After 3 nights of half-sleep, I finally crashed today, working from home and taking a much-needed rest late afternoon. I'd thawed a large slab of salmon for dinner and decided to cook part of it for the kids.

Since it was still half-frozen (a lot of halves in this post... hm...), I chopped it up into sashimi portions and boiled them with a small blob of olive oil butter.

The cats meowed excitedly when they realised I was about to dish them their dinner! Boy took to his first, eating a few pieces before he decided he didn't like it.

Kaku ate up her portion and ate most of Tuxie's too. Buffy surprisingly ate all of hers, while Sam took a few bites and decided he didn't like it as did Tux.

Sigh... now there are 2.5 dishes of salmon that no one is eating. I am surprised the kids are sated with just a few bites each. Ah well... time to get my dinner from the oven.

We'd bought a few pieces of chicken liver and chicken breast (instead of fillet which came in a family pack) on Friday eve and their Dad promised he'd cook for them over the weekend.

Saturday lunch time: their Dad decided to cook chicken liver for the kids, despite my vehement protests. Naturally, they sniffed it with disdain and he was horribly disappointed. He sighed and threw the liver away, and then began boiling the chicken breast. It took longer than expected, being a lot thicker than the fillets. When it was finally done, he cut it up, put several pieces in each dish and we stood and watched.

Kaku chewed into hers with relish as always, but the rest sniffed it and walked away. Their Dad was even more disappointed, probably swearing never to cook for these ungrateful kids anymore. He took Tux's chicken and gave it to Kaku. Meanwhile, I took a piece in my hand and put it to Boy's nose. He sniffed it again and this time, gingerly took it into his mouth. When he realised it tasted really good, he began tearing into his food.

Sam watched Boy eat and decided the food must be good. He started eating the chicken in his dish and before long, demolished half of it. Tux sat in the corner observing all of this, but still did not move. Buffy began sniffing hers and eating her food. By the time Tux realised it was yummy, most of it was gone. Nonetheless, it didn't stop him from sharing Sam's food and even hissing at his lover to chase him away! We were quite horrified...

Anyhow, their Dad's faith in his cooking was restored. :) And the kids can look forward to more home-cooked meals.

Tuxie chided his Dad for going out on Friday night with Uncles Andrew, Hon Chung, and Abraham. While sitting on the TV as his Mom petted him, he made singular meows at his Dad as the latter put on his shoes. His Dad responded by saying he wouldn't be back late, he loves him, and all of the like. But Tux had a response to every sentence (that singular meow, which sounded very much like: Where are you going? It is so late!). LOL!

Feeding the cats supper tonight I realise Kaku always meows once just as I bend down and scoop food into her dish. I remember reading in a cat psychology book that some cats acknowledge and thank their human parents just before they are fed.

My baby girl is well-mannered. :D I am so proud of her.

After advice on how to prepare chicken from 2 cat friends, I bought 300g of chicken fillet tonight from NTUC and divided the portion into two. The recommended feeding portion is about 2 MacDonald's Chicken McNugget portions per cat. I thought I should test if they like it first.

I boiled the chicken fillet and made sure it was properly cooked before pouring the fillet into a bowl. It smelled quite delicious and Buffy meowed. I cut up the pieces into 10 pieces and placed 2 in each bowl.

Tux, Buffy, and Boy sniffed and licked their portions while Kaku chewed into hers with gusto. Sam looked perplexed at his. Boy began eating gingerly, Tux brought one piece onto the newspaper and began to eat it. Sam moved away to watch. Then their Dad pointed out that the chicken might be a little too hot. I must remember to cool it more next time.

Before I could say "was it yum?", Kaku had finished her 2 pieces and snuck over to peer at the others' portions. Buffy had started eating one piece and I saw Kaku slip in, grab one piece in her mouth and run away. As Tux took ages with his, and Sam abandoned his dish, their Dad picked up another piece to feed Kaku with as she'd finished Buffy's stolen piece already!

Boy had finished his portion by now and slipped over to eat alongside Tux. He began eating Tux's second piece much to my amusement while Tux ate up Sam's portions. All cats sat licking their chops after the meal and looked at me expectantly. Their Dad resolved to buy more chicken for me to cook. :) It is cheaper and healthier than Merrick's!

My headache from the day vanished as I cooked for them and watched them relish their meal. :D Finally! Appreciation for my cooking.

As quickly as things went sour, they seem to have reverted to normal.

Boy held his own against Tux and Buffy last night, paw swatting and hissing to retain his living room chair beside the shoe cabinet. Sam rubbed his chin against a leg only to be greeted with an unpleasant glare. He hastily moved away.

As if the failure to oust the chair from Boy was unbearable, Tux and Buffy began play-fighting. When Kaku came into the living room and sat for a while, Buffy chased her off. Hostility from cats doesn't seem to deter Kaku, who didn't hesitate to sit in any group gatherings.

Boy seems content again. He even let me pet him for almost ten minutes while sitting on the kitchen counter. When he had enough, he attempted to nip me. I patted his bottom and said no and then left him.

The little ball bearing in his right leg seems to have thickened very slightly. His Dad says it is a most likely a sebaceous cyst. We should get it checked out at his next vet appointment.

I noticed Sam likes stealing Kaku's food. I guess she's the only one left he feels he can bully. She doesn't seem too upset though. She returned after to nibble at whatever remained. Then happily sat on her fave dining room chair to look out into the blue sky and the world. Her nonchalance at the politics of feline hierarchy has given her a unique strength in coping in a multicat household.

