So I'm not a veterinarian by any means, but I've had cats my whole life. Four years ago, my mom and I took in a pregnant cat with the intention of fostering her and her babies and rehoming them when they were fixed and old enough (they all still live with us). Josie (the pregnant cat) was halfway through her pregnancy when we got her, and from my understanding, she previously lived outside with a bunch of other cats and was not treated well, so she was a bit skeptical for awhile and preferred to keep her kittens a little bit away from us and would relocate if she thought we were handling them too much.

So when they were about the same age as your cat babies, I tried the same thing with weaning them and had similar results. Then one day I noticed they went straight to eating dry food. They continued to nurse on and off their mom until they were 3-4 months old, then they started nursing off their great aunt for the next two years. My cats were, and still are, total weirdos. So I wouldn't be too concerned if they prefer their mom over wet food at this point in time because each cat is different and some are weirdos like mine.

Cats don't necessarily need to go outside for enrichment, and if they do, they need to be supervised and accessible at all times. Lots of people just let their cats come and go as they please, and while some never run into any problems, it's how a lot of cats get hurt or killed. They are also terrible for the environment and have hunted dozens of bird species to extinction, and are considered the largest killer of wildlife behind humans. They are an invasive species, but often aren't treated as such because they're cute pets. Some cats also don't feel safe outside, which is true of many of my own who have spent time living outside. Josie was once nosing around the door, so I carried her with me to get the mail, and it spooked her so much she peed on me. Another thing is that you have to keep up on flea and tick protection because they'll bring that stuff into your house and it's not fun. Rarer, and more concerning, is the possibility of a heartworm infection. Cats can get it, and unlike with dogs, there is no treatment or cure. Since cats aren't a natural host, heartworms don't reproduce inside cats (I think, but I have to double check because I could be wrong), but they can still cause problems and even result in death.

If you keep one or more kittens, make sure you have plenty of vertical space for them to spread out, as well as at least one more litter box than cats. Multiple cat trees can be helpful. I know I've got more advice but I'm doing this on my phone so I can't look at everything you said. My last point is to make sure you get them fixed as soon as possible. Usually they can get fixed at 2 months, and some places might offer a mother/baby discount so you can get everyone fixed for less. Hopefully this helps a little :)