Trotter, Water and "Fur Mouse"

Last night I was sitting at the computer and noticed Trotter bouncing his head up and down near the water dish (and plastic glass) on the kitchen counter.  Yes, I know, what is a kitten doing on the kitchen counter?  You try keeping two curious munchkins off the counters when they can jump onto the computer desk and onto the breakfast bar of the kitchen.  It's a losing battle.  Anyway, I had to get up to see what was going on with Trotter.  What I found was a very happy kitty with a very wet fur mouse toy he had been dipping into the water.  I managed to grab the phone to capture a little video of the events that ensued... including Maddie taking control of the situation.

 

This is the first thing I caught when I came into the kitchen. Then...

Changing Focus

I started thinking last night that maybe I should change the focus of this blog a bit.  Maddie and Trotter continue to amuse and entertain me every day, so there are plenty of adventures.  But, there is another joy that comes from having such lively youngsters in your life... education.  As I watch them grow and play, I begin to remember the simple innocence and pleasures of childhood.  Since I've never been a parent, I guess I've not been exposed to the rediscovery of innocence that comes from being around children.  Instead, I get a similar experience with my non-human-speaking children.  So, thus begin LIFE LESSONS BY MADDIE AND TROTTER:

Lesson 1: Bottle caps make great bathtub hockey pucks. 

Last night I was in the bathroom removing labels from empty medicine bottles.  Trotter jumped up on the counter and immediately deposited himself into the sink.  The trouble is, there is a tiny drip from the faucet that falls on kitty's side when he's curled up there.  Sometimes he reaches over and licks the spigot to catch the drips.  So, I decided to hold an empty bottle under the spigot to help him out.  That didn't faze him, but what did catch his attention was the bottle cap.  He came over and grabbed it out of my hand and ran for the tub, where he realized it made the most awesome sound... and, it came back to him when he batted it up the side!  Maddie then appeared and there was a very brief soccer match until Trotter picked the cap up and ran with it to the living room.  There it became the toy du jour and stimulated lots of mysterious whumps and thumps in the dark after I went to bed.  Those whumps and thumps translated into books and other precious belonging knocked to the floor by flying kitties. But, it reminded me that sometimes unexpected joys come from inexpensive toys.

Mischief

I was awakened about 2:30 this morning by the sound of my two kittens crashing and thumping into walls, doors, and other unknown targets.  Fearing that my neighbors might be bothered by the noise, I called the little ones into the bedroom.  They said a brief, "mrrttt," then continued with their lively games.  This was uncharacteristic activity for them, since they normally sleep through the night.  Fortunately, they wore themselves out and peace was restored.  I awoke with one grey kitten stretched out on the bed at my back, and the other one asleep in the kitty carrier perched atop some plastic bins next to the bed.  They must have been really pooped, because they were quite slow to rise and shine.

I have been having problems with tendonitis in my left elbow, so yesterday I bought an elbow support brace, which I'd left on the kitchen ledge when I went to bed.  At least, I thought that's where I'd left it.  It wasn't there when I decided to put it on this morning.  I immediately suspected that it might have been the source of all the romping and thumping last night. Only problem was, I couldn't find it anywhere.  I looked under the bed, all around the living room (including underneath all the various kitty-entertainments around the floor), in the bathroom, in the kitchen... looked everywhere two babies might have dragged it.  I looked a second time, and a third... I really needed that brace.  Nothing.  I finally gave up, deciding maybe it would be revealed when I got home after work.  So, I gathered my sneakers and sat down to put them on as I prepared to leave for work.  As I looked to my left into the dining room, I noticed a strange dark lump beneath the computer desk.  I had to check it out.  Yes, there it was, my elbow brace!  Guess I'll have to hide it in the bathroom cabinet next to the bathroom sink plug from now on.

Collars?

I bought collars for the boyz today.  Even got engraved tags, since Maddie is prone to escaping out the front door.  Can you say... "Get this thing off me!"  Chewing, rolling, biting, more chewing...  I finally had to take them off for a while and let them be used as toys.  Trotter was having a grand time carrying Maddie's collar around the living room.  Sigh...  I finally put them back on in the bathroom and distracted the two by drizzling a bit of water into the tub.  Priceless reactions... I'll post some video in a while.  The distraction also seems to have worked to get their minds off the things around their necks.  For now.

