random thoughts – Day 1,650 – (Monday) – kiki settling in

Kiki!

At seven months of cohabitation, Kiki seems to be relaxing a bit more each day. She will slip into a room I’m in and sit in a tidy little package. If I call her name and extend my hand, she'll come over for face rubs and lets me pat her from her head to the tip of her tail. She has started grooming herself in my presence. 

She is so soft. So sweet! As long as there are no quick movements and I don't try to touch her with both hands, it's good. She has set that boundary, and if I violate it, in two seconds flat she's suddenly in another room.

Tonight, she walked over to the end of the couch where I usually sit. Instead of scampering behind the couch, she sat on the rug, near enough for me to touch her. Progress! Now I need to not mess it up. 

She is still avoiding the new water dispenser. Based on the sticky note level marker, it seems she hasn’t had any water from it yet. She now favors the stainless steel bowl in the bathroom next to her food in the elevated bowl stand. I hope she decides she likes the water dispenser. Like, soon. It holds more than the bowls. 

Kiki knows the nighttime treats drill that was established her first night here. She used to visit the treats when I was in bed. The treats used to sit in place for a while, sometimes overnight. Now, she walks right over to where the treats have been planted all these months – the base of the scratching post, the top of the scratching ramp, in her hidey bed, in her crate. She often eats them all before I’m halfway up the stairs to bed. Tonight, she was licking the base of the scratching post where treats have been placed previously. She still won't scratch on the post, but at least she isn't afraid of the thing anymore.

Keeks still likes to mess with me. She’ll walk into a room, meow, and leave. If I follow her, she hides under the dining room table. When I go upstairs to bed, sometimes she meows until I meow back, then she stops. In the morning, if I sit on the bottom step, she will approach and let me stroke her face. Then she returns to her spot under the dining room table and watches me from between the chair rungs. As I make the morning coffee, she appears in the kitchen doorway, but if I look directly at her, she runs back under the table.

Lounging on the chair again.

Today, while I worked in the remote office off the kitchen, Kiki lounged on the living room chair that she liked at first, then boycotted, and now likes again as of this weekend. She let me get really close to her on the chair to give her some love and she didn’t try to run away.  

Every night when she sits on the living room run and looks at me as I sit on the couch, I pat the cushion and invite her up. I’m pretty sure that one day she will surprise me by climbing up onto the couch. Then, after a while, it could be hours, or days, or weeks, she’ll sit next to me and I will melt. And then, the day will come when she climbs into my lap. Cozy home goals.