A toast to the new year

JoJo loves checking out my water glasses. First he sticks his paw in. Next he sticks his head in and tries to get a drink. I have to watch my drinks closely and remember not to sip from a glass he has enjoyed.

Pretty girl

Maggie Mae discovered the dining room windowsill today. I think she was more interested in the lace curtain than the view.

Merry Christmas!

The kuttues got some new toys in their stocking. A multi-pack of fur mice, JoJo's favorite, and a laser pointer which quickly became a favorite of both of them, At one point I noved it back and forth and watched Maggie's head look like a bobble head doll. They chase it up walls and slide all over the wood floor.

Yarn cravings

JoJo has quite a thing for wool. First there was the beautiful pink cashmere. Then, the love silk and wool blend I'm trying to knit a gift with. And today I came out of the shower and found a ball of green yarn in the bedroom. I picked it up and discovered it was a small part of the ball. I followed the yarn down the stairs, around the family room, into the dining room, around several chairs several times and out into the hall. The coat closet had been left ajar and JoJo hopped in (not the first time 0 last week I found many balls of yarn scattered all around the living room) and found a treasure.

Time to clean the closet floor and move my stash of yarn!

Everything is a toy

Maggie Mae and JoJo are going to be sad - well at least bored - when the holidays are over! They love playing with everything. Here the toy is a box some gifts came in.

A new game

Brand new jumbo roll of Charmin in the powder room - ready for party season. Heard a few strange rustling noises. A little later went into the powder room and found what it was. Maggie Mae and JoJo had invented a fun new game. Might have to get used to turning the roll the other way so it isn't so easy to unroll.

Who me?

Look at these sweet innocent faces. How could they possibly misbehave? Ha! I found a few ornaments on the floor this morning. I hung them back on the tree. Later, the same ornaments were on the floor again. I hung them back on the tree. A little while later I saw the tree branches shaking. I went closer to explore and the same ornaments were back on the ground. I looked closer and found JoJo sitting in the tree. Yikes! A quick squirt and (hopefully) he won't get back in there.

These Christmas preparations are exhausting!

The holidays definitely bring too many things for these guys to get in! They love the tissue paper I wrap ornaments in. As I decorate, I drop it on the floor and they jump on it and slide across the floor.

2nd vet visit

We went back to the vet for the kittens second shots. They got weighed and checked over too. They are definitely thriving! JoJo weighed 2.2 pounds a month ago and 5.2 pounds today; Maggie Mae was 2.6 pounds last month and 4.6 today. That's a lot of kitten food!

Adoration!

Just over a month and the bonding is quite complete! JoJo and Maggie Mae spend most of their time hanging out near me. When I go downstairs in the morning, they follow. When I go up for my shower, they follow. They sit nearby while I do things. When I go up to bed, they follow and come to bed with me for pets and purrs.

I sit in my chair in the family room quite a bit. I put my feet on my ottoman and they shove each other aside to sit near a leg.

I've got it covered!

Put up the tree today. Could see those little kitty brains trying to figure out why in the world THAT was in the house. I did a little ornament hanging and then sat in the living room with my squirt bottle. Each of them made a swipe at it and got a squirt. Seems to have done the trick (so far).

New toys

I was spending today baking cookies. As soon as I started working I heard the cats getting into everything in the living room. I decided if I was going to get all my baking done I had to distract them so I gave them each a feather toy. They chased them, batted them and generally had a wonderful time playing with them for over an hour. Then they collapsed on chairs and took LONG naps!

Meet my new friend Charlie

When I was cleaning out Pat's room I brought this stuffed St. Bernard downstairs. It was Ward's mom's and she had named it Charlie. I walked into the living room and found that Maggie Mae had decided she enjoyed snuggling with Charlie.

Wow - wish we could find the whole bird!

Remembered that I had a few peacock feathers left. I pulled one out and waved it at the kitties for a bit. Then I let them  play with it. They love it! Chased, kicked, chewed it and otherwise reveled in it's beauty!

Paradise lost - and found again

Well, we developed some litter box woes in the last week. JoJo decided things weren't quite to his standards. He started marking on a spot Jasper had peed on in the living room. Then, just to be sure I got his point, he peed on the end of my bed, near my feet, while I was trying to sleep. Yuck.

After a conversation with the vet (thank you Dr. Erdman!) I tried a number of things. Downstairs,  I recleaned the spots with enzyme cleaner, installed a kitty pheromone diffuser in that area, and put a bowl of food on the prevalent spot. Upstairs, I also got a second litter box, with different (clumping) litter. Interestingly, JoJo now uses the new box and Maggie the old. He still seems to not be sure about the sandy texture but I think it keeps it smelling better for him. Maggie sniffs and even pokes the litter in his box but seems to know better than to use it. The boxes are only about a foot apart but JoJo seems to have decided this situation is much improved!

Phew!