Birthday Presents

Finally, here are my birthday presents, with my handsome self checking them out.  Mom really blew it yesterday.  She was supposed to give updates on the party, but she didn't.

Karen Jo:  I tried to, Herman.  I was updating the birthday party and the power failed.  Then I had a lot of things to do and I never got back to it.  I apologize.

The only birthday present I am really interested in is the nip rainbow.  I sniffed at the new bird for Da Bird and totally ignored the Peek-a-Prize.

Emma:  I like all your presents a lot, Herman. The Peek-a-Prize is really fun.  You should try it out.  The new bird is awesome.  I played and played with it.

Great.  Emma likes my birthday presents better than I do.  I want to thank everyone for coming to my party.  Emma and I had a great time with all of you here.  The only time the Peek-a-Prize got really interesting was when the churchyard meeses tried to hide in it.  That was a lot of fun.

Birthday Party

Sammy, Andy and Shelly's Mom, Judi, sent me this great birthday card.  Thank you so much.  As you can see, my birthday is actually on Friday, but we are going to celebrate today, as Mom has to work on Friday.  The party starts right now and will go on all day, right up to midnight on Friday.  Mom has been stocking up on cat food, so we have plenty of Stinky Goodness and Elegant Medley for everyone. We also have lots of  healthy grain-free dry food, if you like that sort of thing.  There will be lots of chicken and roast beef and salmon, too.  Mom also stocked up on treats, so we have Temptations, nip treats, Greenies and Party Mix. Mom will be mixing up niptinis and meowgaritas for the adult cats and serving tuna juice and milk for the kittens. We have a good supply of nip and tons of toys to play with. We have lots of places to sleep for the kitties who want to start partying tonight and sleep over. Since Mom doesn't have to go to work tomorrow, she says that we can play THoE all night if we want to.  Mom has a full-sized bed with lots of room for kitties to crash on.

Tomorrow, I get to open my presents and the party will really get into high gear. The weather looks like it is going to stay warm, so we will have lots of open windows  Mom will feed and put new water in the bird bath, so the Bird Channel will be pretty interesting.  Mom promised to post updates on the party tomorrow and I intend to see to it that she does.  Come on over and let's celebrate my fourth birthday.

Fresh Air Sunday

 I'm whiffing the fresh air.  My head is a bit blurry because I kept moving it all around to get in all the new smells coming in the open window.  It was warm enough for open windows as soon as Mom got up this morning and we got to keep them open until Mom went to work.

Emma:  I am watching a birdie take a bath.

Karen Jo:  Sorry it's such a long shot.  This is my third attempt to take this picture today. Every time Emma saw me coming toward her, she jumped down.  I would back away from her and she would jump back up.  I finally ended up taking the picture from across the room. She was absolutely fascinated by a bird having a really good time in the bird bath, which I had just filled.  I opened windows in the kitchen, living room and my bedroom, which gives a nice breeze through the house.  I closed them when I went to work because the weather had been so cold lately, I was afraid it would get too cold by the time I got home.  After I got to work, I realized that I hadn't turned the heat back up, but I needn't have worried.  The house was 80 degrees inside when I got home.  We have an open window in my bedroom and the back door open, with the screen door securely latched.  I will leave them open until it gets too cold.  It's down to 60 outside, so I will have to close up before I go to bed.

We were good kitties today, with no spats, though Emma almost pounced me tonight.

Emma:  I was up on the couch and ran to my favorite chair when I saw Herman relaxing near it.  I came within and inch of pouncing right on his head, but thought better of it at the last minute and put on the brakes.

Karen Jo:  I could tell that if Emma had pounced that it was going to be a play pounce.  Herman barely reacted.

I was too hot to react much.  80 degrees is way to hot for me to feel up to doing much at all.  Emma was still running around, but her coat isn't nearly as thick as mine.  I was really glad when Mom got home and left the back door open and opened her window to get a little breeze going.  I will be really glad when we get to have open windows while Mom is at work, so it doesn't get so hot in here.

Karen Jo:  That should be soon, if the weather stays warm.  I just worry that if I leave the windows open and the temperature really drops, you will be two very cold kitties when I get home.

I haven't gotten cold since my fur grew back in after I had my chest shaved last year.  Emma might feel it, though.

