Animal-ality

We got these two cats in October. I would post pictures of them but they are black from nose to tail and it's hard to get a picture that looks like anything besides a black sweatshirt sitting there.

Crook and Jack are 6 months old which I am assuming is like adolescence in humans. They have the weirdest mannerisms I have ever seen in cats. Someone forgot to give them the handbook in which they learn to be snooty and only allow petting when they want it.

These cats will follow you around waiting for you to just talk to them. If you sit down, it must mean you want to pet them and they are instantly in your lap.

One of them sounds like George Jetson's car. He can make regular meowy noises, trust me, but he makes those fun little space travel noises anytime he:
Jumps
Lands
Targets his eyes on something
Sits
Stretches
Wakes Up
Enters a Room
Leaves a Room
Uses the cat box
Sees one of the many random wild life creatures out our back door (bunnies, birds, etc)
You get the point?

If this cat was wild and had to hunt something other than Meow Mix for a living he would be dead. He tries so hard to sneak up on his brother but can't hold in his little Cherble of excitement. I don't know what a Cherble is or if I spelled it right but it's the only word we can use to someone describe this noise.

The other cat is currently hunting down a rogue piece of kitty litter that fell off one of the boxes we bought last night (clean!). He's stalking it from 10 different directions under the kitchen table. Unfortunately he's going to sit there until the kids get up and he runs for cover.
Jack also enjoys hunting down Kleenex after it's used, any kind of wadded up paper, hair ties, and anything he can bat and cause movement with. The cat-nip mouse was a hit for about fifteen minutes. And never again. But the paper game, that can last up to twenty or thirty minutes and then I can use the same piece of paper an hour later and he'll eat it into submission all over again.

Both of the cats enjoy the toilet flushing show. They will stare you down while you go potty and then rush the "stage" with their front paws up to watch the water go down and then fill up. They will stay there until you SHOO them or the water stops moving. At all. In case they have to beat it into submission, I guess.

My personal favorite with the potty fun (I got out of having toddlers just to lose my privacy to the cats) is when I get toilet paper out. They will watch with increasing excitement as I get it and then get disappointed when I don't throw it for them. Never fear, the flushing show is about to start and will lead them back to the throws of excitement for at least another 30 seconds.

They also compete for attention. Both of them jumped on the bed this morning to lay on me. Well, one did and I gave in and petted him. This caused the other one to run from the living room to partake in the attention being meted out. Rather than jump onto AIDEN he walks up my whole body past Jack to sit closer to my face.

I treat this like I would with the kids and ignore that one just a little longer for being so rude. I'm probably not teaching them anything but I feel better.

As I pulled my hand from Jack to pet Crook (who I swear had a smug look on his face. His black face. In the dark), Jack reached out with one paw to claw my hand back into petting him. Lest you think him abusive, when I went back to petting Jack (I know why God didn't give me twins now!) Crook thought he'd win my love back by biting my hand with slowly increasing pressure. And a Cherble.