Day Seventeen--Characteristics Become More Distinct
Tai & Chi continue to win hearts in this household.Pixie has advanced from watching to playing with the sisters. I'm enjoying watching Pixie play in ways I never saw her play when she was a kitten. Li'l Grey took over with her the moment she arrived so that Jan and I hardly did anything for her beyond meal times and some petting during bathroom breaks. That's when I had to give her lots of affection and teach her to be gentle with human hands all at the same time. That was the only real rearing of Pixie that I ever did. Li'l did everything else. They played a lot mind you, but not the way the girls play. The girls tumble and tussle, but they also do some rather inventive play. Tai is a master leaper while Chi is a master at putting two or more items together to create a new play toy. Today's combo is a mylar balloon and a little fluffy pom pom. Pixie was playing with that too when the twins took a food break.
Li'l was really more of a life skills and personal trainer kind of instructor. There was not a whole lot of inventive play with them. Anjolie and Bootsy were very inventive too. I guess that's why Li'l wanted a play buddy so badly. He didn't have that and missed what my twins had. I'll have to rethink that next time around. It's so apparent that while Bootsy was fun, Li'l was pretty much on his own during that inventive play learning stage. I know he went through this stage because I have him on video doing it on his own with minimal input from Bootsy. Bootsy is good at watching the younger kids, but he's too timid to jump in there at this point and play rough and tumble with a kitten. It was one thing when he was a kitten. It's no wonder Li'l adopted Pixie when she showed up on the scene when he was less than nine months old. He wanted a playmate. I think he's taught me a new trick that I will be sure to remember even if I end up with uneven pairs occasionally down the road. They do so much better when they get a lot of kitten play time with another kitten. Mother is learning too.
Two can be more adventurous because they urge each other on. When one tries something new, the other is emboldened to do something new too. It's good for their development, but perhaps not always good for keeping a perfectly tidy house. I've decided that if you're going to keep kitties happy, you should have a kitty romper room where your rules of neatness don't apply. Thus, our catio. They can play with abandon in the house when they are little and need more supervision, but once they get bigger, the catio is the place for the truly wild play.You can clean once a week. Otherwise, just stay out of there. I can totally see my future with a kat trail built in so the cats can play and roam creatively and safely out from under foot. Kitchens being the one place where they truly need to tow the line.
We're starting to get into a rhythm in this house now with the kittens as part of it rather than the center of it. Everybody is getting used to everybody. Well, maybe not everybody. Beebee has retreated to being outside more than in until it gets too cold and/or she gets accustomed to having the kittens around. Yeti is spending more time outside too. Fortunately, much of his outdoor time is on the catio. I think with the kittens here, we may have to extend his catio time until well after dark. Winter daylight hours are too short right now. Although the kittens sleep a lot, they are pretty good at sleeping overnight. They wake up sometimes when I make a bathroom run, and other times they don't. They do better when they sleep with their mom. When they sleep in my closet, I guess I disturb their repose so they want to get up and play, which prevents me from getting right back to sleep. At least I got to sleep until 4 am without being awakened by pouncing kittens. That was nice. Now I just need to go back to sleep for a while during their morning nap.
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