Sweaters on a Tuesday

Let's just start this off by saying, I am NOT a knitter.  I can knit scarves and hats, but not very well.  I can't read a knitting pattern to save my life.  These 'sweaters' are merely two rectangular patches that have been sewn up on the sides with holes left for their front paws. Nothing special.

However, I am an ardent costumer for my kitties.  Poor Q had to suffer the indignity of dressing up time every Halloween and whenever I felt like it for the last 8 years of his life.

I figure, I should start training 9 and Chani early for this little practice.  I can't wait for Halloween!

Of Ear Massages and Laps

Ear massage heaven.  Chani's ears are huge, as I have previously noted.  Whereas she's is generally a major heat machine, her tips of her ears are often a little frosty.  I like to 'massage' them on occasion.  Last night, it was Chris' turn to play personal massuer to the little lady.

Now, from these pictures, can you tell that my two new babies are growing?  Seeing them day in and day out, it's not easy to see their growth.  Some days it's subtle.  Other days, it's kind of shocking.  Today was one day, where I was completely surprised by how big they become.

9: purrrrrrr

Chani:  Don't worry, mom.  I can still fit on your lap, even when 9 fully stretches out

Tower Thursday

During the first few days of living with Chani, Chris noticed that she always liked to be high up. She would climb up to the highest point in the room and just perch.  At this time, I did not have a cat tower for her.  That changed pretty quickly.

Now, this tower is usually her throne.  However, occasionally, 9 will try to take over the throne and Chani retreats to the top of the tube that makes up the tallest point of the tower.  It's not the most stable, but at least she's above 9.  And it provides an opportunity for 9 to bat at Chani's tail.

Sometimes, during the day, though, they just take a nap together in the lounging area.  It's cute. And a great photo opportunity.

The Ears of Chani

Technically, I should be posting this on Friday to match Tama-Chan's lovely Friday Frootbat postings.  However, I'm posting early.  One day, I shall get it right.

I work from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so, that's why I tend to double post on these days.  I enjoy working from home because I get to be with these kittens and see their hi-jinks.  I have to say, that after Q crossed the Rainbow Bridge, working from home was horrible.  The apartment was so empty without him.  Yes, he was always asleep in my room under his blanket, but still, I wasn't completely alone.

I think this is one of the reasons why I moved so quickly to adopt 9 and Chani.  I needed to fill the apartment with life again.  Part of me felt guilty that I wanted to adopt kittens almost immediately after Q left me.  After I adopted the kittens, I felt guilty for missing Q so much.

I'm getting over my guilt.  I still miss Q, but I have a feeling that he understands and probably led me to 9 and Chani.

In the ensuing weeks since I adopted these two, I can only say that I'm incredibly blessed to have them in my life.  They are perfectly suited to me and I think I'm pretty darn well suited to them.

One of the last pictures of Q and me.

Cleaning up

9: Cleaning, cleaning.  Must keep Chani Clean

Chani: Sigh

9:  What?  I'm not doing anything wrong.

Chani: ...

9: Cleaning the ears.  Must clean the ears!

Chani:  I bite you now!

Yin and Yang

Chris' room gets a lot of sunlight in the afternoon.  The kitties loved it today. Came upon this pair soaking up the rays and getting a good snooze on. Unfortunately, this meant they got their crazies on later in the evening... 11:00 in the evening.  Sigh...

Shy Sunday

Chani did not want to have her picture taken this morning.  She preferred playing with the Green Spring.

9 decided to follow Chani's example and not pause long enough in the Great Chase of the Green Spring for me to get a decent shot.

My apartment does not get a whole lot of natural light.  Most of my photography of the kittens is done with a flash and a little bit(ummm... sometime a lot) of Photoshop manipulation.  Thank goodness that I work with Photoshop for my job otherwise... well, we'd have a lot of orange pictures or really dark pictures.

The Naming of 9 part 2

A few things I didn't mention about 9's name...

9 is one of my favorite numbers... its square root is 3 which is also a favorite number of mine.

9 is also how many lives cats have (as we all know)

In Japanese, 9 is pronounced "ku" or "kyu", so in a way, it's a tribute to my beloved, Q.

