Meet Arien!

That's right!  This little kitten officially has a name!  My husband and I have decided to name her Arien.  Within minutes of sitting down to talk about naming her, my husband came up with a different name that we really liked, but I couldn't bring myself to commit to it.  I decided that I wanted to spend a bit more time looking for something more unique.  With the other name as inspiration, I found the name Arien.  Arien is from Tolkien's works, as are most of the names of our pets (sorry Kira! 😂).  Arien means "maiden of sunlight" in Quenya.  She was a spirit of fire and a Maia maiden who guided the sun (which was made from the last fruit produced from the tree, Laurelin).  If you're interested, you can read more about Arien by going to: http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Arien

Cell Phone Pictures

These are from oldest to newest with the oldest being from September 30th and the newest being from October 7th.  As much as I love the pictures I set-up with my lights and camera, I also love sharing these cell phone pictures with you that give a bit more of a behind the scenes look at live with this little kitten.  Kitten has gotten a bit spoiled by being allowed to sleep on my lap.  She's getting old enough that she wants more time to play and less time to sleep.  She's gotten pretty good at using the litter box, but she isn't perfect yet.  I also started the process of weaning her on Saturday by mixing wet cat food into her bottle of milk replacer.  She loves this new food and has become much more crazy with wanting to bite absolutely everything.  So, these pictures represent a lot of changes for Kitten.  Most of these changes are harder to see in pictures.  She is definitely getting bigger, but that doesn't come through very well in pictures because if she's awake, she wants to play, which often includes stalking and being low to the ground which makes her look smaller.  I have a very hard time getting her to stand up or sit up for you to tell how tall she is now.  I also take a lot more videos with my phone than photos now since she's always on the move.

Playful Kitten

Kitten doesn't really sit still anymore.  I figured out I can hold her to calm her down and that helps, but as soon as I put her in the bowl, she tends to jump out.  I convinced her to stay in the bowl a little longer by laying her on her back first.  😂

Ready to Jump

I seriously am struggling to convince Kitten to sit in the bowl for pictures.  This is the best I got.  😀  Can you tell she's getting more feisty?? 

Distracted Kitten

This little girl is getting harder to photograph because she would rather run and play than sit for pictures.

Exploring

I'm past the point of having good titles for these posts or even good descriptions.  Hahahaha!  I hope y'all don't mind since there are cute pictures to look at!  😁  Despite the fact that I am getting more sleep, I seem to be staying the same amount of too tired to function properly.  For the past week, I've only had to get up once during the night since her feedings have been 4 to 5 hours apart, but I'm still struggling to actually get up.  But Kitten is doing so well, and I gotta admit, I'm looking forward to weaning her soon!

Adventurous Kitten

This little girl is getting SO adventurous!  She also got a collar yesterday with a bell so I can hear where she is without always having to watch her.  She is also getting more and more interested in just being with me, even if it's not to play.  Last picture shows how Beren watches her whenever she's out of her room.  😊