The boy has arrived...

Emmy's here! It is now Sunday morning and Emmy has been here since Thursday night. He and all the girls are doing really well. No one is upset or battling for a piece of territory.

Emmy settled in quickly and hasn't been in hiding or been abnormally skittish. He really likes the round part of the scratching post and spends lots of time there. Every morning he is lying on the other couch in the living room where Millie usually is. He and Biscuit are already chasing each other around which is just like old times. I can't wait to see if Emmy will start trying to start playing with Millie or Pepe. The first time he met Millie there was sniffing and he hissed a little but now they just sniff and walk by, not paying too much notice. The first time he met Pepe it seems as though Pepe had no clue he was even there because she was just walking by and froze when she saw him and started meowing and then left. But now I can tell that Pepe likes Emmy even more than Biscuit because Pepe and Emmy sniff noses when they see each other, whereas if Biscuit comes within a foot of Pepe she meows and swipes at her. I think it's a puffy pants competition thing.

We had a poker party here on Friday night and that went well. Pepe stayed in the orange bedroom all night and came out after the last guest left. Millie and Emmy were downstairs all night, sometimes hiding under the bed together. But when we came down they would come and see us so they weren't completely terrified or anything like that. Biscuit came up a couple times during the party and walked right through all the action. I also brought their food down since I think Millie and Emmy didn't really want to come upstairs where everyone was hanging out.

Next time I will post some pictures!

Routines

So Emmy is getting ready to come over today. Things around here seem to have stabilized over the past couple weeks to a good routine where no one is overly scared or hiding all the time.

Here's how a typical day goes...

Biscuit is usually sleeping at my feet on the bed, Millie is on the loveseat by the window upstairs and Pepe is wandering around (it's hard to know what she's up to at all times because she's usually out of sight, but not in a frightened way anymore).

My alarm goes off and Biscuit moves closer to my head where I pet her for a few minutes. I get up and Pepe is always at the bedroom door rubbing her face against the frame and meows in her tiny, non-grown up kitten meow, and then runs away (I think she's trying to get me to follow her to the food bowls).

I get ready for work and Millie is still on the couch, Biscuit is looking out the window or walking around the kitchen/living room and Pepe is sometimes wandering the kitchen or out of sight. Sometimes Millie or Biscuit are waiting on the bottom of the scratching post, staring at the food bowls. Sometimes Pepe walks up to the (currently empty) bowls and sniffs them (nope, still no food). We usually feed them after we're done getting ready for work, before we eat breakfast.

When the food is placed in the bowl, there is a line up (or 'queue' as you might say in the UK ;)), and it's a crapshoot (I'm sure you don't use or hear this word overseas) who will 'win'. Sometimes Pepe gets in there first, and Biscuit and Millie are lined up near the scratching post or sometimes we don't even see Pepe eat at all (must eat after we leave for work).

So we leave and when we come home from work, Biscuit greets us 99% of the time. Millie is on the couch and Pepe sometimes comes around too. The dinner  time is not so dramatic or structured as breakfast. M and I settle in for the evening and Millie and Biscuit are usually close by just hanging out and sometimes (once or twice a week) running around together, and Pepe comes in and out of the pictures throughout the evening to say 'hi' and get a pet or a walk around the house in my arms. They are such sweeties.


So....Emmy I'm sure will disrupt (not in a bad way, just different I'm sure!) this routine, let's see what happens!!

Rrrrrr...rrrr......rrrrr......rrrrrrr.....rrrrrr.....

That's supposed to be the sound of cats purring. Everyone is happy and all is good. I'm sorry I just realized that almost a week has gone by since my last update....

Millie: always in her regular spots (tops of couches and now sometimes in Biscuit's bed on my computer desk). The personal space bubble between her and Biscuit keeps shrinking and shrinking, they look out the window from the couch together sometimes and also seem to look like they want to play and chase each other around.

