Has it been that long?

I looked at the last post and saw December, 2009... yikes.

We're long overdue, so here we go.

First up is a photo of Maddy at one of her favourite spots... leaning on the window sill in the dining room, looking into the backyard and through to the trees.

She sits and watches birds and bugs for hours.

Then we have Maddy doing some serious butt-wiggling as she plays with a toy in her tube.

Finally, two videos of Maddy getting a nice wet-towel massage during a recent thunderstorm, one of her favourite things. She coos and squeaks when you talk to her during the massage... adorable.

Dragging the shark

For those who didn't believe me when I said that Maddy likes to drag Sharky around the house...

Major update, photo gallery, joy

Yes, it's been way too long between updates.

Between illness and other issues, we've been hard-pressed to get to the Googler lately.

So, without further ado...

Maddy has been doing very well. She's still taking Lysine once a day. She rarely coughs now.

Occasionally she'll get winded when playing, but only after much vigorous activity.

Though clearly not a pure bred, we are fairly confident that she is a Turkish Van. Her physical traits and her personality seem to match well with this breed.

We've discovered a food that is both good for her and kind to her taste buds. It's Performatrim Ultra and available at most quality pet stores.

She's had her "womanly surgery" which is why her belly fur looks a little thin. She came through that very well, and was jumping around a day after. How are you supposed to keep a kitten from jumping? Restraints?

She has a fascination with wiping... any time we're wiping the table or counter she has to check things out. She's also fiercely protective of her dookies, and gets right in there when we're cleaning her box. Quite amusing...

Maddy is always active and she has to investigate everything and everyone.

She likes to carry her toys up and down the stairs... currently her fascination is moving Sharkey back and forth. Considering it's about the same length as she is, that can be quite a sight.

At seven-plus months, she still plays for several hours a day. She loves any game that triggers her hunting response.

She continues to improve her social skills - less biting to get her way. She'll still gnaw when she's over-stimulated, but what kitten doesn't?

Time for some info on the photos...

1. Sitting on the entrance-way carpet, munching on some cardboard... heaven!
2. She thought she was invisible when she hopped up on the table and hid under the paper while I ate my cereal.
3. She goes 'horizontal' in nabbing her feathery prey on the end of a stick. She also likes to go after the source and grab the stick itself.
4. One of her favourite relaxation poses... front legs this way, back legs that way.
5. Hanging out on the drum stool, legs crossed like a lady.
6. Leaning on brother-in-law Bryon's shoulder, much to his bemusement.
7. You just have to stop and smell, and maybe nom, the flowers.
8. Pfffffffftttttttt!
9. Go ahead, make my day... try tickling my bellah!
9. VIDEO: Waiting, prepping, wiggling and ACTION!

Maddy's first snowfall

Maddy was transfixed by the snow today.

She followed individual flakes as they fell towards the window.

She's not too sure what to make of it.

She tried to attack one that landed on the glass... very cute.

Ironically, she is the only one in the house NOT coughing right now.

A short update

Short update...

Maddy is doing pretty good. Still growing quickly. Rarely coughs now... still panting when she's really working hard at play. Still biting when she gets fired up, but she's getting better.

iMac saves the day

After our decrepit Dell desktop had hard drive issues last week, we decided to bite the bullet and upgrade to a new iMac.

Because of this little bit of electronic awesomeness, we are once again able to update the blog.

Maddy has been growing like a baseball player on steroids.

She seems to grow noticeably overnight these days.

We took her to the vet a week ago for her updated inoculation and to get her breathing/coughing thing checked out. The vet is not concerned with the kennel cough, and is happy with the way she is progressing.

She is doing better with the biting thing, as we re-train her that fingers and toes are not toys. Our bad...

She loves sprinting around the house, up and down the stairs, and jumping three feet in the air for no apparent reason.

One of her favourite things is to sit on a stool by the back patio door at night with the outside light on to watch the various bugs that flutter by. We call it "watching her stories."

A rundown of the photos (from the top):

Maddy defines relaxed.
She does her best Firefox icon impersonation.
Maddy does the "good angel" thing.
Her new favourite spot: sunning on the window sill.
She belts out Creep on Rock Band. Five gold stars...
A video featuring random stuffed turtle violence.

To all the toys she's loved

We mentioned the tube amusement park in a recent post, and we wanted to review some of the cool gadgets and playthings that friends and family have gifted the Mad one, err, Maddy.

The first photo is Maddy going ape over the Blue Tube of Death!!! Well, that's how she views it... She also thinks it's a skateboard, as she often runs up to it and slides on it across the cork floors.

The next photo shows Maddy in full hunter mode, kicking the stuffing out of her mouse friend Harpo.

Just now she carried Harpo up the stairs to badger in our bedroom. That's some long distance schlepping...

Up next we have the Dangler Mouse, which is a duo-loaded spring mouse thingy that causes Maddy to perk up every time we bring it out. We chose a video clip to showcase this masterpiece.

She can really lose herself playing with this toy and she often flings herself recklessly about the room while chasing the jumpy mouse with tenacity.