Emma:  I could always snuggle up to you to keep warm.  I'm not sure I'm brave enough to do that, though, if Mom weren't around.  It seems we can only snuggle up next to each other when we are also snuggled up next to Mom.

Karen Jo:  Give it time.  I think the two of you are eventually going to be very affectionate toward each other.

Caturday

 The sight of Mom crawling around on the floor trying to get good pictures of us never fails to amuse me.

Emma:  This catnip banana really amuses me and that seems to amuse Mom.  She was laughing, anyway.

Karen Jo:  I love the contortions you get into when you are really enjoying playing with something.

Emma:  I didn't find Herman very amusing on Thursday. After you wrote about how well we were getting along, he was really mean to me.  He backed me up against the bathtub and whapped me.

Karen Jo:  I don't know what got into him.  I heard you making the angry cat sound and came to see what was the matter.  I had to tell Herman to back off a couple of times before he actually did it.  Then you ran like crazy to get away from him.  When I went to comfort you, I found a big tuft of loose fur on your side.

Herman:  I was just reminding her who is the boss kitty around here.

Karen Jo:  I think you can do that without scaring her half to death.  I just don't get it.  Today when you wanted to share the Medley while she was eating it, she just half-raised a paw to you and you backed off.

Herman:  I knew that she wouldn't eat all of it, so I just ate some Stinky Goodness until she finished what she wanted and I got to eat the rest of it.

Karen Jo:  The two of you have been cuddling up together with me in bed like usual, so whatever ticked off Herman so much is all over and forgotten, apparently. At least the weather is finally warming up and we are getting more open windows around here.

Emma:  I love the open windows and the birds.  I get up on the very top of the easy chair and watch them while sniffing the fresh air.

Karen Jo:  I tried to get a picture of that, but you reacted to the camera whirr and jumped down.  I will have to remember to turn the camera on before I come into the room when I want to catch you doing something.

Togetherness Thursday

Here's a sight you don't see every day. In fact, Mom had never seen it before.  Mom had been reading in the easy chair next to this couch.  Emma crawled all over her for a while, then went to the couch.  I joined her there.  We even stayed put while Mom went and got the camera.

Emma:  It's a good thing she got the camera when she did.  I jumped off the couch right after the picture was taken and Herman followed in a couple of minutes.

Karen Jo: This is the first time that I have ever seen the two of you so close together, just chillaxing.  You usually only get this close when you are both in bed with me.

Emma:  Bedtime is the best time.  I even groomed Herman's head a few nights ago.

Karen Jo:  That surprised me, too.  I think the two of you are beginning to really like each other.  Herman was fascinated with Emma from the very beginning, but Emma was scared of Herman at first.  Then she began to tolerate him.  Both of them have displayed jealousy of the other. Now the ambushes and whaps are much more playful.

The Purina One is all gone.  I am going to miss it.

Karen Jo:  You missed it so much that you even started munching on the Green Pea and Duck again.

Emma:  I tried the Green Pea and Duck, too.  I would still rather have the Fancy Feast Filet Mignon.

Karen Jo:  I know that you would, but give the grain free food a chance.  It is much better for you.

We don't care about that.  We want food that tastes good.

Karen Jo:  Well, I know that neither of you is starving.  You aren't even finishing up all of your Stinky Goodness all the time.

Sometimes we forget about the bowl in Emma's room.

Emma:  I'm very glad that you still put food in it, though. Sometimes Herman hogs the food in the kitchen.

You try to hog the food sometimes, too.

Emma:  Yeah, but you're bigger, so it's harder for me.

Karen Jo:  OK, that's enough of that.  Mostly, these days, each of you chooses a bowl, either the Medley or Stinky Goodness and eat side by side.

Sunday with Emma

Emma:  I get the blog to myself today because Mom has been really bad about posting on Femme Friday.  For some reason, Mom finds this photo really amusing.  I don't know why.  I just found myself a comfy nap spot.  Herman and I are getting along really well now.  We haven't had any kind of spat in a couple of weeks now.  We even sleep touching each other in bed with Mom.  That's so we can each get a hand to pet us before Mom goes to sleep.  After Mom gets really sleepy and stops petting us, we just stay where we are and we sleep, too.  I have been chasing Herman down the hall a little bit more.  It's fun.  I like to lie in my favorite chair and wait for him to go by.  Then I swat at him and he swats back. We only manage to swat each others' paws, but that's what makes it fun.  Herman didn't want to play tonight at all, but I did.  I played with Da Bird until Herman came into the living room to see what Mom and I were doing.  Then Mom tried to get him to play with Da Bird, but he just ignored it.  Then Mom tried to get him to play with his wand mousie, but he ignored that, too.  I didn't ignore it.  I pounced it right in front of him, but he didn't mind.  He just wanted some petting from Mom.  I played with Da Bird for a little while longer after that, then got tired of the game.

