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July 2, 1999 All the babies are 1 month old today and at their weekly weigh in they are all coming up to snuff. The goal is for a kitten to weigh 1 pound for each month of age up to 4 months. Then they start to slow down their growth rate somewhat around 4 months reaching their full adult weight around a year of age. Even at a year they are not fully mature. That typically comes at about 3 years with Birmans. Anyway, our kittens are right on track all weighing within 1/2 ounce of one pound. They were weighed on their 4 week birthday, not their one month so I feel sure they are exactly right now.

They are starting to take notice of the world around them more and more. We placed a litter box in the pen when it was first set up and as long as the moms are nursing the babies they won't use that box and the babies don't know what it is for either but they are enjoying traipsing through it. The pine litter smells interesting and it makes great tracking into the rest of the pen. A couple of babies have tried to climb the wire sides of the pen but their little legs are not strong enough to do that just yet. Another point of interest around the pen is the moms' dry food and water bowls which we see being explored by several of the babies. They are at the toddler stage right now and are fun to watch when they all come out and bump around on each other and try out the available things in the pen. Their world will expand to the shelf and the hammocks when they can climb. Paul reminded me today that I need to get them a fresh scratching post to put in the pen so the moms can train them at the right place to do their scratching.