It's exactly as I thought and diary entries are getting shorter by the day. For the first time since the R's birth, I can't think of a single thing to write that hasn't already ben written. Their weight gains are still very good, although Danny has slowed down a bit and is not making such big gains now. I'm really pleased with their progress to date and I must make an effort to look at each baby individually to try and determine any possible colours. They are at that very adorable age now where they are starting to "find their feet" so to speak. They often smack each other in the head now, or nibble each other and are beginning to play little kitten games. Rosie is quite a little talker so she may be a chatterbox when she gets a bit older. Watching their personalities develop is one of the best parts of breeding.

Another fairly quiet day today. This is unfortunately the stage of development where not a great deal happens and it can be hard to actually know what to write about without saying the same thing over and over again. When I went into the kitten room first thing this morning, the majority of the R's were all on the sofa bed, as opposed to being in their hooded cat bed. I think they've had enough of their bed confinement. They have now started to groom themselves as well as groom each other. It's not unusual now to see them licking their own arms, or their brother's and sister's heads which is really sweet to see. I was going to start off the diary by saying that everything is very quiet on the kitten front, however, that would be a lie because as soon as I go in to the kitten room and call out "Babies", they all squeal back at me rather loudly. I'm not sure if they're expecting something from me, or if they're just swearing at me in Kitten Talk for disturbing them.

Danny, our little porker, is still making incredible weight gains on a daily basis and the rest of the R's are all gaining as they should be. It's been wonderful not to have to keep sterilising syringes for hand feeding this time around. The R's are now starting to clamber out of the bed. When I was in with them last night, they were all at the front of the bed and poor Tia was sitting right at the edge of the bed to try and stop them. I had to laugh because the babies trying to crawl through Tia's legs to get past her to get onto the sofa. Tia was looking at me as it to say "Help Me". These little ones are just so bold and so curious even at this age. When they are awake they are no longer content to just lie there, they now want to be moving around and want to explore their surroundings. I actually moved a chair next to the bed so that they can't roll off the sofa, although there's soft bedding on the floor in case they do happen to roll of. I certainly don't envy Tia trying to control these little hooligans as they get older. There's something about them that makes me think "Trouble"!

For some reason, even with the pc problems, I'm finding it so much easier to update this diary than Tia's last one. I guess because I'm so much more relaxed about this litter as they appear to be totally problem free and I do think I am enjoying them much more. Also, the fact that we now have the Kitten Room which I know is totally safe for them, means I can relax even more. (If you read Tia's last diary you will know of the problems we had when she moved them around in our bedroom.) Mind you, once the other litters start arriving, I'll be in the middle of weaning Tia's babies so goodness knows where I'll find time to do diary updates! When I went in there this morning I was thrilled to see 6 pairs of little eyes all staring up at me with expressions of interest on their faces (either that or they were thinking "oh no, it's her again!). I prefer to think that they like me :) I noticed that when I go in to talk to them now, they all start to move closer to the edge of the bed and sit up quite a bit so they are hopefully starting to recognise me now. At the moment, Danny is the most curious of all the babies and when he is awake, he now crawls right over to the edge of the hooded bed and starts to climb out. He's a very daring little boy. Both Rolly and Birchy are now totally used to being held and examined. When I hold them, they just look up at me, and are quite content to sit there without making any fuss. Having said that, I was not particularly amused when I had Birchy in my hands and he decided to do a little wee on me!!! I am sure from memory, that is the first time that has ever happened to me. I can now confirm that Rolly is definitely a tabby which I'm happy about. Gino & Rosie are so far very similar in temperaments in the respect that while they are perfectly happy to lie in the bed and be stroked and tickled behind the ear, they don't like being too far from mum's side. Daisy still has quite a mind of her own. I'm wondering if we have another Phoebe on our hands. Phoebe from our last litter was a very attention seeking little girl and even now, is still very demanding of her owners. If Daisy continues like that, I'll have to make sure that her owner has the patience of a saint, just like Phoebe's owners do.

I did promise myself that this time around I would not go overboard on photos, yet here we are in week 1 and I couldn't help including these pics I took yesterday afternoon. I had a wonderful time in the kitten room, talking to and patting all the little R's. I swear they were listening to every word I said. It was during this time that I realise how truly blessed I am to have been given these little babies to love and care for. Their weight gains are still excellent and Gino now weighs the same as Rosie so that is fabulous news. The majority of the R's are all fine when it comes to being weighed, except for Daisy who is, even at this age, an incredibly stubborn baby. If Daisy doesn't want you to do something, she will certainly let you know about it. It will be interesting to see if she continues with that attitude throughout the rest of her life. Today is the first day that I haven't been popping up to the Kitten Room constantly as I've had quite a bit of other things to deal with so I shall have to make up for that by spending extra time with them tonight.

It's been a fairly quiet day today with The R's hence the short entry. As usual, they just eat and sleep. I was right about Danny doubling his birth weight in the first week, in fact he went over double. Colours are really starting to come through now and it looks like we have some definite seals. That's no surprise though as I was expecting seals anyway. Tia is very patient with them, even when they are climbing all over her face and her body. Whenever one of the babies wakes up an starts to squeal, she picks him/her straight up and puts the baby on the closest available nipple. I'm really happy with their progress at the moment. Every day you can see that the babies are becoming more and more aware of their surroundings and when they are awake they are more alert now. Today's photos are probably the worst I've taken yet and having a white blanket under white babies doesn't help much! I'll have to replace the bedding in their and see if I can get clearer photos tomorrow.

The R's are one week old today and the week has absolutely flown by. It's been a week of ups and downs and I really don't know where the time has gone. It still astonishes me how much they can change just in that first week. All 6 babies made some really good weight gains in the last 24 hours. When I weigh them again tonight, I am sure that Danny will have doubled his birth weight as he's not far off it now. All cords have finally dropped off thank goodness, with the last of them dropping off in my lap while I was examining one of The R's. Tia is still being the perfect mother and it's so wonderful to just sit there and watch her with them. I have a feeling that when it comes time for the babies to start moving around that she will be as over protective as she was last time. Even now, when a baby starts crawling to the edge of the hooded bed she picks the baby up straight away and drags the little explorer back to her side. All 6 R's seem to enjoy being gently stroked under the ear and along their back and so far they are perfectly happy with human contact.