Karen Jo:  I am really beginning to think that extended play is just something that FeLV kitties don't do.  Herman only plays for two or three minutes at a time and Emma stops after five or six minutes.  Changing toys doesn't make any difference.

Emma:  I wish Mom would go back to the old food.  My favorites are both gone.  I loved the Purina Kitten Chow and the Fancy Feast Filet Mignon.  Now all the dry food I eat is the Purina One.  Thank goodness for Stinky Goodness and Medley.

Karen Jo:  Why won't you try the Now weight control food?

Emma:  I ate all the Filet Mignon off the top of it, but I am just not interested in it.  I nibble at the Now kitten food a little.

Karen Jo:  I will keep an eye on your weight.  If you start to lose, I will consider getting you some Filet Mignon and put it up on the window sill for you, where Herman won't get at it.

Emma:  I am trying out being a lap kitty again.  I was well on my way to turning into a lap kitty when Mom started putting me in her lap to put those icky drops in my ears.  That put me off her lap for quite a while.  A few days ago, she was sitting in her rocking chair and I jumped up in her lap and stayed that as long as she let me, which wasn't very long.

Karen Jo:  I am sorry, but I had to go to the litter box room.  I put it off as long as I could, but I was ready to get up to go when you jumped in my lap.

Emma: Humans, hmmpf!  Always disturbing us kitties just when we get really comfortable.

Caturday

 I am napping on the floor.  We didn't get any sunspots today or open windows.  We are both a bit bummed out by it.  I tried out the new diet dry food.  It wasn't too bad.  I ate quite a bit of it.

Emma:  I usually nap on the big pillow, but today I just napped on this soft throw that Mom put on the table for us.  Herman says it was here when he moved in.  I haven't tried the new food yet.  Oh, I sampled the kitten food, but I don't like it as much as I liked the old kitten food.  I am just eating the Purina One dry, along with the Stinky Goodness and Medley.  Every time I hear Mom putting new dry food in a bowl, I come running, sniff the new stuff, then look at Mom reprovingly.

Karen Jo:  It almost feels like winter again.  It actually snowed yesterday.  It was too warm (in the 40s) for it to stick, but it came down.  Herman seems to like the grain free food OK, but Emma doesn't even want to taste the weight control food.  I don't know what she is going to do when the Purina One runs out.

Emma:  I like to scratch both vertically and horizontally.  I mostly like to scratch on the couch in the living room, but I also scratch on the easy chair in the living room and the couch in my room.  Herman's platform has material on it almost like the material on the couch, but I won't scratch on it.  Mom keeps trying to get me to scratch where she wants me to, but I won't do it.  My new scratcher has the same material on it around the edges and the base, but I won't scratch on it, either.

Karen Jo:  I will keep on trying.  Luckily, you have small claws and they don't seem to be doing much damage.  All the furniture is quite old, so I don't really care all that much.

I actually played with Da Bird for a little bit tonight.  I still don't see what makes Emma so crazy about it, but it is kind of fun to bat around.

Emma:  I played with it for a long time tonight.  It's my very favorite toy.  I think Mom may have to get a new bird for it soon.  I have pulled out all but two of the feathers and those two are looking pretty scraggly.

Karen Jo:  I will get a new bird for Da Bird the next time I am at the pet supply store, or when the feathers finally give out.  I wouldn't want you to miss out on play time with your favorite toy.  You kitties have been coming to bed kind of late the last few nights.

You have been going to bed earlier.  I came in at my usual time and you were already asleep, so I missed out on my petting time.

Karen Jo:  Sorry about that.  I had a lot of work to do yesterday and I got so tired that I needed to go to bed.

Emma:  You made me miss out of Femme Friday.  Pout.

Karen Jo:  If it's all right with Herman, I can let you have Sunday.

I don't mind.