Pepe: I don't really know where she is sometimes, she is not hiding in her regular hiding spots. Actually, she finally isn't really hiding anymore. She is out and about much more often and is often coming to greet us often (and even though there is food in her dish!). She has been super cuddly and friendly. M got caught with the rolling-on-her-back-for-what-looks-like-a-belly-rub-request trap yesterday. I have been able to pick her up and walk around which is so neat, she grabs onto your shoulder and switches from one shoulder to another, almost feels like a little hug. So cute. She could really use a good brushing all over but she doesn't really let me do anything other than her back and a bit down the side. Have you guys been able to brush more than that, like her belly?

Biscuit: being hospitable.

Emmy: counting the sleeps until he comes over for the winter, 5 nights more to go!

Cuties, but Pepe still hiding

Pepe is always either behind a curtain or a couch or under a bed, and sometimes when you least expect it, she's right on your dresser. Maybe she just likes that? Or maybe she just can't get used to us. I can pet her a bit but when I try and talk to her she runs away, and she meows an annoyed mew! when she's had it. Maybe this is her way, but maybe she just misses her familiar humans.

At least she has Millie...Saturday morning I was having coffee downstairs and Millie and Pepe were running all over the place back and forth and Millie up and down off the couch panting. It was so cute, clearly she needed to expend some energy.

Also, I think it's backwardsland here, based on what you guys told us Millie hates being held and Pepe loves it...so far it's been the other way around. Millie looks up at me and moaws so I pick her up and walk around with her and she seems like it, Pepe just gets annoyed and wants to jump off. Weird!

So! Everyone is doing good, there were a few hairballs episodes last week but that was just one day (and everyone had to have their hairballs on the same day, I can usually handle cat care pretty well, but wow that's a lot in a day!!).

Oh and as for new nicknames for guest cats....Millers and Peppers...always said in a super high-pitched voice.

Sleepy hungry heads

It's all been pretty much about sleeping and eating these days. We were feeding them 2x a day but had to switch to more frequent smaller meals because they just don't last and the cats started getting really active (ie. begging for food) in the early morning (5ish). This stuff is cute, but inconvenient. Millie walks on you while your are sleeping (dozing) and looks at you like 'why are you just lying there like that? I don't get it...'. Pepe walks in the bedroom purrrrring very loudly and walking around either side of the bed and then leaving and scratching doorways (strange sound, no visible damage). So we trying to feed them a 2nd dinner at our bedtime and ignore them in the morning until after we're pretty much ready to for work before feeding them again....so they don't think they get food the minute we're up and about. I confess I fed Pepe on Saturday morning at 5:30am because I wanted to sleep :( , but that was just one time!!! Biscuit eats like pig often and just yaks it up...silly...so we have to watch her if she looks ravenous.

But other than this feeding stuff, all is good. Millie likes to hang out on my lap when I'm on the computer (so I have her on my lap and Biscuit in her bed on the desk). Pepe still seems a little skittish but she can be very friendly and open. Pepe has taken to sleeping on my dresser. I let her because it's out in the open at least!

Could Bisqué look any more weirded out?

Millie in the sun on the couch

I thought this was cute...

Miss Puffy Pants (the original)

Pepe qualifies as a Miss Puffy Pants too! Poor Millie needs a nickname! Miss Tapered White Jeans?

A few events today....

First, I got up this morning to everyone being really friendly and cute and hanging out together. Behaviour this cute and good usually means one thing, FOOD IS USUALLY SERVED AROUND THIS TIME EVERY DAY.

I also noticed after taking the picture that their Mesmorize ability is only visible in still images. Pepe wins for highest skill in Memorization.

Things broke up afterwards with Millie and Biscuit in one corner....

And Pepe in another....

Secondly, the groomer came today and clipped everyone's front and back nails! Even Biscuit's...that was a super nice treat. That went fairly well, with Pepe doing much better with it than Millie (surprising!). Took no time at all. Although Pepe did well, she is deep in our bedframe right now...

Thirdly and lastly, there was this cool little hangout...

A weekend of hiding cats...

Had some friends over this weekend and they have 2 kids, 2.5 and 1.5 years old. That can get busy and loud so all the cats were hiding away until they left. Well, like usual, Pepe is still hiding regardless. The new thing with her now though is that when she is hiding, and you talk to her, she starts purring really loudly. M can pet her while she's hiding, I don't because I learned my lesson about doing that a few days ago ;). Millie was curled up in an unmade bed all day, looked cozy.