The kittens are more cats than kittens now, and their bodies got freakishly long over just a week. They got their last round of shots and came in at 4.6 and 4.8 pounds. Wow, how they've grown.

Not much more news. The kittens weighed in at 3.4 and 3.5 lbs at their last vet visit. We went to BlizzCon, had great fun, but we're glad to be back in Austin. Been working too much so I've been too tired to post. Siiighhhh.

Not much news in the kitten front, other than they're getting really big really fast. They're certainly more cat-like than kitten-like. Now the hard task of trimming their claws is at hand.

We recently got some brown rice bowls from Costco, and they're really tasty! (And a really quick way to make dinner.) Our fancy rice cooker has a brown rice setting, so we got a bag of it and made some the other night. That was definitely not quick. It took over an hour for two cups. Why is that?

The things I do while waiting for my energy to replenish on Mafia Wars (a Facebook app game).

We took our kitten in for their first round immunizations today. They seem to be just fine, unlike their brother. We're dropping off a sample of their poop to check for worms but otherwise, they have a clean bill of health. I was rather relieved. Hopefully they'll be our companions for many years to come.

Jayna is the pretty one, with a great marbled tabby coat. She's the one in front in the picture below. We call her the princess cuz she knows she's pretty and she'll go up to anyone that will appreciate her beauty. She also howled up a storm when the vet was taking a blood sample to check for feline leukemia and FIV. Newt, though she's more skittish, was a trooper and barely made any sound when they were checking her. During the physical exam, Jayna was squirming like crazy, while Newt just protested a bit and then just resigned herself to the handling.

As promised, a picture of the ladies:

Rest in peace, Dorian Gray.

He had a good 8 weeks, where people loved him and an entire staff of veterinary professionals tried everything they could to keep him alive. But in the end, his trauma was too great and he was just too little to operate on.

The vets had a last ditch effort where they decided to stick a catheter in him and stitch it on so he'd have a permanent hole to pee out of. That's when they discovered that the scar tissue that held his prepuce shut was starting grow over his entire penis. Whatever damage had been done to him in the first few weeks of life had sealed his fate. Poor little guy.

But I'm glad he had a chance to live a good life, as short as it was. He was the sweetest kitten with the loudest purr I've heard coming out of something so little. He was always so happy that we never knew if he was in any pain. But comparing him to his two sisters, who are bigger and a lot more active and rambunctious, I can see that he has always been uncomfortable. He just never let it show. Even as we played with him last night, knowing it was last time he'll get to climb the cat tree, he was still so sweet and loving.

Watching the vet give him the drugs to put him to sleep and then drugs to stop his heart was one of the hardest things I've done. But I'm glad I was there. I was amazed at how quick it was. From the moment the first drug was administered to the time the vet listened for a heart beat before telling us he was gone was mere minutes. I'm glad I got to say good bye to this little guy who was in our house for such a short time but will forever be in our hearts.