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| Comparing this to the other computer pictures, you can really see how he's grown -- he's only 7 months old here! |
This was the last time we'd use this carrier, since as you can see, he's really too big to travel comfortably in it now. |
That Christmas, Kelson spent a few weeks back in California. The view out the window was very different from my second-story apartment! |
Now, Kelson couldn't be loose outside, but there's no reason not to show him some of the wildlife up a little closer. |
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| Here Kelson was experiencing a bit more of the outdoors -- watching some birds and insects. |
He was pretty playful at Christmas, and he really loved his stocking stuffer, a "bird"! |
He also got a chance to sleep on a down comforter -- pretty comfortable, eh Kelson? |
Every cat loves to help with Christmas wrapping. |
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| At 7 months old, he hit that adolescent 'lanky' stage. He only looked like this for a month or two -- so thin, and such long legs. But relaxed as ever. |
See, quite a growth spurt -- and very lanky legs! |
Even Eric (5 years old) could barely manage to hold Kelson now. |
That Christmas we got a new carrier for Kelson -- a soft-sided Sherpa bag. Unfortunately, it wasn't very durable and only lasted for two plane flights. |
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| We spent a few days out at our desert cabin. Yet another change of scenery out the window! |
Here he even got some time outside in the desert. In fact it was a little overwhelming -- I don't think he'd ever seen such a wide expanse of sand before! |
Back in Madison, Kelson quickly settled in to his old habits. |
At some point Kelson was adventurous enough to jump on top of the refrigerator, then up to the top of the microwave, and then ... |
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| ... from the microwave into the overhead cabinets. Luckily I kept these empty! |
And since there was a nice 8-inch crawl space over the kitchen cabinets, he would sleep up there. |
Here he was peeking down to see what I was doing, and I was looking up with the camera. What luck! (This is one of my favorite pictures of him.) |
He also decided that nothing was off-limits for him -- including lamps! |
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| Playing around again, Kelson? |
One of the last times he was able to fit in the sink like this. |
He was also getting too big for his box -- here he was 11 months old! |
Since we no longer had the small carrier, Kelson made do with a nice comfy floor pillow to sleep on. |
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| Thanks for the salad, mom, but I'm more comfortable as a carnivore! |
Even though the Sherpa bag carrier didn't last long, it was still a comfortable place to stretch out. |
Oh, the Bizzy Kitty! Kelson loved this, but it sure didn't last very long. |
One day Kelson had a visitor! Ned brought his cat Martin to stay with us for a few weeks. Kelson was a little put out at first ... |
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| But once they got to know each other, they were really quite happy together. |
And within a few days they'd become fast friends. |
Martin was pretty long, but Kelson had the girth. When they'd play-fight, it was pretty much just Kelson sitting on top of Martin ... |
It's amazing how having two cats around doesn't really require any more space than one! |
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| I built them a nice little two-story house. They tried out the different possibilities of Kelson on top ... |
But Kelson was a bit too heavy for the top story ... so they settled for this arrangement. |
I'm afraid Kelson may have taught Martin some bad habits, such as sleeping on the kitchen table. |
After a few weeks, Martin went back to Ned's, and Kelson was alone again. |
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| When Mom and Dad came to visit their grand-kitty, they brought a nice catnip rub for the wall ... |
And also some fresh catnip in a bowl, which Kelson decided to rub to death. |
Kelson was always a little more spoiled when Grandma and Grandpa were around. He didn't normally get to eat on the table! |
In November it snowed a little, and Kelson seemed rather interested in the view from the new apartment. |
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| We had a new carrier now, but as you can see, even this one would soon be too small. |
Still, it was enough to get him back to California for the summer. |
He was always happy to get out of the carrier after the long plane trip. Here we are in the car heading home from the airport. |
Ah, the mantle. A favorite resting place in winter or summer. You'd think the rough brick wouldn't be too comfortable, but who understands the mind of a cat? |
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| Since the window shelf in Madison had proved so popular, Dad built Kelson a new shelf for the Valley Center house as well! |
And Valley Center has moths! Kelson loves moths! I don't think he's ever caught one, but he sure tried. |
Back in Madison, there's plenty of time to recover from the stress of the holiday travels. |
On the rare occasions that the coffee table was empty, Kelson pretty much took over the whole surface. |
