Oh, How They've Grown

When Pria (the black one) and Parceiro (the gray tabby one) became part of our fam they were only 4 weeks old and fit in the palm of Rico's hand. They couldn't eat dry food yet, so I'd feed them baby food every day and rub them with a damp washcloth after each meal so they could learn how to clean themselves in the absence of a momma cat. During the first few weeks, Pria and Parceiro would sleep on my meditation pillow in the living room because we were afraid that if the kittens slept in the bed with us we might accidentally squash them in the middle of the night.

Now, at 3 months old, they have grown so much! And they have developed that incessant curiosity that kittens are so well known for. They climb the mosquito screens on our windows, drag crumpled wads of paper out of the office wastebasket and chase them around the house, and are currently fascinated with our bathtub. And, of course, they are big enough to sleep with us now. (One of my favorite parts of the day is when Rico looks at me and asks, "With cats, or cat-less?" He can usually tell the answer just by looking at my face, and most of the time we end up sleeping all together in the bed with the kittens purring away and making torties.*

I took these pictures last week when Pria (above) and Parciero (below) were each lounging on their own meditation pillow on our wicker armchairs in the living room.

Our kittens are even developing distinct personalities. Parceiro is the naughtier of the two, and has gotten especially agile in the last month. He likes to jump and climb on anything and everything in our house. Pria is always wanting attention and affection, and she loves to drape herself over our shoulders or snuggle up to our necks. She is also the more vocal of the two, always letting us know with a squeak or a yowl where she is and what she wants.

One thing both kittens love is to "help" us while we work at the computer. The above photo was taken soon after we adopted the cats. The two of them together didn't even take up the space of one of Rico's arms.

In this photo taken last week you can really see how they've grown. It's to the point where it's not really feasible to work if Pria and Parceiro both decide to flop down like this. There is barely enough space to maneuver the mouse, much less write anything or look over a document.

* "Making torties" is a phrase my mom and I use to describe when cats knead their paws in pleasure. It comes from growing up as a child in New Mexico where I used to watch my Nani make a dozen tortillas from scratch every day, kneading away at the dough before rolling out each piece and browning it on a hot griddle.