This afternoon I tackled putting up our Christmas tree and the cats were very interested in the tree. As I was arranging the branches (I now know why people buy a real tree), Coco started climbing up the tree! Maybe it’s a good thing we don’t have a real tree or she’d have sap all over her.

Here is Pumpkin checking out the tree from on top of the TV:

Can you find Coco?

The un-decorated tree:

I’ll have to post more pictures when the tree is decorated. But first I have some shopping to do!

Here are a few pictures of the cats in the new house.

Hanging out on top of the kitchen cabinets. Of course Pumpkin went up there first and Coco followed:

Where they like to play, fight or just hang out:

Helping Joey use the ladder:

Coco on top of my laundry dry rack. My thoughts: “Seriously?”:

I really wish I got this on video. It was hilarious to watch her climp up it. This explains why there is cat hair all over my dry clothes.

Having two cats has been interesting. The other night we came home this:

And the next morning we heard a loud crash and found this:

The cause of the second crash: I think Pumpkin and Coco were both on top of the bookshelf and there wasn’t enough room for both of them and the plant! I can’t keep anything up high anymore.

Lately Pumpkin and Coco have been getting along really well.

They have their moments as you can see here:

but, overall I think they are finally friends:

Joey and I got a new kitten last Friday from a lady my sister worked with. We have been talking about getting another cat so Pumpkin would have someone to play with during the day and just because it might be kind of fun to have two cats. When we heard about this kitten we asked ourselves a million questions and went back and forth as to whether we wanted to get another cat right now. We decided to meet the cat first and saw that she was very shy and got scared a the littlest things. That made us a little worried but the lady informed us that if it didn’t work out we could bring her back so we finally decided to take her home.

When Joey brought the kitten home she spent most of the night under the bed. She eventually came out and explored the room but was very, very timid. After a couple of days she has gotten more and more comfortable around us - when we open the door to our bedroom she doesn’t run and hide as much. However, she still only likes to be touched on her terms and she will not let us pick her up. I am a little concerned but I am hopeful that this will get better too.

We introduced Pumpkin to the kitten Sunday night and it was interesting. Pumpkin did a lot of hissing and the kitten just sat in her carrier looking at Pumpkin. When we let the kitten out we had a squirt bottle in hand just in case they started fighting (a tip from my sister). The kitten just wanted to play and it took Pumpkin a while to warm up to her. Over the past couple of days they are getting better around each other and Pumpkin seems a lot more relaxed when the kitten is out. I don’t hear as much hissing and I am starting to hear Pumpkin make her “playful meow” like she does when she wants Joey to chase her.

We decided to name the kitten Coconut and we have been calling her “Coco” for short. She has the prettiest blue eyes and is so soft. She is however, one of the hardest cats to take pictures of that is why I had to post the poorer-quality picture from my cellphone at the top of this post. Here are a few of my attempts trying to show off her blue eyes:

What a stinker!

In addition to daily litter box cleanings (which Joey and I take turns doing) there is the occasional surprise from Pumpkin. Luckily Pumpkin hasn’t made too many messes but the latest mess looked like this:

I think it was an accident. Pumpkin likes to run around the apartment and I think she just bumped into the plant. She is usually really good about leaving my poor plant alone. This happened a couple days after I added some new dirt to the plant. What a mess!

I also have the monthly chore of cleaning the bird’s cage. It is a pain to clean. I have to clean part of the cage in the kitchen sink and the rest in the bathtub. Then I end up cleaning the entire kitchen and bathroom. Oh what fun.

I took this picture right before I started to clean the bird cage. I usually clean it when I have Joey around to help keep Pumpkin away but today I attempted it all by myself and the bird is still alive (darn it - just kidding!).