"Darling Clementine..."

I bought a bag of Clementine Oranges a couple of days ago and put them in a bowl on my kitchen ledge.  I noticed Trotter checking them out and turned away thinking, "Kitties don't like citrus."  When I turned back, there was an orange on the floor!  I don't know how he managed to pick it up, but Trotter was proudly standing above his orange.  So I tossed it into the livingroom and a lively game of kitten soccer ensued.  By the time I got home from work, the orange was sitting by the mini blinds in the living room.  That was last night, now I have no idea where the orange is.

Trotter has also figured out how to jump to the stove top and then up to the top of the fridge.  He got up there last night and I tried to ignore the noises coming from the kitchen.  I usually keep rubber bands hanging on the knobs of the cabinets above the stove.  They make useful closers for opened bags of frozen veggies.  When I finally dared to peak into the kitchen, I noticed the the cabinet door where the rubber bands hang was open and a grey kitten tale was wagging away from inside the cabinet.  I rushed over to attempt to lure Trotter out from the cabinet with as little collateral damage to the contents of the cabinet as possible.  As I tried to figure out what possessed him to get into the cabinet, I noticed the rubber bands that had fallen to the stove top.  He loves rubber bands!

A Maddie and Trotter Poem B4 Christmas

'Twas four nights before Christmas
And all 'round the house.
Two kittens were racing
For one fur-less toy mouse.

The sheen on the floor tile
In the kitchen so quiet
Was soon to become home to
One eight-legged cat riot.

First Maddie,
Then Trotter
To the room came a skidding.
Each reaching far forward
To bat at the mouse.

But wait!
In a flash
Their direction had changed.
A chopstick was poking
From under the fridge.

They rumbled,
Then tumbled.
Each after that stick.
Both fighting to prove
Who could grab it most quick.

But then it was Trotter
Who spied a white string.
He reached with his paw,
To his mouth came the twine.
And he trilled as he left
Dragging string 'cross the room,
This thingy is mine,
It's all mine, you can't have it.

Then quick 'round the corner
Speeds Maddie right at him.
He grabs for a tail
And the string is forgotten.
They leap and they jump
Flying one o'er the other.
Biting and kicking
And then it's too much.

So much running and playing
Wears two babies out.
One face lick,
Then an ear kiss
And they collapse on the floor.
It's nap time, they're tired.
They've finally relaxed.

So I run to the computer
My mind whirring like crazy.
It's time to check Facebook,
Then make a blog post.

It's just a brief respite
From purrballs
You see.
They like to take monitor space
Right in front of my face.

Now Christmas is coming
So I'll finally say,
Merry Christmas sweet kittens
And you two sleep tight.
It won't be long now I know
Till you're at it again.

The Velcro Move

Maddie was bouncing around on the bed as I got ready for work this morning.  I'm not sure what bee got under his bonnet, but he was running in circles chasing his tail, and doing vertical leaps all over the bed.  I had decided to wear a favorite Christmas necklace to work, which is a handmade piece made up of clothespins with reindeer faces (and one in the middle with a red nose) and tiny jingle bells strung on thin red and green ribbon.  As soon as I brought it out of the closet, I noticed Maddie was extremely interested.  He began to follow me and watched my every move as I placed it over my head.  He leaped up and began the dangerous kitty hunting crouch on the edge of the bed.  I moved back just as he launched himself, arms outstretched, toward where my neck had been a moment earlier.  Someone at worked referred to it as the Velcro move... arms wide and claws ready to catch onto anything in his path.  I've laughed at him Velcro-ing himself to the back cushion and sides of my La-Z-Boy rocking chair, but I never imagined he would so fearlessly go for a human target.

Good Morning!

At 4:15am this morning, I was awakened by a trilling kitten walking across my face.  Trotter stayed a few minutes, but I was then able to go back to sleep.  Whatever he'd wanted to say had apparently been said, so he returned to someplace else in the apartment.  When my alarm sounded at 6:00am, I attempted to reach over to hit the snooze button, but something prevented my movement.  There was a grey kitten lying across the air tube of my CPAP machine.  He wasn't blocking the air flow, but he was close enough to my head that I couldn't move in any direction.  As I finally managed to reach for the alarm, I was greeted by another weight at my back... of course, Maddie had to be sleeping there!

