Gretchen and Russell

Not too long ago I shared with you the passing of both of my dad's cats, Tabby and Chuck, within about a month of each other right before the holidays. It was incredibly difficult for all of us, but obviously especially for my dad. We were hoping that he would get two new kittens right away, and last week he finally picked some out! Allow me to introduce Russell: 

"What is this thing??"

And Gretchen!

Exotic looking little thing. 

Both are about 6 months old--but believe me, still kittens! They're tiny little things. It's hard to tell in the picture of Gretchen above, but she has the strangest little face. Exotic is the nice way of putting it. "Alien-like" is the realistic way. Her eyes are so wide set!

And she has a bald spot. 

I'm sure she just has to grow into her head/ears. But I can't help but laugh when she looks at me head-on. It was also incredibly hard to get a picture of her. She is one crazy ball of energy. I couldn't believe it when dad said he got a tortoiseshell. That's three for this family so far! And coincidentally, she finally came out of her shell this week and has started running around like a maniac. I asked dad if he had ignored all my stories about this very independent breed over the past year and a half! He's in for quite a treat! :) 

Watching the birds outside

Russell is a sweetheart. He is also a big boy! He is about twice the size of Gretchen (though the tortoiseshell breed does seem to run small) but they're the same age. He's very mellow and just kind of purrs and relaxes a lot. After they ran around and played for about an hour they had to take a quick nap. But it was so cute because kitten naps are so hardcore when they're that young. And it's funny because mostly Russ looks like a grey striped tabby cat. You can really see the stripes below. But he has a brown/tan undercoat to him that makes him look a lot like Gretchen in low light. Dad said at night he can't tell them apart! 

Snuggling!

Precious.

She loves her brother! :)

All is right with the world again. :)