Busy Week: Kitten Sitting

This last week has been filled with things going on. I am currently fostering/kitten sitting for my Aunt A. and her family. The little guy’s name is Garth, and he is 9 weeks old as of yesterday, the 27th. It has been interesting to have a kitten around and compare his antics to those of the adult cats in the house.

Garth was part of a litter that one of my best friends, A.’s younger sister’s cat birthed. She had five babies that are thriving and aching to make their mark on the world. When I found out that the litter had been born, my mom suggested that I send my Aunt a message about the kittens because she and her husband had been searching for a kitten to add to their family.

At first Garth was a secret from her daughters, but when they found out, they couldn’t have been more excited. Pictures would be sent to me from L., A,’s younger sister, and I would happily pass them on to my Aunt and her girls. Each picture was treasured and celebrated as we got to watch Garth grow and learn.

Last Friday, June 20th, Garth and his siblings had hit the 8 week mark and officially were able to leave Mom’s side. So that evening, L. and her boyfriend delivered a meowing kitten burrito to my house. My siblings and I had set up a homebase for him in our upstairs bathroom, and he quickly got settled in his blankets and was out for the night. I am very glad that we thought ahead and provided some pieces of fleece to L., so that she could put them in the nest/den. These pieces absorbed the comforting scent of his mom and siblings, and helped ease Garth into his new environment. They happened to be just the right size to fit in and around his carrier, which instantly became his safe space.

Each day of the following week has been filled with cute and crazy kitten antics. Garth loves his toys, and has actually patted me on the knee with his paw to ask me to play with him, instead of his usual style of independent discovery. He has a very healthy appetite, and will probably be going through a growth spurt soon with how much he has eaten. Seriously, how does such a tiny body pack away all that food? The portions he consumes do not logically fit in his little frame.

Due to his homebase being in the upstairs bathroom, activities like brushing our teeth have gained an added difficulty. My sister K. experienced the brunt of it, and had to wave her foot around in the air to keep her toes out of reach from the little man. As soon as Garth discovered that her other foot was still on the floor, and did indeed also have toes, she had to switch feet. She later informed me about this whole situation and I couldn’t help but giggle at her telling me that she did not sign up for having to do calisthenics while brushing her teeth. It had to be like patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time.

Our own household animals have been kept separate from the baby. We are aiming to keep all animals healthy. So that means, since Garth hasn’t been given all the vaccines that our adult cats have, we isolated him. Anything that he doesn’t have an immunity for already, would be extra rough on his little body. The adult pets of the house also could have caught something from Garth, so we errored on the side of caution.

Tomorrow my mom and I will be packing up the baby and all his belongings, of which he has numerous, and hitting the road. We will be meeting up with my Aunt A. and one of her daughters in the Twin Cities, and handing Garth off to his forever family. I will miss the little dude, but thankfully this is not good bye, it is just see you later.

A Short Update

I haven’t posted in a while, and I thought I would try and give a small update on what has been going on with me. This is by no means an excuse for why I have been slacking on posting, but I want to make a record of events that have been important recently.

Since the end of April, my Mom had surgery to help fix her cubital and carpal tunnel issues on her right arm. She has informed me that I made a pretty great nurse while she was recovering. I was up with her before work, and helped her get all her things together for lunch, and was an assistant to tasks that proved difficult due to her dominant hand being the one that was healing.

The weather has also improved. This meant that my household has been out in the yard working on cleaning up after a Wisconsin winter. Now the gardens are full of color, and the yard has become a gathering space once again. Days like Memorial day were full of yummy food from the grill, and fresh produce that has officially become available in the surrounding area. With the good also comes the bad, so we have had a storm or two. The biggest one of note actually knocked a couple of large branches off our trees in the front yard, and punched a small hole in our roof. The fix was pretty quick and thankfully the only real damage done.

We celebrated my Dad’s birthday as well! My father has always been my superman, and he is the reason that I am a loud and proud geek. He has taught me that being passionate about something is never a bad thing, with a few exceptions obviously. He has always loved superheroes, and has passed that love on to his children. Superman is a favorite of his, so my Mom and I got him a zip up hoodie with the Superman logo on it. At one point he was wearing it over one of his Superman t-shirts and had the zip at just the right spot that it looked like when Clark Kent is changing into his super suit. I got a pretty good giggle out of that, and had to take a picture. My Dad thought it was awesome as well, and proudly posed for the picture.

The live action Lilo and Stitch movie came out in theaters and I went to see it with A. I got crafty and made some Stitch ears for us to wear, along with our Stitch shirts. When I sent a picture of me wearing them to my aunt, she told me that her daughters declared that they both needed a pair as well, due to them also being major Stitch fans. As soon as word got out that I was making Stitch ears, my list of requested pairs only got longer. I ended up making seven pairs of ears, including a pair for A.’s daughter, who recently became obsessed with Stitch.

As for how the movie went, I have to say that I still prefer the original. It is what I grew up with, so there are lots of happy memories attached to it. That said, I do think that they did a good job with the live action. There were moments that pulled on my heart strings, and I think they did a decent job of trying to relate to modern issues without completely messing with the original story.

Lots has been happening lately, and I am going to try my best to post more often. Fingers crossed that I keep my promise.

P.S. Please wish my Grandma and her twin sister L. a very Happy Birthday today!