Fur Everywhere: Happy 1st Birthday, Giovanni!

Hi everybody! It's mes, Giovanni! Do you know what today be? It be MY FIRST BIRTHDAY!!! That's right, a year ago today, me and my brother and sisters came into de world. Me weighed a whole 4.1 ounces! Mama says hers can't even imagine how tiny me was then.

Mama came to meet me when mes was about 9.5 weeks old. Hers learned at dat visit that mes like to climb! Mes kept trying to climb over the barrier in my room when hers came to visit. After mes watched hers to play with my siblings for a little bit, mes went over and hopped up on the stool right by hers and mes stayed close to hers the rest of the time hers was there. Mes even took a little nap by her. Mama really hoped mes was her kitten, but mes already knew hers was my human.

A couple of days later, mes gotted to go home with Mama! Here is a photo of mes on my Gotcha Day with Mama's friend, Steve. Wasn't me tiny?! Mes only weighed 2.4 pounds then, and Mama could hold me in one hand. Hers couldn't get over how tiny me was. Hers would say that Tylan looked like a giant when we sat side by side. MOL.

Since mes came home when me was only 10 weeks old, Mama has gotten to watch me grow to be a big boy and has learned lots about me.

One of the first things hers learned about me is that me loves me a bagel! Yep, bagels. Not even for the cream cheese. Me loves to try and eat Mama's plain bagel if hers looks away for two seconds. Since then, Mama has also learned that me loves oatmeal, waffle batter, cereal, and blueberry muffins! Breakfast is mines favoritest meal of de day.

You know what me didn't like? Canned kitten food! Mama got me to eat my mother and baby food for a couple of weeks and then tried me to eat canned kitten food, and me was not having it. Me wanted to eat big boy canned food like Tylan. So Mama talked to de vet, and she said as long as me was eating my Kitten Chow kibble, me could eat big boy canned food. Mama just donated a whole bunch of canned kitten food to a neighbor cause me was never gonna eat it, MOL.

Speaking of noms....it took me a little bit to learn how to properly use my SureFeed. For a while there, me would try to put my head in the back to open de door!

Mama tried to put one of those pesky collars on me with a tag on it that has mines name and hers phone number, but mes told her no way is me wearing a collar! Mama has tried a variety of collars on me, and mes says nope, nope, NOPE.

When me was small, me used to curl up in Tylan's bed with him sometimes, but now that me is a big boy, me doesn't set one paw in any of our cat beds. BUT, you can find me curled up right by Tylan like this every night. Me loves my big brother bunches! Me thinks hims loves me, too. We plays together all de time!

Me still loves to climb! Me had a phase where me would climb to the top of the bedroom door and walk the edge of it. That made Mama nervous. Hers was always afraid me would fall, so hers is happy me quit doing that. But me is often up in the upper levels of my cat tree enjoying de sun in de afternoon.

When me was a baby, you know what me liked to do? Get a nice big mouthful of Mama's hair and YANK. Hers is really glad me outgrew dat, MOL!

Mama really wanted me to be a kitty who plays fetch. So over de past 9 months, hers has been trying to teach me. Hers was ust about to give up, and then it clicked! Just within the past week, me finally got dat if me brings her a spring, hers will throw it for me! Me loves to play fetch now, and me demands that we play at least two or three times a day.

Mama bought me a turbo track when me came home, and me loved it from the very first day. Me still plays with it sometimes. It be one of my favorite toys.

And there you has it. My first year of life. It's been a fun year for me, Tylan, and Mama, and Mama says hers can't wait to see what other surprises I have in store for her as de years go by.

The Mom here - it's been a fun and adventurous first year with Giovanni. He has brought so much joy to me and Tylan. He is exactly what we needed after losing our precious Carmine. He helped heal our broken hearts. And I could not have asked for a better match for Tylan. He is overjoyed that he has a friend to play with. They can almost always be found within feet of each other when they've settled down for a nap.