Day 20 - October 31, 2006

Our darling Trotters are growing bigger and more active as each day passes now and I dread the day when I go to step out of bed in the morning to find that the Trotters will be on the floor exploring beside the bed, or worse yet, waking up in the early hours of the morning to find the babies in the bed with us. At the rate they are growing it won't be long at all before they will be running around and climbing on everything in the room. They are at the stage now where they are relying on their sense of smell as much, if not more than most of their other senses and whenever they are exploring their little area in front of the wardrobe, their noses are always close to the floor so they can take in all the new and strange smells.

Day 19 - October 30, 2006

Many, many apologies for the few days we have had with no entries at all. Basically, our weekend was full of unexpected events and news etc and everything has been up in the air and I have just not had the time to do any kitten diaries at all. There is a short entry for today however there are no photos because we are now just incredibly behind with so much and we need to spend the entire day trying to get back to normal. Tomorrow, there will be photos as per usual, and hopefully things will have calmed down again and diaries go back to having proper daily entries.

I am exhausted as I write this entry. Toussaint was incredibly restless last night so we had virtually no sleep up until 4am, where we then had even less because she chose that moment to get under the duvet and wee on the bed. So between 4 and 5am we were changing bedding etc. etc. etc. My brain really is barely functioning at the moment as you can image. On a very, very good note...............our Trotters are doing incredibly well. Their weights are marvellous, they are lovely, happy little souls who have now started meandering out of the wardrobe much to their mothers' disgust. The only absolute problem with our Trotters is that Rodney is still very much inclined to squeal when I pick him up for weighing. He is more than happy to stay in bed while I stroke him and chat with him, but the moment I pick him up, he tells me in no uncertain terms what he thinks about the whole process. Racquel had a lovely visit from her new family member, Jill, and her friend Kat on Saturday. It was great to see Jill again and to hear another Aussie voice :) I just hope that when Racquel moves in with Jill that she will not torment poor Sybil who is Jill's lovely Black girl.

Day 15 - October 26, 2006

Today's entries are not particularly long as I am running a bit behind today and it's already almost 1pm as I start the kitten diary entries for the day but fortunately the main chores are out of the way i.e. all the floors have been hoovered, mopped and carpet cleaned, litter trays have all been done, babies have been fed (more than once!) and the washing is under control :)

Teen, have a close look at the photos of Rodney in today's entry and let me know if you agree with what I said in the email to you this morning about him. As each day passes, our Gamblers are becoming just that bit more active, and when they walk around now, they are covering a much larger space than they were previously. Again last night their weights were excellent and we are just thrilled to bits with their progress so far. They are also all rather gorgeous lookings babies as well don't you think? :)

Day 14 - October 25, 2006

Our darling Trotters are 2 weeks of age today, just like with every other litter, the time has flown by, but they are all absolutely thriving and are coming along in leaps and bounds. I really am just so thrilled with their progress. This was a litter that we were very excited about but also a tad apprehensive as this is Toussaint's first litter and prior to the girls giving birth for the first time, you really just do not know whether or not they will take to motherhood, although with Toussaint's temperament, we always felt she would be a very good mum. She is not a very good mum however, she is an excellent mum :) She does blame me for the fact that the Trotters keep trying to climb out of bed and out of the wardrobe and I do accept some responsibility for this in respect that whenever I lie down on the floor to stroke them and chat with them, they walk/scramble towards me but the problem is that they don't stop when they to the front of the wardrobe, they just keep walking. They are very well behaved though because once their mum makes it clear she wants them back in the bed, then they are more than happy to do as she tells them, although I don't know how long this will last. I have a feeling that once the children are a bit more in dependant and are running around, that they are not necessarily going to be particularly well behaved children. At this stage of their lives, little personalities are definitely starting to develop but these can change over the course of the next few weeks. Right now, Racquel is our "thinker", she is going to be an intelligent girl I think because before she does anything, she seems to stop and think about what she is going to do first. Del Boy is trouble, mischievous, and incredibly playful. He is forever rolling around on his back, trying to entice his brother and sisters to play games with him, he's also going to be a bit of a looker I think, and with eyes that will charm all the ladies. Rodney I think has been aptly named as rather than think for himself at this stage, he waits to see what the rest of the gang are doing and then he will follow suit. He doesn't tend to go off in any direction on his own, he just follows everyone else. This may well change though because the personalities of Red children are inbuilt from the moment they are conceived. Like his brother though, he is also going to be a bit of a looker I think. As for Cassandra, she is the most forward baby at this stage. She has to know what is going on, and when I'm with the babies, she is the first to come straight up to me to have her ears rubbed and to listen to what I am saying. Also, she is forever trying to climb out of bed, more so than the other babies, she will be a bundle of energy I think.