Three

[anarchist_nomad]

As hard as it is to believe, our furry baby turned three today! That's right: Today, Giles, our delightful silver tabby, celebrates his birthday!

Giles is our Oxford-born cat. Unlike his Arizona-born and widely-traveled adopted uncle, The Boy, our Giles has never even left Oxford in his three years. We met him when he was four days old and brought him into our home five weeks later; since then, he has been a much loved part of our household. Excepting, of course, when The Boy is trying to sleep and Giles wants to play; at those times, there is a little less love in the house for him.

Hard to believe that three years have zipped by so fast! Where has all that time gone? This is how baby Giles looked, nearly three years ago, at the age of two weeks... and how he looks now![*]



Just a wee bit of difference, huh? Gods, but they grow up so fast!

The latter photograph is not a birthday shot, as I am in Japan today and do not possess a telephoto lens capable of taking accurate pictures of Oxford from Tsukuba. I'm working on it! However, this is a recent picture that accurately reflects how my little guy looks now. Truth be told, his appearance has not changed in some time; take a look at the pictures from his first birthday here and you will see what I mean.

Giles came into our home shortly after a time of profound loss, not long after our previous tabby, Totoro, and our lovely Foxy had both passed away within the span of a few months. Not only did my beloved cheshcat and I find our hearts deeply wounded from the loss, but our surviving kitty, The Boy, was confused and lonely at being without other feline company for the only time in his life. Whilst nothing can make us forget our departed furry children, Giles filled a much-needed space in our home and in the hearts of all three of us. So happy third birthday to him... and I wish for many, many more!

---

[*] Note the fast moving tail thrashing about during the photo session!

Comments

[cheshcat.livejournal.com]

That's my Mips! Hey, there's no grey hair in that photo... clearly all the grey that grew in was not my fault after all. We can blame Giles!

Look at that tiny kitty with such teensy claws and blue eyes! Now his head is as big as his whole body was then... Funny, I never noticed the blurry tail before now.

Someday they will genetically engineer kittens that do not grow up. This will be an enormous ethical dilemma for us, because you know we will WANT one. (Or more.)

[anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com]

There is grey hair in the photo... it just all happens to be on Giles!

(And, yes, he was such a beautiful baby!)

Looking at these two pictures together, it almost seems as if The Boy is peering into the past, to have a look at baby Giles! (Meanwhile, present-day Giles is looking out at us, fairly oblivious to his smaller self)

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Aww! Kitties! :o)

[anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com]

*grin* Thank you! We do love our furry friends at Chiron Beta Prime!

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

Beautiful, beautiful kitties! I love how Giles is looking alertly at the camera, while The Boy is lounging behind him going "Meh..." :-D

[anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com]

*grin* The Boy is a big old love and probably the most affable kitty that I know... but lounging is definitely one thing that he does exceptionally well!

Twas less true when he was a kitten (see icon photo). Back then, he was a spry little one with a particular affection for climbing. Curtain rods and the tops of doors were particular favourite challenges for him back then. As middle age -- he will be nine in September -- and weight crept upon him, though, lounging took a more central role and climbing a back seat.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

My friend valkyrwench had a (formerly male) cat she named Hillary, as in "Sir Edmund", because of his compulsion to climb to the highest point he could reach in any environment. (Fortunately, he didn't often jump down onto people.)

[anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com]

*grin* That is adorable!!

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

My Loki liked to climb, although not obsessively. He used to jump up on R.'s desk, up on top of the big CRT monitor, and thence to the top of the tall bookcase, and observe the world from that altitude. I wish I could have afforded to buy him an elaborate cat-tree, but he was a HUGE cat - not fat, just big, but normally proportioned - and a climbing apparatus for him would have had to be made out of something other than heavy cardboard :-(

[miss-amaranth.livejournal.com]

Awwwww! Most. Adorable. Photo. Ever!

Happy birthday to Giles. Here's to you getting many more happy years with him!

I love you
xxxxxxx

[anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com]

Which one? *wink*

Also, on behalf of Giles, thank you for the birthday wishes, Sweetheart! I hope that we do indeed have him with us for a very long time to come... and I hope that you will be there to celebrate many of those future birthdays with us, my darling!

Love you lots!!
xxxxxxx

[xmakina.livejournal.com]

Aww! Happy birthday to the easily-terrified kitty!

Let's not throw him a surprise party, he'd spend the whole thing hiding under the bed...

[anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com]

Believe it or not, he is actually mellowing out with age. Becoming less spooked and more sweet. Last couple of parties and games nights, he has come out of his own accord with little or no coaxing -- even when there are strangers present! Not immediately, of course, but in his own time. Indeed, he seems to be particularly fond of ayaron when he visits!