 |
 |
 |
 |
| When we first brought Kelson home, he was supposed to be about 6 weeks old. In retrospect, though, we think he was a little younger. As you can see, he was only 1.5 pounds -- just a teeny tiny kitten! |
The world must seem big to such a tiny thing -- here he is on a chair with a throw pillow. |
Conked out! But in fact, he's being de-flea-ed. When he first came home, he was infested with fleas, since he'd been living mostly outside. Luckily, it was easy to get rid of the fleas using a 'mousse', and he's never had a single flea since. |
Watch out for black widows, Kelson! Hope mom did her vacuuming! |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Play, play, sleep -- such a hard life. But see how well I can balance, now! |
He did start to grow in those first few weeks. Here he is at 7 or 8 weeks, playing in my shoe (a women's size 7, for perspective). |
Kelson took to playing with the string quite well (considering how young he was). Just a normal playful kitty ... |
Oh, and eating, of course, is the other item on Kelson's daily agenda. Here he is enjoying some leftover corn-on-the-cob. Yes, he was spoiled from day one. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Soon enough, it was time to take Kelson home to Madison. His first plane trip -- but with many more to come. We're up to 20 round trips and counting. Of course, we're on the fourth carrier, but still the same cat! |
He was very small in this first carrier, but within a year we had to get a new one because he'd outgrown it! |
In my one-bedroom apartment in Madison, there wasn't quite as much excitement, but kittens will find their own interests, I suppose ... |
He came to enjoy sleeping in his carrier quite a bit. Of course, I think he was a little confused about where he was supposed to curl up ... |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Here he was helping me out on laundry day. No, he's never been put through the wash -- just a bath now and then. |
Well, even as a kitten, Kelson spent a lot of time sleeping. Here he is lounging ... |
... and here he is in his nighttime bed. I put the box there because I was afraid I'd roll over on him in the middle of the night -- plus, he loves sleeping in boxes, even to this day. |
Of course, the bed wasn't just for sleeping ... |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| ... but it's so easy to fall asleep after a hard day's play. |
Contortionist cat! But at least he figured out which part he's supposed to sleep in. |
Sometimes I'd move the carrier around, but he'd just follow right along and settle in. |
Kelson got to be quite a jumper -- he would jump from one arm of the 8-foot couch to the other. Here he's just taking a break in between jumps. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| And like every cat I've ever known, Kelson loves to sleep in boxes. It looks uncomfortable, and I really don't know why he doesn't prefer the nice soft couch, but hey, he's a cat. |
For a space of several months, Kelson had a trick of hiding under the throw pillows, then jumping out at me when I'd walk past ... |
I never quite understood how he managed to burrow his way through the pillows without disturbing them -- but they were never even out of place. |
Helping with the laundry again ... |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Needless to say, I didn't approve of this too much. One day I came home to find the plant on the floor, and dirt everywhere. I moved the plant to a higher shelf ... |
One day Richard brought over some CDs in a bright red bag. I guess red is Kelson's favorite color! |
Kelson was mostly a calm kitty, but he did have his wild moments ... |
Those wild moments usually ended up like this. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| He quickly found his favorite sleeping places -- this was a prime choice until he got too big to fit comfortably. |
You wouldn't think shoes would be such a comfortable bed, but I guess cats will try anything for comfort. |
Curiosity's all fine and good, Kelson, but some things you really don't need to check out for yourself. |
Getting longer and taller. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Since he wasn't getting much exercise indoors, I started to train him to a leash. It never worked out that well -- he tended to just sit down outdoors, but at least he had a new venue to look around in. |
Getting bigger every day, it seemed. And pretty soon it would be time to take another plane trip. He wasn't going to fit in that carrier for too much longer! |
Here he's enjoying a visit from his grandparents, who brought lots of new stuff for him to explore. |
He was always finding nice cozy places to hide ... |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| And Dad built a nice little shelf so he could perch better at the bedroom window, which had no sill. Thanks, Dad! |
And no cat can resist wrapping paper, can they? |
I just had to show off how big he'd gotten -- he's only 5 months old here! |
His favorite blanket, and one of his favorite poses. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| That first Christmas, since he loved boxes so much, I decorated one of his sleeping places for the holiday. |
He was growing a little too fast, as you can tell -- this scratching post was getting a little tight already (and he was still only six months old)! |
And when he was about 7 months old, he started to become curious about almost everything ... |
What is it with cats and invisible spots on the carpet? |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The fish in AfterDark's Aquarium screensaver were a longtime favorite. |
This was not a one-time occurrence, surprisingly. Kelson found that the bag of potatoes in the pantry could be opened up, and one potato could be pushed out. Here he's looking all innocent, but he really did move the potato there, trust me! |
The blinds were never an obstacle to his view! |
In December it was getting pretty cold, but Kelson always managed to stay warm and cuddly. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| That first Christmas season, I had candy out on a plate on the coffee table. Kelson decided this was really meant for him to play with -- he'd sneak up on it, knock a few pieces off the table, then push them around and under the couch. |
Later that month, when I moved the couch out from the wall, I found out where all the candy had disappeared to. I think Kelson was a little surprised by the size of his cache, too. |
Still, he always made room for himself ... |
... no matter what else was on the table. |