My first degree was in mathematics, so to name him with a number is kind of fun and very much 'me'.  After all, Q was originally  Diff EQ, from differential equations, the class I was taking when I got Q.

A friend asked me if I wound name my next cat, "Pi", being the geek that I am, and I would have used the Greek letter, not the Roman alphabet for his name.  However, that would have been a bit too much like the artist who was formerly known as Prince...

So, there you go, the story of 9's name.

The Naming of 9

9 was not an easy cat to name.  When I adopted him, he was called Joker.  And although he is quite the playful cat, somehow, I just didn't want to call him Joker.  (Joker and Harley Quinn were an idea to name the pair, but I said 'no' to that.)

Whereas Chani's name was settled on early on (about one day after I brought them home), 9 was a different story.

Some names thrown out were:  Paul, Usul, Charlie, Muad'Dib, Ink butt (because of his tail being black... and I'm not going to mention some of the more crude names that were suggested...), Data, Dante, Pally (short for Paladin, a character class I play on World of Warcraft), Mak...  Did I mention that I'm a big sci-fi/movie/video game geek?

There were a variety of reasons why we rejected names... they were human names, names of people we knew, or names of cats we knew.  Usul was out, because, despite 9's relative strength, he just did not look like an Usul.

9 just had to be named from a literary, sci-fi, or movie reference.  That was the main requirement, but nothing seemed to fit.

Now, the morning before I adopted these two, Chris and I went to see the movie, Watchmen. One of the previews was for a movie called 9 that will open on September 9, 2009 (yes, 9-9-09).  This movie looks really awesome and considering how Chris and I met at a school where we studied 3d animation/modeling... well, let's just say we're eagerly waiting for this movie to come out.

So, on the third day or maybe the fourth, Chris  suggested 9.  I think he had mentioned it before, but I wanted a name that had harder consonants in it.  This time though, the name felt right.

And so, 9 got his name.

He also has a ton of other nicknames depending on how he's behaving... but 9 is his official name now.

The Couch Blankets

Remember when I said something about needing contrast for taking photos of 9 and Chani? Well, Chris and I have a bunch a blankets on the couch.  They provide warmth (yes, it can get a little chilly in California... I'm in the Bay Area/San Francisco region, not Southern California). Now, the blankets also provide a great contrast for 9's coat and good camouflage for Chani. (The flaming blanket was a gift to Chris and Chani seems to blend in with it very well. )

There's also a red blanket.

Red blanket, blue cushions, blue poncho, slightly less red other blanket...

So, no more complaining from me about lack of contrasting colors for taking kitty photos.

Chani's Pink Toes and more

Chani's pink toes are just so cute!  Her toes against her white socks remind me of strawberry ice cream (just like 9's nose against his white fur... so delectable)

However, her pink toes are not her most noticeable feature.  By far, her ears garner more attention.  It's rather cute.  Chani will hide behind a blanket and attempt to stealthily scope the place out.  Unfortunately, her giant ears give her away every time.

Awwww, Little Lady, I'm not making fun of your ears.  I'm complimenting them!  Please don't sulk!

Fine, whatever, human.  When you least expect it, I shall get you!

On a side note, I have to say that despite Chani's lovely ladylike looks, this little girl is one major gas machine.  When she's upset or frightened, she breaks wind like no other. And there are times, when she just needs to let go. The other night, she was sitting on Chris' lap, started purring without him petting her. Chris looked down to see why she was purring since he wasn't doing anything. She stretched and put her arm across her nose. And then the smell hit him. Whoo!

She's also done this to me while I'm at my laptop.  As she's inspecting the screen with her backside pointed directly in my face... Target acquired and BAM!

Yep.  She's a lady all right.

Pink Toe Goodness

By rights, I should be posting this on Toesies Tuesday, but I couldn't help myself.

I have a thing for black paw pads on kitties, especially if they have white paws.  Q had 4 white socks and adorable black paw pads.  Well, 9 and Chani both have lovely white paws.  Chani has all pink toes (which are adorable too), but 9 has the black paw pads... except for one.  On his back left foot, he has one little pink toe.  It's so cute!  It was one of the first things that I noticed about him after all the cooing and raving over his incredibly striking looks.

A few friends came over and the wife noticed 9's little pink toe right off.  This led to my roommate, Chris (a male), asking: What is it about girls noticing toes on cats?

