We are 7 weeks old now!

Day 48 - June 20, 2007

Our Tails of Hans Christian Anderson are coming along beautifully and I can't believe that they will be 7 weeks old already tomorrow. Today they have been "chaos on legs" and during their waking moments (remembering that they do still tend to sleep quite lot) it really is best to stay out of their way. The more that Little Tuk and Ugly Duckling mature, the easier it is to tell them apart. Leaving out size difference and the obvious such as gender, their facial features really couldn't be more different. They are such adorable babies though, even when they are tearing throughout the upstairs of the home and even now, they do still all love their food, although Ugly Duckling is the biggest piggy of them all as his registered name would suggest :) Yes the names have been chosen now, the form is filled in and tomorrow it will be sent in to the GCCF so registrations will be back in plenty of time for their new kitten families.

Day 47 - June 19, 2007

One thing I must mention is that because the babies are always altogether and all over the place, it is difficult now to get separate photos for each diary entry so it may be worthwhile checking the other diary entries as you will probably find some photos of your babies in the other diaries as well.

Snow Queen has proved to be the bravest of our little babies because as I was walking throughout the downstairs part of the home this morning, I glanced at the stairs, and here, sitting at the bottom of the stairs was Snow Queen. I had to laugh because she just couldn't quite grasp the concept of "perspex". She could see me on the other side, she could hear me talking to her through the wire, but do you think she could figure out how to get from that side of the stairs to me? Nope, she figured that she could just walk through the perspex bless her. I am relieved to say that after head butting it 3 times, running into it twice, it actually dawned on her that perhaps she wasn't supposed to try to get on the other side of the barrier. It wasn't long though before she was followed by Ugly Duckling, Ice Maiden, and Little Tuk, although it was a good hour before they realised their sister was missing and came looking for her. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, the games began and they started wrestling on the stairs and flinging themselves all over the place, not caring at all that Ice had his nose pressed to the wire, peering at the babies and desperately hoping that they would "come out to play".

Day 46 - June 18, 2007

As you can no doubt tell by the photos below, our Tails of Hans Christian Anderson have been having fun and games all morning. I tell you at any given time during the day I would be hard pushed to know exactly where they all are. Now that they are 6 weeks of age they are turning into proper little kittens. As of yet though I have not seen any of the babies eat the James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits but as their weights are more than adequate, I'm not particularly bothered at this stage. Both Snow Queen and Ice Maiden are confident with the stairs now and they play chase up and down them, just like Little Tuk and Ugly Duckling do. Of course this does make it very difficult going up and down the stairs. I've yet to see which will be the first baby to appear at the bottom of the stairs but so far none of them have come down quite that far. I know when they do however that will be the time to open the little kitten door so that the babies can actually venture into the downstairs part of the home.

Day 45 - June 17, 2007

I've not really had a chance to do any photos because I'm behind on the kitten diaries and I also have 3 pregnancy diaries to update.

Ice Maiden and Little Tuk had a very special day today because their new mummies and daddy came to visit them. The first to arrive was Julia and Greg and they are going to be Ice Maiden's new parents. Even though Julia and I have been in contact via email and telephone for quite a time now, this was the first chance we have had to actually meet each other and for Julia and Greg to meet our own cat family and all the babies. It was really lovely to meet them both and to show off their new fur child to them, even though she wasn't quite the one that Julia originally had in mind ;) Ice Maiden was far more interested in playing that actually snuggling with her new mum and dad, but she did allow herself to have some cuddles, she didn't hesitate in typical Siamese fashion to protest when she had enough and wanted to get back down on the floor to join in the games with the rest of the babies. Of course it didn't help that it was only today that the babies were given access to the stairs, and the upstairs part of the home. So naturally, they suddenly had a whole new world to explore and when they were awake and playing, they wanted to be exploring. Ice Maiden wasn't quite sure about the stairs though and I did laugh as she stood at the top of the stairs, watching Liquorice, Ugly Duckling, and Little Tuk playing chase up and down the stairs. She was fascinated by the smells in the bunk beds that reside in the upstairs landing and this is because of an evening, our pregnant girls, as well as Cacao and Nocello sleep upstairs, so she could smell other "family" members. This didn't stop her from getting in and out of the bunk bed though. Her mum and dad got to see her run around, they also had the chance to have cuddles with some of our other babies, and towards the end of the visit, Julia had some cuddles with Tuaca, our Oriental Red stud cat. Tuaca is such a great big soppy boy, and he does appeal to quite a few of our kitten families because he is red and because he is so soppy. Now whether or not Julia will talk poor Greg into a Red at some stage I really do not know. I did thoroughly enjoy their visit and Ice Maiden will be a very spoilt little girl in her new home and I have no doubts about this at all. Her new mummy and daddy are great :) Then later on that same afternoon, Coral and her friend Jill arrived. Just like Julia, Coral and I have been in touch (although we do have email issues), for quite a while but it was the first chance I had to meet Coral. We did have a lovely visit as we sat in the kitten room watching the babies play and sleep, and talking about cats. Coral will be sharing her home with London (one of the Capitals), and with Little Tuk. Just to spite me, Little Tuk was not particularly interested in her new mum as she was far more concerned with sleeping with the rest of her family, whereas London on the other hand, didn't really want to leave Coral alone and was thrilled to be getting attention and cuddles from someone new. So while Coral did manage to have a few cuddles with Little Tuk, it was London who wanted all the attention. But I won't go into that any more just yet, because if I do, I will have nothing to write about in the Capitals' diary entry :) Coral (and hopefully Jill) will be visiting again in a couple of week's time, and by then I will have had "words" with Little Tuk about being more appreciative of the fact that her mummy is making special trips to visit her, rather than just going to sleep.

Day 44 - June 16, 2007

There is no entry today as it's been quite a busy day and I've not had the time to write anything sorry.

Day 43 - June 15, 2007

There's not too many photos today as it's a busy day for us as we had a major project to sort out around the house which couldn't be put off any longer, so I've not had a great deal of time to spend on photos today. I think, out of all 4 Tails Hans Christian, Snow Queen is definitely the baby most likely to cause mischief or to start a wrestling match. She is so very playful and it makes no difference to her who is lying next to her because if she can annoy them, she will. Ice Maiden is much more chilled out and even though she does love to play, she also loves to relax, especially when she can curl up with some of her "brothers and sisters". Ugly Duckling and Little Tuk both have very similar temperaments. They are typical Blacks really. Playing is a very important part of their lives, as is pouncing, eating, and wrestling. It's very unusual to see one and not the other because they are generally always together and I find it fascinating how they both will pounce on and wrestle the Siamese babies and they always do this together so that one poor Siamese is trying to battle it out with both Black babies. At some point in this weeks' entry, I will share the weights with you all, but not today due to lack of time.

Day 42 - June 14, 2007

Six weeks of age today, again this has crept up on me, but I am pleased with how well our Tails of Hans Christian Anderson are progressing. All 4 babies are doing extremely well and as you can see by the photos below, they are happy, active babies. In reality, they haven't caused me a moment's bother, they just get on with their games, they all make sure they do lots of sleeping which is very good for young babies. They also all have extremely good appetites and we've not had any problems at all with them when it comes to weaning. Now if only they would stop standing in the small water bowl, then life would be wonderful. I've never had a litter that is quite this bad when it comes to not looking where they are going and ending up getting soaked. If it's not one of the Siamese, it's one of the Blacks and it is a daily occurrence. I'm gathering that whilst their bodies and limbs are growing, the brain cells have a bit of catching up to do :)