Sam seems to be the one slightly depressed. He doesn't eat much and prefers to steal his sister's food. He's been absent from living room gatherings, appearing from time to time to look for Tux. The rejection from Tux hasn't boded well. We've given him much more attention, called out to him, and petted him more. It won't make up for Tux's attention, but at least he knows his human parents love him too. He's stopped bullying Boy, which is a good thing. Hopefully he'll regain confidence in himself soon.

It's a quiet and very peaceful Saturday afternoon with the family. I feel happy and very content.

Object Bigger than Pluto Discovered, Called 10th Planet - breaking news last year

Study Confirms '10th Planet' Indeed Larger than Pluto - finding confirmed

Image comparison of our planets and moons - 2003 UB313 is slightly smaller than the Moon

I've been worried about being a good mother. After all, if my kids are fighting all the time, isn't it a bad thing if I can't resolve their problems?

Spent an hour in Borders reading about cat psychology. Bottom line: if I shower less attention to Boy, the bullying by Sam, Buffy, and Tux should cease.

It was dreadful watching Tux swat Boy off his usual chair in the living room and then triumphantly leap onto the show cabinet. Even worse, to call out at Boy later, who was hiding under the printer table and he just stared at me sadly.

If he wasn't a senior cat, I would have gladly left the cats to sort it out themselves. But as it is, even the books advise to keep your older cats stress-free and not bullied by the younger ones. Conflicting advice, unfortunately.

Hence I am sitting here at 1.34am typing this. Happily, Boy came out from under his printer table and returned to his favourite spot on the study couch head to sleep. Sam attempted to harrass him, leapt at him once but failed then leapt onto the arm and they had a staring match. Sam backed down, looked away and left. Boy has since nodded off contentedly and Sam took his battle up with Buffy, howling when he lost yet again. The naughty boy just walked back into the study and thankfully, past Boy without disturbing him, probably in search of Tuxie for a comforting hug. :)

I guess what I really needed was to observe them for a while and also reassure them that I am around and I love them. It reassures me that they are okay and are happy.

I thought of building them a cat tree. It would certainly ease tensions with a new member of the family joining us soon. Let me study some blueprints...

Sam is now playing catching with Kaku. :D

Over the last week, much has happened...

Greedy Tuxie chews into every plastic bag just for the chance that it may have food inside! Since then we make sure plastic bags are out of reach or are without food. Recently, he ate a rubber band, which fortunately he pooed out. It stuck out of his bum like fish poo and as his Dad held him, I grabbed a tissue and yanked it out. The naughty boy yelped as the rubber band rebounded and thwacked his bum some, but then he was off and running with his lover-cat Sam as if it never happened. :)

The other night the kids left me a cockroach gift placed in the perfect centre of my folded jeans on the floor. I thanked them for it, but noted they may have felt a bit unappreciated when I didn't quite embrace it (or put it in my mouth as Sam normally does). It was gone after a while, but not before I took a few photos of their thoughtful gift. :D

Meanwhile, Boy has in the last 2 weeks been uncharacteristically attached to me. He would follow me around (although not all the time but more than usual) and stay with me in whatever room I am in. He even howled at night and in the mornings several times as if he was disoriented. I got up to soothe him but he ran from me.

In the last 2 days I noticed Buffy and Sam chasing and swatting him intermittently. This ragging had happened before but not so frequently and him not reacting so strongly. It is odd because they all occasionally sniff Boy and sometimes even lick him but I am perplexed about why they've been upsetting him so much recently. I know with Buffy and Sam, it is about fighting for hierarchy. But the frequency is quite disturbing.

Last night was the same. Boy followed me around and at bedtime, followed me into the bedroom where he happily slept by our feet and didn't budge till his Dad got up in the morning. He seemed fine this morning and didn't send me off to work as he sometimes does.

His Dad reckons I have been giving Boy too much preferential treatment which Buffy and Sam are upset about. I guess it hasn't helped that I have been away. No more... at least till delivery. Let's see if things settle down soon.

Kaku, on the other hand, has been more confident, and even joined us to watch TV twice in the last week. Lately she has also taken to sitting with Boy (albeit on opposite ends of the couch head) on his couch in the study. They look very content and so alike together! She's also stopped by to say hi to me several times, usually in the bathroom and once in the bedroom by my bed. She'd go "reow!" and then roll over on her back, looking at me for a pet.

I read that cats between the ages of 2-4 years are in the stage of their life when they are gaining social maturity. That may explain Buffy and Sam's fight for dominance with Boy and with each other, and also Kaku's delightful coming of age. She overcomes her fear of us whenever we're home for a long period. It is awesome to behold as parents. :D

Like its mother, BB has been up all night with me, nudging and shifting. I haven't been making much noise (it can hear me speak now) so it must be restless too. My tum has grown so much in the past 4 weeks I can't see my toes anymore nor bend down very well. No more pretzelling.

I can't say the chocolates kept me up, or the damnable TCP/IP problem, or the many things I needed to do that I have just completed. Haven't fixed the TCP/IP problem on the other computer yet, but have sent out a call for help. Finished some work. Replied some emails. Caught up on the buzz.

My skin isn't itchy anymore - not right now anyway, my ankles are still a bit sore and Hobbit-like, my tum feels like it needs a bra, the occasional sleeplessness (this time exacerbated by jet lag too) but sans the nasal stuffiness and nausea now, pregnancy feels better in the 6th month. I can't wait to see BB again during the next scan. :)