Thunder in the Night

Last night I was struck by how very different it sounds when Oliver comes to bed compared to Obi. Here’s a sampling of sound from the two kittehs. If you are new here, I will tell you that the grey kitten has dainty white paws and weighs 14 pounds. The brown kitten is 10 pounds and supported by large feet.

Oliver comes to bed:
Pit pat pit pat pit pat creak.

Silence. Oli has put his weight on the noisy step and given away his position. He waits to be attacked by a brother. Hearing now movement from above, he continues.

Pit pat pit pat pit pat pit pat pit pat.

Oliver arrives at the coffee mug: gulp gulp slurp gulp gulp gulp gulp slurp. A sneeze – caused by inhaling water – follows.

Pit pat pit pat pit pat pit pat pit pat pit pat.

“Mowr?” Oliver calls from the reading nook (here would be a good place to note that the coffee mug is in the bedroom, so the grey kitten has walked away from me to call me). I make a kissy noise.

Pitpatpitpatpitpatpitpatpitpat.

“Mowr?” Oliver calls from beside the bed, less than a foot from my face. I pat the bed beside me.

Pitpatpitatpitpatpitatpitpatpitpatpitpat.

Silence.

“Mowr?” Oliver calls from downstairs. “Mowr?”

Pit pat pit pat pit pat creak.

Silence.

Pit pat pit pat.

“Mowr? Momowr? Mrowr?” Kissy noise from The Girl.

Pitpatitpatpitpatpitpatpitpatpitpatpitpat.

“Mowr?” From beside the bed. I pat the bed in front of me and Oliver jumps up and crawls under the covers. He purrs, stomps and headbutts me in the joy of finally finding me. After a couple minutes of telling him to lay down, I wrap my arms around him and pull him off his feet. After a few moment of washing the lotion off my hands, he puts his head down and begins to snore softly.

It’s a good thing he’s cute. And now…

Obi comes to bed:

Silence.

Practically silent sound of a tongue lowering into the water of the coffee cup.

Silence.

Slight creak of a bed spring as the brown kitten jumps onto the bed.

“Hi Baby,” from me as Obi plunks down on my feet.

The end.

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The Travels and Travails of Mr. Bear

As you know, Mr. Bear has been moving around lately. For the last week he’s been hanging out in the kitchen. And really only moving a couple of feet each day. So this morning I was quite shocked to round the corner in the bedroom and see Mr. Bear on the landing.

“Hello, Mr. Bear,” I said.

“Really!?!” Asked The Boy.

We have very steep stairs. I can’t imagine why Oliver woke up in the middle of the night and decided he needed his teddy. I can’t imagine him carrying that big bear up a staircase. He used to bring Puppy to bed, but that was in a one floor house. And Puppy is a little more…maleable.

Regardless, there was Mr. Bear. After The Boy had gone to work, I set about doing the things I was supposed to do on my day off. I was aided in this by the fact that the TV suddenly lost signal. Hmm. I tried a couple things to fix it, but decided time was what was needed before any further action.

I went upstairs and found Oliver laying on the counter in front of the window. I picked up Mr. Bear and set him next to Oli. Then I checked one thing off my “to do” list by scritching Oli’s ears. Always a multi-tasker, I checked off another thing when Obi came up to get in on the scritching action.

Then I left the house for lunching with ladies and shopping and such.

When I returned, Mr. Bear was waiting for me in the entry way. What does this mean? Did Mr. Bear cross the line, laying in the sun with Oliver? Have I inadvertently caused a rift between them? Perhaps, I hope, Mr. Bear was so inspired by his first looks out a window that he’s decided to take a trip to the outdoors?

When I tried the cable again it did not work. In my all-day strategy for fixing the issue, I wiggled some cables and went downstairs to check the other TV. That TV worked. Then I went on to other things.

When The Boy returned home, I mentioned our cable issue. He also wiggled some cables. We moved cables around so the TV was plugged directly into the converter. We shuffled. We pushed cat heads out of the way – Kitten Thunder REALLY likes to work with wires. Don’t believe me? Here they are, doing…something…to my computer.

"See, the mouse is wireless."

The Boy then switched the downstairs box with the upstairs box. Then, just as we were thinking we’d have to call someone, I realized…

“You know, Obi was sitting on the mantle by that remote for the TV…do you think he reprogrammed it with his butt?”

Yes. Yes he did.

It’s Thunder Thursday! Check out Callie Jean and her new minions, in the household of Hoody Hoo.  CJ is a powerful woman. I’ve been saying she needed some minions. I didn’t realize that Hoody Hoo is a sucker, er, giving soul. She picked out one kitten, then her sister, and then the brother was waiting at the check out counter. But with faces like theirs, who could stop at just one? Besides, they already match the cat hair at Hoody’s house.

Two Kittens in the Night

Some days are rough on a Chief Executive Kitten. On those days it is all he can do to lay on the rug in the dining room and gaze at The Girl with his chin propped up on the cross-brace of a chair. Today was one of those days. I’d show you a picture but, when I went to my office to get the camera, he ran in and settled on the bed.

“Oh good, we’re blogging. I can get some sleep.”

"You will put down the camera. Yoooou wiiiiill puuuuuut doooooown the caaameeeeraaaa."

I didn’t sleep right away last night. In fact, I lay awake for many hours with things running through my mind. The bright side of this is that a question has been answered.

Obi, I have mentioned, is not much of a snuggler. At least not in the conventional ways. He’s all for having you pet his aura. He’ll snuggle my feet on the couch. At least once a day he feels the need…the need to knead. And he’ll knead the back of the couch or a pillow or whatever is squishy nearby.

For a long while he slept on the loveseat in the bedroom. Then, for about a month, he attempted bed sleeping. As suddenly as it began…it stopped. I worried about whether he was getting enough snuggle in his life. Last night, I found the answer.

At about 2 a.m., Oliver got up for an early morning snack. Obi arrived. He kneaded the foot of the bed. Then the middle of the bed. Then he popped up to lick my nose. Then he went to the far side of the bed when Oliver came back. When he sneezed, Oliver noticed Obi’s presence and…well…thunder. At some point – I fell asleep around then – Oliver returned to his place in my arms, head on my pillow.

So Obi is getting his snuggle needs met. And his knead needs as well.

It is Thunder Thursday! I bring you Elwood in a box. Further proof that cats need you to buy stuff for you to ensure their continued happiness. Thanks to Phillip of the Facebook for his picture.

"You ordered happiness from Amazon? It is just my size."