Christmas Kitties!

Last night Ben built a fire in the fireplace for the first time since we adopted Banana and Papaya last summer. I sort of expected them to launch themselves over the grate into the fire, but they were both very politely interested and well-behaved about the whole thing. Banana loves to be warm so he laid like this right in front of the fire for most of the night - his fur was almost too hot to touch. Silly boy!



We also got a brand-new Ikea Expedit bookcase courtesy of my mom for Christmas! I was extremely impressed with Ben's putting-together skills; it only took about an hour and he was so patient and methodical. I don't like to imagine what would have happened if I'd tried to assemble a six-foot square bookcase.

Papaya provided some very helpful assistance for the duration of the assembly.



They are both pretty big fans of the bookcase. I still need to get some baskets and things for the empty spaces, but for now they're making it their own. (Papaya is in the lower left! She's hard to see.)