When I came home from school last night, the kitties greeted me on the stairs.  No hissing.  No swatting at each other.  I was impressed.  I came in and put all my stuff down and gave each of them a pet on the head.  The next thing I knew, Moo started walking away.  Tulip heard this and scrunched down low for a second before leaping at her.  Moo jumped and ran away.  BUT, as soon as Tu started walking away, Moo did the same thing back to her!  They went back and forth like this, stalking and startling each other for several minutes.  They even batted the toys around a bit in the process.  It was wonderful!

This morning, Tu was ready to continue the games.  Moo was not so convinced.  She’s a little slow-moving after breakfast.  She normally likes to play about the time I’m ready to go to bed.  They did punk each other back and forth a few times.  It’s great to see them interacting.

They still seem to be figuring each other out.  The definitely have their disagreements, but I’m so thrilled to announce that they are both still trying to reach out to each other.  What good little punks!

I’m on a mission to get this on video now.  I was so overwhelmed by the cuteness that I didn’t grab the camera.

Miss Tulip was full of love this morning.  When my alarm clock went off, she woke up.  She walked up the side of me and proceeded to lick my face and rub her little head all over mine.  I hit the snooze button and told her “Not yet, Tu.”  So she went back down and laid down between my feet.

The alarm went off again in 8 minutes.  Kitty came back and went through the whole routine all over again.  It was so sweet, I couldn’t take it.  I got up, and she walked down to the foot of the bed and “waited for the elevator”.  She purred as I picked her up and placed her on the floor.  Then we were off to make coffee.

Sometimes that little tiger is the best part of my day.

Tulip has been on a new feeding schedule for the last few weeks.  I now try to feed her at 7AM and 7PM.  Previously I was feeding her whenever I got up (5AM - 6AM), then making her wait until 10PM for dinner.  Of course she would be starving and cranky by the time 10PM rolled around.  It finally occurred to us that we should just feed her every 12 hours (we’re slow, but we catch on eventually).

It’s been good and bad, but mostly good for her.  She’s a lot more even-tempered now.  She’s not totally starved in the evenings.  In fact, sometimes she’ll just have a bite to eat at 7PM, then save a little for later.  The down side is that she wakes up a little earlier now because she’s hungry.  She’s been pretty good though.  She’ll jump up onto the bed and try to wake us up.  If i give her a quick pet and don’t sir around a lot, she’ll lie down and go back to sleep.  What a good tiger!

This afternoon I was just bloody tired. I have to go to school tonight so I thought I’d take a nap. I flopped down on the bed and tried to coax Tulip to join me. She just sat in the doorway and gave me the “yeah right” look. Fine!

I fell asleep almost instantly, but woke up several times. Each time I thought “I wonder where kitty is? I wish she’d get up here”. Then I fell back to sleep.

A while later Eve appeared and flopped down on the bed to join in the napping. All the fussing around with the blankets woke me up. I looked over, and there was Tulip curled up in a ball behind me. I didn’t even know she was there. I said “Tu! You’re here!” and she proceeded to give me the sweet “of course Mama” look. Of course I couldn’t go back to sleep, so now the two of them are snuggled up in there napping the afternoon away. I see how it is!

Tulip is so interactive with us that it’s easy for us to forget her special needs. For example, tonight Eve made a loud noise on her way out of the office. Kitty was close by and was seriously startled by this. She was cowering in the hallway, shrinking away from every little subsequent noise. I picked her up to comfort her, and I could feel her little heart pounding. Poor girl!

She’s calmed down a lot, but now she doesn’t want to come into the office. She’s out in the hallway meowing. She’s sniffing around out there trying to figure out what the big, scary monster is that made the loud noise. It really makes me imagine what it would be like to be in her situation. She has a lot of challenges. It makes me appreciate the fact that she’s still sweet. She has a lot of life lessons for us.

Miss Tulip had some visitors today. Our friends Caprice and Hisako came by for a BBQ and mojitos (although they managed to miss each other). Kitty was very friendly while Caprice was here. She seemed totally comfortable. She sat nearby while we were eating, and even let Caprice pet her at one point. Caprice took care of her recently while we were out of town, so Tulip is familiar with her. I was still very impressed with her willingness to hang around. She was actually very sociable.

Just after Caprice left, Hisako arrived. Tulip has met her before as well, but she is still quite a bit more reserved around HIsako. She made a few appearances, but mostly hung out down the hallway. She did allow Hisako to say hello though:

Miss Kitty is getting braver slowly. I’m so proud of her.

It hasn’t gone unnoticed that Tulip has been a lot sweeter lately. She’s really starting to settle into being a nice cat. Unless provoked, she doesn’t bite anymore. She still doesn’t love being petted, but will actually come and seek it out in small doses. I love her little wake-up routine. When she hears the alarm clock she comes up to me and rubs her head all over my face. She lets me pick her up and hold her for a minute when I get home from work, even though she doesn’t really like it. There’s a lot of love inside that tough outer shell. I think we’re really starting to understand each other. I’m so glad we found her.

It was as hot as the blazes in our house over the weekend. I happen to enjoy the heat, but I felt pretty bad for Tulip. She was slow roasting all weekend long. She was very good natured about it though. Mostly she lounged around on the wood floors, trying to find a cool spot.

Last night we stuck a fan in front of the sliding door which brought in a nice cool breeze. Kitty sat in front of it and sniffed the cool air. It was blowing her little ears around. She kept shaking her head and licking her nose, but wouldn’t walk away. It was adorable.

I’m glad it’s supposed to cool off a bit now. She’s been a patient girl, but she has to be pretty uncomfortable.

Tulip had a nice weekend I think. Friday night we came home with a little treat of fish scraps from the sushi bar. We diced up a little raw tuna for her, which she proceeded to inhale. Then she contentedly licked her lips and washed her face for the next 10 minutes.

Saturday I was busy cleaning the house. Kitty followed me pretty much everywhere I went. She’s a good little helper. She especially likes helping make the bed. As I try to straighten out the blankets, she runs around in circles on top of them. Then she flops herself over on her side like a huge anchor so I can’t pull the covers up all the way. Punkish!

On Sunday we had a lot to do. We were in and out all day. Every time we came home, kitty was waiting at the top of the stairs for us, happy to see us. She’s been very playful and content lately. I think kitty’s growing up!

Sunday night she got the last of her sushi as a snack. After TV, she got up on the bed while I was brushing my teeth. When I was ready to get into bed, she was taking up almost my entire side of the bed. Total punk! I scooted her over which offended her. She went down to the foot of the bed and went to sleep. When I woke up this morning, she was still there. She’s a good companion.

I came home from my vacation with the flu. Yesterday morning I couldn’t even drag myself off the bed. Miss kitty curled up in the blankets to watch over me. She nestled up against me all morning while I faded in and out of sleep. In the afternoon I mustered enough strength to make it to the couch, just for a change of scenery. Tulip followed along. Once I got myself settled in a heap of blankets, she curled up against my stomach. Even when Eve went into the kitchen, kitty stayed by my side. At one point she left, but came right back to take care of me. She even let me pet her.

In the past, whenever I was sick Dee used to take care of me. He’d always lay on me until I felt better. I’ve missed that ever since he’s been gone. I’m so happy that Tulip has decided to take over his practice. What a sweetheart.