Kittens named at last. . . .

We searched the internet, stories, and baby name books for ideas. We held naming contests. We researched ancestral Maine Coon names, and looked through lineage documents. We looked through the history of our personal heroes and the history of our country. And yet, we couldn't seem to find the perfect names that would work as both registered names for our kittens, as well as everyday "we call him/her" names.

And so we started writing poems about them as they scampered around, cuddling the unwilling dog, thundering through the house playing catch, climbing up the cat trees and knocking over the hamper. We held brainstorming sessions as we watched their personalities develop, and at last, after much deliberation, we finally have names.

We are delighted to formally introduce to you our Gracie and Max.

Alopeke's Aislinn Grace (Gracie) and

Old West Coon's Spencer Coeur de la Lune Thunderpaws Maximum Blue (Max),
having an early evening nap before playing chase like mad.

The kittens are In The House!

We have them, and it has already been lots of fun. There will be pictures either later today or tomorrow, as soon as I can get to the computer upstairs. For now, we have put in a call to Jaya, the professional cat playmate, to come up and play like crazy with them this morning. They need to run and climb and chase like nobody's business!

They aren't playing with each other just yet. Our little girl (Alopeke's Aislinn Grace) is making sure that our little boy knows who is the True Queen of the house. And he is as sweet as he can be, but still a little bit timid. And so we have called for help (e.g. Jaya, the professional cat playmate) to exhaust them.

We also have made a list for the pet store. Would you believe that in addition to food we just don't have enough TOYS???!!!??? Who knew how many toys we needed to keep two little kittens occupied? Goodness.

We are also having a naming contest for our little boy. He is going to be really huge (at 13 weeks he is already 5.6 pounds!) and though we want to keep Spencer in his registered name, we are looking for the "rest" of his name. Our contest ends on Monday, and the grandkids have already submitted a bajillion ideas.

We are entertaining quite a few, everything from "Brobdingnagian" (Brob or Ding for short!)? Tennyson (Tenn?)? Zeus? Jupiter? Oberon (Obi?) -- to -- Silver Flash? Streak? So Soft Cuddle Kitty?

You see the challenge. If you have any ideas, please share!