NOW we're ready for the holidays!

Kitties gotta have stockings!!

Simon's is the red one because he draws more blood (when it's time for pills, nail-clipping or getting into the cat carrier...)

ONE YEAR!!

It's official! Today we have known our babies for exactly one year!

365 days ago they picked us, curled up in our laps, and said "take us home! We're adorable and we will meow you awake and demand treats and make you laugh with pouncing games and get the crazies at 9:47 pm every night!!"

Well, they didn't actually say all of that, but we now know that's what they were thinking. It's still about a month before the anniversary of us actually bringing them home, but it's still fun to think back on this wonderful day.

Now here they are today, lounging about like they own the place (and they totally do).

Here's to Simon and River, our beautiful little cats and the year of love, laughter and joy they've brought into our lives!!

More Instagram photos

I just went through Sarah's Twitter page and found all the Instagram photos that haven't been posted here yet.  Our babies are so photogenic!!!

July 27:

August 30:

September 5 (which goes with this post):

September 11:

September 14 (which goes with this post):

September 22:

October 8:

And finally, October 12 ("I can haz warm here? You no can haz sit"):

Snuggling with River

Last night there was a particularly cute snuggle moment with River while Sarah was rubbing her ears. This is what a very happy cat looks like!

Simon on my lap via PhotoBooth

I was digging through my kitty photos and found this little gem! I took this video with the Mac program PhotoBooth, which uses my laptop's built-in camera. Usually films that I take this way don't turn out very well, but here you can actually see Simon's cute face for most of it.

This was taken in late May, I was finishing up the semester for grad school and Simon was "helping" me....

Playing with Melissa

Here's a montage of the cats playing in August and September, including when our friend Melissa came to visit and Simon got to play with her!

The red dot returns!

Some more recent laser-pointer games with the babies.

Simon still runs in circles when we swirl the red dot around him. Derpy boy!!

Playing catch

Here's the video of the cats' new favorite game.  Sorry it's a bit shaky; hard to toss toys and hold the camera steady at the same time!!

October updates

It's been quite a while since my last round of updates! I just added a metric ton of pictures, the posts are all back-dated through September and begin on August 21. If you want to be sure you didn't miss anything, start back at the Bug-hunting and Late August cuteness posts. Almost everything since then (most of September and all of October) is new today.

Let's see, funny stories... River's newest way of waking me up for breakfast, after she's tried meowing and pawing at me, is to take a small chunk of my hair in her teeth and pull!!! I can only imagine how ridiculous it must look. We haven't been coordinated enough to get it on video yet, but I really want to see it!!  It doesn't hurt, it's just funny. Hungry kitties really will do anything!

Simon has taken to peeing on my clothes if I leave them all over the bedroom floor for too long (but only if I've also forgotten to scoop the cat box for a couple days). I suppose it's good motivation not to do either of those things!

The cats now really enjoy playing "catch" when they get in their crazy moods of racing around the house; I'll sit in the living room and toss a ball or toy down the hallway, and they'll scamper like mad to chase after it.  When they've rolled around and "killed" that toy, they'll wander back into the living room and I'll throw another one.  This can last quite a while, since between the two sets of grandparents and us hippie mommies, the cats have a LOT of toys!! I'm working on editing the video of them playing this game.

Speaking of toys, I was fishing around under the fridge yesterday to get a toy they had kicked under there, and I found the other earphone from when this happened in May. That explains why we only saw wires on the X-rays and not the earpiece itself! Whew. Apparently Simon is not as doofy as we thought he was. :-)

(TMI warning!) Also health-related, we did the 6-month follow-up test on Simon's fecal sample, and he has no signs of intestinal parasites or giardia! This is excellent news. They only found the antibodies last time, so it's good to have checked back again to confirm.

Thursday we will have had the babies 9 months, which is about the length of time they were at King Street Cats! Lots of milestones and happies. :-)

Indoctrination...

River still loves watching Rachel Maddow!!  Our indoctrination of the babies is continuing successfully!!

Funny Ways Simon Sleeps: Part 2

I swear, this cat sleeps in some of the weirdest positions... this is just a few of them! Sometimes he gets self-conscious and moves when I go to get the camera.

 Stretchy-floompen on the new couch.

 Curled up and twisted with paws in the air. Must be comfy!

 I think I would wake up with back spasms if I slept like this...

With the larger and angled lap I create with my foot up, Simon stretched up into this position.

He's resting his back against my leg, though it's hard to tell.

Instagrams

Recent Instragram posts:

My beautiful girl.

My handsome boy.

Lounging around.

Bigger lap

Simon likes this new trend of me lying on the couch with my foot up on pillows; it makes a bigger lap for him to sleep on.

It was tough to capture this cuteness in an arms-length camera shot, but I did my best.

200th post + recent cuteness

Woo hoo, ceremonial 200th post!  That's almost 2 for every 3 days we've had the babies... wow.

Anyway, some early October adorableness in photo form:

 Squirrel-watch activated!

 Duet napping.

 River really likes the new T-shirt quilt!

Oh, you're home? It's too hot for us to care.

Not paying attention to you

Simon likes my recently-acquired glider ottoman, which goes with the glider rocking chair. Here he is nuzzled between my feet:

This position also made it easy for Simon and River to play the I'm-not-paying-any-attention-to-you game, as outlined in this video at 3:40.

*ignore ignore ignore... sniff?*

September cuteness

A few miscellaneous photos from this month:

Sarah is gently teaching Simon to like being held...

 Simon parked next to my hangers while I was doing the winter clothing switch!
My boy is weird sometimes (okay, most of the time).

 Hello. I sit in your lap and look beautiful.

Pretty babies take a break from squirrel-watching to look up at me!

I'm helping you quilt...

So today was my birthday, and as a perk of being not-yet-working, I spent the day at home sewing!! It was awesome, I finished the T-shirt quilt I've been making for Sarah.

Of course, the cats decided to "help" me...

 River says, "I'll hold this down for you so it doesn't blow away."

Simon keeps an eye on my hand-stitching to be sure it's even.

Laptop cats

Our babies are definitely "laptop cats" in more ways than one... :-)

River says, "make room for me!"

 "Here, let me help you send that e-mail..."

 "Ignore Facebook and PET MEH!!!!!"

"You don't reeeeeeally wanna get up, do you?
You wanna stay here all comfy and warm!!"

Fun with Photobooth

Now that I have the foot injury and am spending a lot of time at home sitting down, Simon likes coming to nuzzle me very frequently throughout the day. Of course, he hates being photographed at times like these.

Here he is being embarrassed by me, as captured in Photobooth (I love having a Mac! Also, I have way too much free time right now.)

Kitty yoga

I recently learned that I have a stress fracture in my left foot. It doesn't really hurt, but I can't put weight on that foot for 6-8 weeks while it heals, so no dance classes for me. :-( That means I'm doing yoga and stretches on the floor at home to maintain my sanity.

Today River decided to come do some kitty yoga with me!

Simon didn't want to look like a deadbeat, so he curled up at my feet to use his healing powers on my metatarsals.

Funny Ways Simon Sleeps

And to continue the trend, I present the sequel: "Funny Ways Simon Sleeps":

 Mmm, mommy is napping, I will join her!

Curled up and zonked.

 I looooooove your fleece pants, so much that I stretch out against them!

 Wait, too much patting! Must grab hand!!

 Morning lap time snooze.... with my tongue stuck in my teeth....

 More lap time snoozing...

 I press against the futon and twist my head to absorb its futon-energy...

Yaaaaawn, long day of napping, I'm tired...