Both Sambuca and Tia Maria's kitten diaries are the same today and there are no photos because I actually took a "day off" yesterday and didn't have my computer on and so obviously upload a diary entry. It was actually the first time I think since Amaretto's litter was born that I've done nothing for most of the day and we had family around for a meal so it was very relaxing and really nice. Naturally I was still up and down a lot of the day checking on the babies and feeding little Mars constantly. Tomorrow's diary will be back to normal however it probably won't go online until later in the afternoon as I have quite a lot to catch up with up.

Today there were 2 big changes for the Three Musketeers. The first being that they are now not living on the sofa any more and have been moved back to the floor which they are thrilled about and have spent most of the moving walking/running about all over the place which they could never do on the sofa. Their 2nd change and this is the most exciting of all, is that I've started weaning the Musketeers now and was absolutely stunned at how well they took to it. Athos was particularly clever, or perhaps just a little piggy, because as soon as I put the saucer in front of him, he put his head down straight away and with no hesitation started eating and was thoroughly enjoying it because he started making those little noises the babies make when they are eating something they really like. After he had finished (and he had quite a lot), I picked up D'Artagnan and again it was the same as Athos. He tucked straight into the mixture and while he didn't eat as much as Athos, he had quite a bit and I was so pleased. Next it was time to try with Aramis. She was not quite as keen as her brothers and with her, I had to put the mixture on my fingers and hold it up to her and she licked it off. She was more than happy to do this but didn't want to eat from the saucer. At least she likes the mixture and as she ate it from my finger I know that it won't be long before she gets the hang of the saucer too. Now that the Musketeers are weaning, I've also put a small litter tray down on the floor as well because the time has come that they will need to be learning how to litter train.

Our Three Musketeers are really starting to develop now, particularly "colour wise". I'm extremely delighted to say that Tia Lusso whom we will be keeping has very distinctive thumbprints on her ears as well as the faint markings of an M coming through which means it's looking rather likely that she is a Tabby Point. This is thrilling for us because we have been hoping for so very long now that Tia Maria will produce a tabby girl that we could keep and it's looking as if our dream is coming true. I did think at first that she was in fact Blue but having had a good look at her yesterday and comparing her to her brothers, I would not be surprised if she turned out to be Seal. The photographs really do not show the Musketeers colour very well and their points do look lighter in the photos than in real life. It's going to be very interesting to see how they develop over the next couple of weeks. One of the boys, and I'm not sure which one, is also a definite tabby point which is very nice. They are all such funny babies and they don't spend as much time feeding now but are spending more time playing with all their new brothers and sisters. Of course it is very unfortunate for the Planets that the Musketeers are so much bigger and naturally have the advantage in wrestling matches. The most exciting news of all for the day is that our babies can run now. They are no longer held back by walking fast, all 3 of them can really run which is the funniest thing in the world to watch :) I really need to look at moving the box out of the room and moving both mums and all babies onto the floor now because the Musketeers really need their freedom and at the moment, they can only be run around on the sofa. The reason I'm holding back is that that once they start exploring the room, they will inevitably go somewhere they shouldn't, they will then think they are "lost" as all babies do, then Tia will get frantic looking for them and at the moment I'm relying on Tia for feeding little Mars.

If you're also reading the Planets kitten diary as well as this one then you will be aware that Tia Maria and the 4 babies now have company as Sambuca and the other 4 babies are now sharing the sofa as well. Tia Maria seems rather pleased with this because she now has the double the amount of babies to love and care for and not only that, on a couple of occasions late yesterday afternoon and evening, I caught her grooming Sambuca which was really lovely. The Three Musketeers as always are totally unphased by their new housemates and when Sami's 4 first went onto the sofa, Athos and D'Artagnan walked straight over to them and started sniffing them all over and then trying to groom them. Photos are absolutely so very difficult now and as all babies now share the same place. I no longer have any idea who is who any more which you will find out when you view the large images. It's surprising how adding 4 other Blacks to the Musketeers sleeping quarters has confused me now to the point where I'm even struggling to tell the Musketeers apart. I am pleased though that we've had no incidents whatsoever since the big move and all 8 babies are very happy to coexist on the sofa and none of them object to which milk bar they feed from which is really lovely. I've noticed as well that since the move, the Three Musketeers have been teaching the Planets how to groom themselves and how to wrestle.

Did no one who is reading this diary think to mention that I had numbered my days wrong? I started off this week with Day 22 as opposed to Day 21 and when I came to do this entry I couldn't figure out why the Three Musketeers were suddenly 8 days older than the Planets instead of 7 days. I've changed it all now so it is actually correct :) Tia Maria still isn't giving our Musketeers as much freedom as they would like but it has now occurred to them that if they all go walkabout at the same time, in different directions, then she can only follow one of them at a time so at least 2 of them get to do a bit of exploring. It makes me smile as I watch them and think that they must be saying to each other "Well I got caught first yesterday so I'm going this way, you go that way and if she picks you up, when she comes after me, I'll hide behind the box and you can go for another walk. Then if she comes after me, wake up that black thing and it'll cry and mum will go and feed it and we can keep exploring" If they think she's bad now though, they should wait until they all come downstairs in the back room with me because then Tia will not let them out of her sight. The babies all seem to be growing at an incredibly rapid rate and they now spend a lot of their waking time, when they aren't walking about, grooming each other. Athos and Aramis were lying beside each other on the sofa and Athos was grooming (or I guess he could have been biting) Aramis' front leg and Aramis was grooming Athos' ear.

It's very difficult to keep this entry normal today as yesterday, we lost Mercury, the Siamese baby of Sambuca's that Tia had been fostering and her loss was very unexpected and shocking. However, I'm trying extremely hard to make Tia's diary normal because Sambuca's diary, from day one has been fraught with sadness and I don't want that to carry through to this diary. As D'Artagnan, Aramis and Athos are now 3 weeks old I would normally have made a start on weaning which I do on either Day 21 or Day 22. This litter will be different though because as there is only a week between the Three Musketeers and the Planets I will be holding off weaning until the Planets are old enough too. I don't think this will make any difference at all to the Musketeers and it makes far more sense to wean both litters together as opposed to starting one litter and then another a week later. The Musketeers weight gains are still excellent so I don't think that holding off weaning will affect them at all. It will mean of course that I get one more added week with a bit more time to myself whilst leaving the care of the Three Musketeers up to their mum. I will take some photos later on today and will upload them at some point during the afternoon.

Just like all of our other babies here in the house, time is literally flying past and the Three Musketeers are growing up way too quickly for my liking. Already, now we've reached this 3 week stage, their personalities are starting to develop, as is their activity level and movement. Tia Maria is not the happiest of mum's as a result because the babies now want their freedom and that is something that Tia is not ready to give them just yet. As soon as any baby starts to walk across the sofa and tries to climb onto the ottoman or Sambuca's box, Tia is right behind them, picking them up and dragging them back to the safety of the other babies. If nothing else, Tia will be getting a lot of exercise because as soon as she drags back the offending baby, another one wakes up and decides that he/she will also go for a walk so then she's off again after that baby. I'm wondering how much longer it will be before they move off the sofa and onto the floor where it will be much better for all concerned. Today's photos aren't particularly great as the Musketeers were feeding when I went in to take photos and I didn't want to disturb them.