Monday, May 24:

Time to show off Leap’s babies! I’ll upload pics as fast as I can tag and weigh these tinies… with maybe a touch of snuggle time in between. Special thanks to Greg, the hand model, for his assistance.

Welcome, L1! 

Welcome, L2!

Introducing L3!

Welcome, L4!

And finally, because Leap had to match her sister, five for five, please welcome L5! ❤️

I’m determined to give Quantum and Leap space and privacy to adjust to caring for their TEN kittens, so I’m not under the couch with them, traumatizing them with close-up portraits from my loud, flashy camera. Instead, I’m laying next to the couch, taking Shitty Pics™ from a polite distance of two feet. I’m certain they feel the difference. Or at least they’re willing to tolerate the obnoxious human. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Since they keep crawling out periodically for Purrs and Pets, I feel OK about my compromise.

Sometimes, they each feed their own kittens. Sometimes, one sister will gather all ten to herself and give the other a food and potty break. Here’s Leap with all… and Leap observing Quantum with all. Not gonna lie—they’re pretty precious.

OK, friends. Our kitty mamas are working hard, and we must follow their example. We have work to do, too! Namely, NAMING.

YOUR HELP REQUESTED: Before we come up with actual names, we must choose a naming convention. Each of Quantum’s babies, for example, was named for an iconic physicist and given a physics-related nickname. For the L kittens, what should our theme be? Mathematics? The cosmos? “L” names? My only requirements are a) we must stick with the Quantum Leap theme in some way, shape, or form, and b) we must embrace our Inner Geeks. Like, really let our geek flags fly.

I’ll announce our naming convention once we have it, and then I’ll ask for specific name ideas.

Ready? Go!

Side by side cousin comparison — Quantum’s Quasar with Leap’s L5. Because L5 was born after midnight, these two are a week apart in age… and more than a week apart in size. 😂

In my family, we have a rule whenever something scary happens. If everyone’s OK—or going to be—that’s where we start the story. So, unless there’s a true tragedy, we say things like, “everyone is OK, but I’m calling from the hospital” or “everyone is safe, but I was in an accident.” That way, no one has to spend that split second after hearing “hospital” or “accident” and wonder if someone we love didn’t make it. All of which is a very long preface to say I’m following the family rule.

Everyone is OK. Everyone is going to be fine. But I had to take our sweet Quark to his new home at the shelter tonight. 😔💔 I’ve been monitoring all the kittens’ weights daily since low gains or losses are often the first sign of a problem. And that monitoring is especially important with Quark’s cleft palate. He gained weight very well for his first four days but has only had minor gains the past three. The vet said he’s going to need to be tube fed for the next few weeks and then they’ll see how he transitions to dry food. He’ll probably need to be at the shelter for six months until he can have a corrective surgery.

So I bundled up Sir Isaac Quark Newton, explained to his mama and auntie why he needed to go, and the baby and I may or may not have cried together on the way to the shelter to drop him off.

I’m home now with two mama cats and nine kittens. And I’m sad. But I’m also grateful Quark will receive expert care from compassionate human mamas. Heartbreak and heart eased, hand in hand. It’s Both/And, friends.

I did go ahead and bump up our little Newberg Animal Shelter fundraiser goal to try to supplement the cost of little Quark‘s care, in case you’d like to contribute. You can find it here.

Thank you for loving these sweet babies with me. I’m so glad I’m not doing this alone.