I don't know the answer to that one.  Anyone?

Chani and the Springs

Chani doesn't mind playing with the Evil Feather Toy, but by far, her favorite are the little springs her foster mom suggested that I get.  She chases them, bats at them and carries them around in her mouth.

Chani is definitely more agile than 9 which might explain her preference for these toys (9 plays with them, but he's much more apt to attack the feather toy and display his awesome leaping prowess).

Hey Little Lady!  Is that the expression of:  why are you pointing that big black box tube thing at me instead of chastising 9 for stealing my spring?!?!?  Or is it just:  I'm a Lady and I am plotting my revenge on him and you.

* As a side note, when I moved into this apartment with my roommate, we were quite pleased about the neutral carpet and the white walls.  Now that I have two kittens who are essentially neutral colors (especially 9), I'm thinking that a little bit of color would be great for photos!

9 the Conqueror

I am 9!  Conqueror of the Evil Feather Toy!

Yeah, I am the victor.  Hear me ROAR!  *meeeeuuuw*

Is it just me or does he look a little guilty in these pictures? What do you have to be guilty about, little man?  Being absolutely adorable and one fuzzy purr monster?  Well, you've got that right!

On my lap

One of the most important things for me when I was adopting kitties was that they were lap cats.  I really wanted to have kittens who would just climb up into my lap and hang out there.

Well, I got my wish.  Two times over it seems.

9 was first.  He was all comfortable, but then Chani climbed up onto my computer desk and decided that the best seat in the house was in front of my monitor.  Not good when I was trying to work/chat/play World of Warcraft.  So, I grabbed Chani and put her on my lap as well. This lead to a little bit of repositioning on their part.

Repositioning multiple times.  Part of me thinks that my lap is just not big enough for the two of them, but how could I say no to one of them and not the other?  I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with this when they get to full size.  Guess I'll deal with it then.

In the meantime, I'll just enjoy it.  Now, can anyone tell me how to take photos of the kittens on my lap without making me look so "eff a tee"?

Hello!

Greetings everyone!  Welcome to this kitty blog, or shall I say kitties.   I adopted this pair of darlings from The Cat House/Community Concern for Cats in California.  Before, I've only been owned by a single cat.  Being owned by two shall be quite the new experience for me.

Both have a 'geeky' first name and a Hawaiian middle name (Mom insisted that both have Hawaiian names even though we're Japanese and not Hawaiian... guess it's because Mom and Dad grew up on the Islands).

First up is 9 Kai.  9, for short, is a 4 month old Snowshoe mix. He's an adorable purr monster who just doesn't stop the playing or the loving. As I write this, he's sitting in my lap napping. I'm making sure to not move my legs even though I've got one tucked under and that will lead to a lot of stiffness and pain for me later. However, as we all know, kitty in lap means no movement on the part of the human.

"Kai" means "sea" in Hawaiian and "shell" in Japanese. As for why "9", that's a story for another time. 

Getting the picture below was entirely by luck. This boy is in constant motion and loves to charge the camera.

Next up is Chani Hokulani. I've been told that she is about 4 months old too. She seems a bit small for that though. Her foster mom said that she's always been much smaller than her foster siblings and was picked on a lot by the boys. I was worried a bit when I decided to bring her home (Chani and 9 were in the same cage when I went to the adoption fair.  They were sleeping on each other, so I knew they were somewhat compatible.) Their foster mom told me not to worry. Chani could hold her own and give it right back to 9 at any time. So, I brought her home with 9 and after watching her in action for a few days, I have no worries about her being put upon too much. She's feisty and often instigates the 'fight' time.

"Chani" is from Dune, one of my all time favorite novels. "Hokulani" means "Star of Heaven" in Hawaiian.

Chani is a bit shier than 9. Whereas 9 instantly purrs as soon as you look at him, Chani will meow for your attention and then take off when you look at her or make a move toward her. Still, once you catch her, she's warms up pretty quickly and starts her engine up.

Both of them sleep with me now and it's so wonderful waking up with two warm little bodies next to my shoulder.

I'm a bit of a camera hound, always taking photos, but I take forever to upload them all to my computer. Still, I will try to stay on top of things and keep things current in this blog!