Later, as I was taking my morning shower, I laughed at Trotter, who was perched on the edge of the tub watching the water.  He jumped away without falling into the shower stream, but as I turned off the water, I noticed his favorite toy, (a thick piece of woven cotton cord that he likes to drag about) which he'd apparently dropped into the tub.  I don't think it was a gift.  I think he was waiting for me to get out so he could jump in and attempt to drop it down the drain.  For some reason he enjoys dropping it into wet things.  A couple of times I've found it floating in their water dish.

This is Trotter and his String

 Later, as I was fighting off kitties who were trying to untie my shoe laces as I tried to tie them, there was a cat fight commotion to be heard somewhere outside.  Both of them jumped up on the chair beside me with extremely worried looks on their faces.  I like to think that they were ready to defend me from the marauders.  Whatever it was passed quickly, and they were soon back to surfing in a trashed shopping bag that had contained my toilet paper purchase from Saturday.

Uh oh, gotta go.  Maddie is sitting beside me at the computer desk, and he's just noticed the toggle chains from the ceiling fan above us.  He's standing up leaning against the monitor and peeping toward the ceiling.  That can't be good.

Racetrack

Racetrack, that's me.  The kittens were not happy that I lingered in bed longer than normal this morning.  After the now-usual face touching and climbing over my head, they resorted to racing around the bed at full speed.  There was a bit of foot-chasing, but mostly they were just running around all over me on the bed.  What choice did I have, but to get up and assess the damage.  Yup, all I got were innocent looks as they moved on to the next game.

Interference

It's getting harder to do things on the computer these days.  Both Maddie and Trotter have decided the moving pictures on the computer screen are theirs to watch and bat at.  Hard for me to write anything with two little kitty heads blocking everything.

My apartment is now under total domination by my two furry masters.  Nothing is safe from their curious attack, so the floor is littered with anything and everything that is either chaseable, chewable, or knock-down-able.  I'd been told that they were toilet paper fiends in their first home.  I used to put on a roll to be pulled from the top, but Lori suggested I should change that in order to conserve my TP.  It worked until last night when Trotter noticed I'd left a bit of it dangling, and he was immediately in destructo mode.  Fortunately, he didn't pull it all down, but instead took his claws to the top of the roll.  There's a big hole where kitty claws pulled out a chunk of toilet paper.  Shortly after that, Maddie was running around the apartment and came dancing into the bathroom.  He was performing the kitten bounce in the corner of the room, which meant he'd found some new toy... a small sliver of the toilet paper that had been pulled away from the roll.  I think it eventually joined the ripped up bits of paper towel that have taken over my kitchen floor.  The linoleum floor there is a new point of attraction... things slide great.  But, of course, then they end up hiding under the refrigerator.  I'm going to have to find a tool to use to fish under there to locate whatever has been lost. 

Strange Noises

I've come to recognize that strange noises coming from another room, or from unknown places in the dark, mean that somebody with four legs is getting into trouble.  The other night I was extremely tired when I went to bed, but shortly after I turned off the lights, I began hearing fabric scratching noises.  You know, the kind that sound like something is being ripped to shreds.  They were coming from somewhere near the bed, so fearing that they were destroying my camera bag (which I'd removed from the closet for the heater repair), I jumped up and threw on the light.  Here's what I saw...

The blue kitty carrier had transported them to my place and I kept it as a "safe" place for them.  It has velcro and a zipper at the top so kitties can be more easily removed in case they refuse to come out the side door.  Maddie had managed to pull it partially open and the two were fighting through the opening... until Trotter decided to run out the front and Maddie took his place.  This game continued for several minutes, with places exchanged several times.

Synchronization

These two little boys have knock-down drag out fights, then end up sleeping together and giving eachother baths.  Something that continues to make me laugh is the way they seem to fall into synchronization... and do the funniest things together.  Here are a few videos to illustrate:

1.  Maddie and Trotter sharing a drink from their water glass...

2.  Washing up after dinner...

And, 3.  Checking out the latest on Facebook...

Fearless

It's amazing how completely fearless these young ones are.  They leap without a thought from heights that would terrify me if I were looking from a height so many times more then my own size.  I have watched Trotter jump from the shelf in the closet, which is at least five feet high.  The other day Maddie jumped from the kitchen ledge to the back of the sofa, which is a distance of at least six feet.  He jumps with his front feet spread wide apart... like a little flying Supercat.

