They grow up so fast/adorably, don’t they?

I’ve often heard it said that you should stick with a new exercise routine for at least a month before deciding whether or not you’re satisfied with the results. During the first few weeks, you’re liable to just feel sore and tired as your body adjusts to the new movements involved, and it’s really not until you get past that point that you’ll start becoming faster, stronger, or more agile.

Apparently some cats’ bodies operate along a similar timeline. Japanese Twitter user and kitten owner @Iwannabethemax recently shared this video of his kitty making its way up the stairs in his house.

Because of the small plots of land Japanese homes are often built on, many of them have steep, tightly coiling stairwells. As such, it’s no easy task for the kitten to make his way up to the second floor. Each individual step presents a challenge, as he has to stop, plant his feet, and leap to the next ledge like he’s doing a feline reenactment of Ico, Tomb Raider or some other 3-D platforming game.

It makes for a heartwarming scene, and you can’t help but cheer the little guy on during his ascent. However, there’s a lot less time to shout “Go, kitty!” in this newer video, shot three weeks after the one above, in which his pet shows off its remarkable improvement in stair-climbing technique.

“When did you get so good at this?” wonders @Iwannabethemax, with what must be a feeling of bittersweet pride at how quickly his kitten is maturing. But not to worry – there’s still some time left before the little kitten in the videos becomes a full-grown adult, as revealed in another tweet.

“By the way, he still can’t go down the stairs on his own.”

But in three more weeks, who knows?

Source: Hamster Sokuho, Twitter/@Iwannabethemax

Follow Casey on Twitter, and maybe he’ll let you see a video of him walking up the stairs. Maybe.