What's an "instigator?"

Mom and Dad say that I'm a tiny little instigator -- so cute and charming but oh so disarming.... My favorite thing to do these days is to attack my big brother Jake. I like to bite into his big giant neck and hang on him like those little fish that are forever pestering sharks. It's great fun, and pretty amusing to watch, since he's twice my size. I love to ambush him from behind the love seat when he comes toddling by -- you'd think by now that he'd expect it, but he never does! I'm forever stirring up something around here, which is pretty funny since I'm so little and cute!

That's right, it's my birthday, get your groove on, it's my- birthday...

Maybe I can slow down for a few minutes so that I can enjoy the fact that today is my first birthday!! Lately, all I do is zoomzoomzoom everywhere (Dad calls me "super-speedy," in honor of Malaika who was "speedy"). I LOVE to chase my toys UP the stairs and carry them back down in my mouth. And if no one throws my toys (hey, I realize that Mom and Dad can't be at my beck and call 24-7!), I just run around until I am literally panting! I also like to ambush my brother, Jake, who is twice my size but he lets me jump on him anyway. Well, I think that to celebrate my big day, I will do ALL of these things until it's time for a good nap!

It's as if I've been here all along...

I'm part of the family now! Mom and Dad say they can't believe how quickly I've fit in and it's as if I've been here all along. There's no more hissing or swatting, and even Marty is OK with me being here. We all sleep on the bed together, me all snuggled up against Daddy and Marty in-between Mom's feet. It's only been three weeks since I arrived here and already life here is pretty normal.

My favorite thing to do is to chase toys around the house (Mom said that it looks as if a child lives here, and Dad said that four of 'em do!). I don't nap a whole lot only because there's so much to explore and watch -- the birdies outside of the windows keep me pretty preoccupied!

I'm so happy here in my new forever home, and Mom and Dad keep telling me how much they love me. Who could ask for more?

Venturing out of the safety zone, Final Chapter

I'm now free of being sequestered -- YAY!!! All day long, I zoom around upstairs, I zoom around downstairs, I zoom up and down the stairs! Emma and Jake are beginning to realize that I'm here for perpetual playtime, and they're ok with that. Sometimes they even zoom zoom zoom around with me! There's still a little growling, but that is slowly going away. Even Marty is getting to be OK with this arrangement: Last night, I slept in one of the cat beds (in the big bedroom!) while Marty slept on the big bed, Jake slept nearby on the bathroom mat, and Emma slept in another cat bed. Given the short period of time that I've been here, things are going rather well, I'd say.

This morning, Mom showed me pictures of my "other" sister (whom I've heard a great many good things about), Malaika. She said that Malaika would have approved of my being here, and that if she were still alive, she and I would have been great friends. Dad thinks that I'm the long-lost "third" (or triplet) who belongs with Marty and Malaika. I certainly do look a lot like I could be! I even have the special little half-black, half-orange foot that Malaika had (the "cookie foot," as Mom calls it). They're sure that that is a sign within itself.

OK -- time to play!!

The door is now open!

Well, I've been having quite the fun these past few days getting to know some of the cats whom I now live with (my new brother and sister!). Mom and Dad have been keeping my door open for extended periods of time so that Emma and Jake can come visit and we can all get used to each other's smells. Sometimes they come in and eat my food, which isn't something that I like but I don't really do much about it. All I want to do is play, and I know that, if I roll over on my back and show them that I'm not a threat, things are fine. It's actually gotten to where I don't like my door to be shut and I make a fuss if it is! Last night, Daddy even let me sleep on the big bed with him (the others weren't allowed in the room, which bummed me out), but I think it made my other sister, Marty (whom I've only met once) quite upset. Daddy said that she pooped someplace where she wasn't supposed to. I certainly don't want to upset ANYONE -- all I want to do is PLAY!!! Hopefully in time Marty will realize that I'm not "instead of" but rather "in addition to" and she'll play with me, too!

Venturing out of the safety zone, part 1

OK, so Mom did something strange today: She opened the door to my room and let me follow her out. I only went about three feet before I turned around and went right back into my safety zone. That's when she gently scooped me up and brought me into some other room that smelled like other kitties. It was scary. Right about then, I heard Daddy in the hallway, talking to someone else, and they went into MY ROOM and closed the door!! I'm like, "Hey!! What's going on??!" Mom let me roam around the whole house, but I kept low to the ground and ready to spring into action lest some strange cat pounce from some hidden vantage point. I could smell them everywhere, and it really freaked me out. I ran back upstairs to retreat to my safety zone when I realized that THE DOOR WAS CLOSED! I pawed and pawed at it, frantically trying to open it, when I heard growling and hissing coming from the other side. WHO WAS IN MY ROOM??! "Oh, this isn't good!" I thought to myself. Mom was always with me, gently telling me that it was ok, that they were my family now, but to be honest, I didn't care and all I wanted was to be back under my computer desk in my safe place. After a while (and after I found a fairly safe place under some large piece of furniture), Mom brought me back into my safety zone. But my safety zone NOW SMELLED LIKE OTHER CATS, TOO!! Oh, what to do, what to do! I hastily beat feet back under my computer desk, and there I remained until Mom came to get me and cuddled me in her arms. Then I knew that everything truly was ok and that I'm home now.

Seven little lbs of love!

A little history to preface this entry: Before arriving here at my forever home, I was adopted out once but returned to the rescue for not being "their idea of a kitten." I wasn't social enough. Hrmph!

I am a little lovebug! I am all over the place, rubbing up against legs, chairs, tables -- everything! Say my name and I will roll around on my back and make air biscuits with my humongous hands! I LOVE to play, play, play with my string toys and my purr is audible from across the room. Pick me up and put me over your shoulder like a baby and I will purr in your ear and leave little puddles of drool on your arm. Well, I guess that one family missed out on a lot of love, because I've got a lot of it to give! Mind you, I'm still afraid of sudden noises and movements, so maybe their house wasn't as quiet as this one is (I think that I've blocked a lot of that "past life" out -- I don't remember), but Mom is perplexed as to how anyone could reject me. She says that everyday, I'm a little bit more full of myself. She has no problem approaching me on my terms and letting me call the shots -- she's just so happy to have me (she told me so)!

Comin' out of my shell

I'm starting to REALLY like this lady (Mom?) who keeps coming in my room and spending lots and lots of time with me. I don't even hide anymore, and I let her pick me up and love on me, and I drool for her while purring like crazy. (I don't do that for just anyone.) She tells me how pretty I am and she brushes me and plays with me (that's the best part), and gives me treats (still not sure about those). Sometimes she comes in and naps and I nap on her feet. I'm becoming braver, too, about going over to the door and seeing who might be on the other side, but Mom says "not yet, wait for Sunday" whatever that means. I'm even starting to warm up to the man who comes in with Mom (is he Dad? He says that he is) and loves on me, too, and plays. He's a little louder and bigger than Mom but I don't think that he'll hurt me. I'm discovering new things, too, like there's a big piece of furniture in this room that makes tinkly sounds when I walk on part of it (Mom makes nice music from it!) -- all I know is that I can sleep on top of it or use it as a perch to watch the birdies outside of the windows. So far, things seem to be ok at this place...we'll see what Sunday brings.