A couple of days ago, I was standing in the kitchen trying to decide what I wanted for dinner.  Next thing I knew, there was a kitten climbing up my skirt so he could get on the counter.  I don't remember which one it was, but I was glad they are still small and relatively light.  My skirt would have been ruined had the climber been any heavier.  I was surprised... the kitten was nonchalant.  "Well, you were there and I wanted to get up there."

They have also discovered that there is more to see outside of the front door of the apartment.  Thursday night I had to run down to the office to drop of my rent check.  When I returned, Maddie was waiting by the door and slipped past me as I cracked open the door.  He danced to the south end of the landing, which is flanked on either side by balconies.  He hung out and looked down through the railing at the walkway below, then blithely walked over onto my neighbor's balcony... too far away for me to reach him.  I watched in terror as he checked out the balcony and looked down at the ground below.  I called and cajoled to try to entice him back, and eventually he did come back off the balcony, only to zip over to the opposite side of the landing and climb onto another neighbor's balcony.  When he came back off that balcony I grabbed him up and ran for my door, which had a crying (?) Trotter behind it... and who took his turn into the outside world before I could get inside with Maddie and shut the door.  I put Maddie down and ran for Trotter, but then Maddie ran out after his brother, so I had two kittens hanging out at the south end of the landing.  Maddie ran back onto the neighbor's balcony, while Trotter hung out behind a bike that's been locked to that railing since I moved in.

I finally managed to grab up Trotter and held him in my arms while I tried to entice Maddie back.  When he finally came close enough to reach, I couldn't get him up into my arms... something to do with a wiggling grey kitten already there.  I finally managed to grab Maddie by the skin on the back of his neck, and ran back to my apartment with one dangling kitten and the other hugged tight in my arms.  Got the door open, got inside, and kicked the door closed without losing a kitten.  Once inside, neither kitten even looked at me with any attitude.  They just decided they wanted to go back out there.  Here's what happens when kitties know there's more on the other side of a door...

Escapees!

As I was riding home on the bus after work, I was remembering a poem on a plaque I used to have.  It read:

 "Little Lion
  Soft and dainty sweet,
  with sea-green eyes
  and softly stepping feet."

(A little Google searching and I've found a site that says the author of that quote was Graham Tomson.)

Thinking lovely thoughts about the kitties as I unlocked the door, I cracked it to see if anyone was waiting just inside, then "zoom" out popped Maddie!  Little sneak bolted right out the door and perched at the top of the landing stairs.  I quickly tossed my backpack on the floor of the apartment, trying to avoid hitting Trotter and to keep him inside, then ran and grabbed my little runner before he got more ideas.

So, I thought I'd try to be clever and start their education - to teach them that they can only go outside with a harness on.  It had worked with Shadow when she was a kitten.  We'd tried the harness on Trotter on Thanksgiving day (as can be seen in photos in the gallery on my website posted yesterday).  He'd fussed for a few moments, then promptly forgot he had it on.  He's sort of like the dog in the cartoon movie "Up."  "Hi, I'm Trotter.  I love you.  Squirrel!"  Trot-Trot lives in a world of his own. 

Maddie is another story.  I put the harness on him and he immediately got it in his mouth and started trying to chew it off... and fussed, and rolled, and danced.  So, I decided to distract him by attaching the leash and taking him outside.  Not successful.  He kept dropping down on his side and rolling around.  I decided to take him up to the door so he would know where his home was.  Opened the door and out zooms Trotter, who immediately runs the opposite direction!  I threw the handle of the leash around my door handle and ran for Trotter as Maddie danced around trying to break free from the harness.  I did get them back inside, but now I'm going to have to find a way to keep them both from bolting every time I open the door.

... dainty sweet?  Right!

Did I mention that I woke up the other morning and found the drain plug from my bathroom sink on the floor next to my bed?  Kitties like to pull it out and chew on it.  So, I now have a sink without a drain plug.  I had to hide it in the bathroom cabinet.  Oh, yes, and Trotter was having a good time trying to get his head inside the hole for the kitchen garbage disposal yesterday...  They are so fascinated by things they can stick their "hands" (and heads, it appears) into.

