I won a contest!

My photo of Oscar won first runner up in the San Francisco Chronicle's Naughty or Nice pet photo contest! Wahoo!

The writer commented on my photo, "This is a beautiful shot all around and perfectly captures the kitten's dainty attempts at some holiday reorganizing."

This was actually another photo from my Christmas Card Photo Shoot/experiment with lighting. And as always in my three cat household, you can never do a project without a cat sitting on it. Law of Nature. This time it actually worked out and I got a few nice shots of Oscar's path of destruction.

Why We're Not Putting Up a Christmas Tree

Oscar el Gato "helps" with my Christmas card photo shoot.

Is it bad that I allowed my cat to chew on live Christmas lights for the sake of a shot? Oh well. Another gorgeous but completely by accident photo.

And Now for Something Completely Different

 

A video I made of Oscar playing with the Turbo Scratcher.

More photos soon.

Best Cat Toy Ever

Oscar enjoys my Nitty Gritty birthday balloon.

Corny as it may be, the Nitty Gritty came up with an awesome concept. The birthday boy or girl gets to drink for free, complete with a free birthday mug and a free balloon.

The best part - walking home from the bar with your free balloon and everyone en route wishing you a happy birthday.

The cats also enjoyed the balloon the next morning when most of its helium had worn off and it hovered just above the ground, dragging its tempting tail along with it. Oscar would yank the ribbon and the balloon would come down and hit him in the butt.

And while the photo above isn't the best composure-wise, it's still a great candid of my kitten.

Oscar

He's becoming so photogenic.

Oscar came into our lives shortly after we moved in July. Not gonna lie, I had a hankering for a kitten. Oscar just happened to be in the right place at the right time when I started asking around our HappyCat friends if they had any kittens for me. Sweet yet rambunctious, he has more than enough energy for his bossy older sister Cleo, and the partners in crime play together while sister Fiona watches from afar.

At first, he was afraid of my camera and the noises it made. With a typical kitten curiosity, he was always wanting to get right up in the lens. Now he's more used to it and posing better than ever.  :)

My Brood Shares Breakfast

From left, Cleo, Oscar, and Fiona having a meal together.

It's a rare moment when I can catch all three of my cats in a photo together. Cleo and Oscar are like two partners in crime, but they often brawl with the much more timid Fiona. It's nice, though, when they share breakfast together.

Oscar usually starts licking my face as soon as the alarm goes off, like, "hey Mom, it's time to get up!" I try to make a point of not rolling out of bed and feeding them immediately, otherwise I'd be getting woken up earlier and earlier every day. Fiona and Cleo are smart enough to jump up onto the counter right away (a habit from when Fiona lived with a species-confused bunny), but Oscar is convinced he can't jump that far and cries until I pick him up and put him on the counter for food.

It's a delicate dance every morning, this breakfast routine, but we get it done.  :)