berries start talking to me as soon as I enter the kitten room and they will not be quiet until I am stroking both of them and tickling them behind their ears.

Both Berries weights are still excellent and the babies are just little dreams really. Today, Blackberry purred for what I think may have been the first time and what a beautiful sound it was. Blackberry is nowhere near as vocal as Loganberry who insists on letting the whole world know that she is present and wants attention. I think, if she carries on this way, she is going to be quite a little madam when she's growing up.

I have definitely gone overboard with the photos today as you can no doubt tell but I just couldn't help myself. I was having so much fun just watching my 2 Berries play games and move around. These babies are what I would classify as "soul stealers" and once you let them in, there is no turning back. They are both doing really, really well and are now at the stage where they have wrestling matches with each other which is really funny. Loganberry, being the largest is normally always on top but Blackberry is rather adept at wriggling out from Loganberry's grasp and getting a nip in here and there. When I fed Sambuca this morning, both Berries came over to the plate to have a sniff and see what all the fuss was about. Loganberry decided that she wasn't interested at all but Blackberry stayed at the plate for quite some time, checking out it's contents before running back to play with Loganberry.

I must admit that I am getting extremely attached to both of our Berries and find myself up in the kitten room every time I go upstairs for something else. I think they are both the sweetest babies and I have totally fallen in love with them. If I thought for just one minute that I could talk Graham into it, then both babies would remain here with me :) They are doing really, really well. Weight gains are still stable although not quite as massive as they have been recently. Mind you, this is no surprise as both Berries are much more active now and are running around. So instead of having enormous gains each night, they are much more realistic gains now averaging about 10 grams each every 24 hours. Loganberry is obsessed with cleanliness at the moment and keeping herself looking beautiful, as well as keeping Blackberry looking beautiful. Whenever both babies are on the bed together, Loganberry will groom herself all over and then start on Blackberry who is happy to just sit there and enjoy the bath.

Loganberry & Blackberry have progressed quite a lot in the last couple of days. When I enter the kitten room now, I never know where the babies are going to be as they now both run around all over the room exploring everything. This specific changes always seems to happen overnight with babies, one day, they are content to just stay in the confines of their bed and then the next day, they are like fully fledged kittens and there is no stopping them now. This does mean of course that I must be very careful when opening the door just in case anyone is lurking behind it. What does make me happy is when I go into the room, Loganberry comes running out from wherever she is to come and greet me and Blackberry follows suit, but at this stage, does so much more cautiously than Loganberry. At the moment, there is about 40 grams difference between the 2 babies with Loganberry being the largest, however their weight gains are still really good.

Well both Berries have now reached the 3 week old stage and are progressing beautifully. Normally, at this point in their lives, I would be making a start on weaning the babies, however, it will be slightly different for this litter. As we had so many problems right at the start, and now that our 2 babies are doing so well, I do not see any need to start weaning them just yet as they are thriving on their mum's milk and Sambuca is looking really good and in good condition. As there are only the 2 babies, she is not overtaxing herself feeding them and looking after them so I'm going to give them at least another week before I start weaning. Their weight gains are still excellent and I'm truly delighted with our Berries.