Kittens at play

I had four whole, wonderful days off for the Thanksgiving holiday.  The boys loved having me around so much and truly exhausted me with all their games.  I've posted a new gallery of their holiday activities on my website at the following link: Maddie's and Trotter's Thanksgiving Adventures.

Here are a few highlights of their weekend:

They invaded the closet...

... discovered the bedroom window...

... chewed on Mom...

... did a little bird watching ...

... raced ...

... and chased ...

... and napped.

They did a bit of computer work...

... trashed birdie toy ...

... did a bit of grooming, and more napping, of course!

And then they woke up and started all over again!

Strange Noises...

I've been sitting here trying to do some things on the computer.  I was checking out some songs on ITunes and had two kittens sitting right in front of the monitor watching things move.  Maddie was so enthralled, he actually stood up on his hind legs to watch.  I didn't catch a photo of it this time, but I'm sure he'll do it again.

As I was sitting here, the two disappeared into the kitchen.  I heard a strange crunching noise and got up to see what they were into.  Trotter was on the counter and had found a bowl I keep onions and garlic in... he was eating the garlic skin!

Last night I was catching up on Facebook and someone had posted a link to a video on YouTube called "Mean Kitty."  The video was so funny, I checked out their other videos online.  One of them was called "Mean Kitty, There's Something in my Bed."  They recorded their cat's reactions to a recording of a cat placed under their kitty bed.  My two reacted immediately when they heard it... They got very worried and started looking for the distressed kitty.

Right now the two are batting at eachother from above and below the table where I've got my printer... sigh...  They seem to get into the most mischief when I'm not paying attention to them.

Ah, quiet at last... for a few minutes anyway

This evening I made my Dad's famous stuffing for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.  Two very curious kittens kept trying to climb onto the kitchen counter to check everything out.  I had to resort to a squirt bottle to begin teaching them where they could not go.  It was effective, although I felt terribly guilty about squirting my little darlings in the face.  There is a ledge above the sink, which I will allow them to sit on and watch, but they can't step down from there to sink level.  Trotter glared a bit and Maddie zoomed around the apartment in protest, but they eventually settled down on the ledge to watch.  Both were lying on their bellies with heads and front legs hanging over the edge, but they stayed in place.

Once I finished with the cooking, I settled onto the couch to make a couple of phone calls.  I had two purring kittens nestled and sleeping on my chest and lap.  Trotter was nestled on the comforter on my knees, in a precarious position, because he finally slid off to the floor, where he stayed asleep.  When I got up to turn on the computer, there was a flurry of kitty activity again.  Trotter loves to bat at the computer screen, which makes it very difficult to do things like write blog posts and upload photo galleries.  Fortunately, they wore out fairly quickly and it's quiet.  Trotter is lying on the desk in front of the monitor... asleep.  That's the only reason I'm able to write this tonight!

Is it the full moon?

I'm being overrun by kittens!  As soon as I got home, all mayhem broke out.  Chasing, climbing, fighting, lamp on floor... I guess they must have missed me while I was gone at work all day.  Maddie managed to jump across the kitchen from the sink counter to the stove.  My pantry is right next to the stove and he climbed right in... of course he had to knock a spice jar on the floor in the process.  I had to resort to duck tape to hold the door closed.

Now that I'm trying to do some things on the computer I have kittens playing with cords and crawling everywhere they can squeeze.  Trotter likes to bat at anything that moves on the screen and Maddie just knocked open the paper exit door to my printer.  Trotter is lying under the desk on top of the CPU tower and is now grabbing at my fingers as I try to type.

All this insanity... it's got to be the full moon tonight... and now there's a grey kitten crawling (or clawing) across my lap beneath the keyboard tray.  Oh, an now they're batting at eachother right in front of me.  I had to pull out the squirt bottle a bit ago, because Maddie was attacking my foot.  Can't have that.  Gotta sign off now.  It's hard to type with a kitten holding onto your hand... the claws...

Want a drink?

The other day I poured myself a glass of water.  As I picked it up, Maddie was on the kitchen counter and stuck his nose into the glass.  I set it down to decide whether or not I should pour it out.  I never got to drink it...

Today's Videos... having a hard time uploading 'cause there's a Trotter blocking the screen...

Trotter and his white mouse.

 

Two Kitties and their paper bag.