Settling in.

My last post gave you a glimpse of how Thimble is settling into my new house, as well as into her new role as her mommy's only feline furbaby girl. As you saw, Thimble is doing great, especially with what I like to consider some divine intervention from my sweet angel Rosie.

Now, how are my other furbabies handling the move? 

Evan is also doing great. At least now he is. Both he and Thimble hid under my bed for the first day or so, with Evan hiding longer and more often than Thimble. While Thimble was a brave girl and started exploring (very cautiously) the house on her first night there, Evan stuck exclusively to my room for a full two or three days. He would come out from the under the bed if I was in my room to offer cuddles, but as soon as I left the room he would go right back under the bed. Now, though, except when going under there for an occasional nap, Evan ignores the space beneath my bed. He loves to explore and play throughout the house now. Although, like Thimble, Evan especially loves bedtime and sleeping on Mommy's bed.

"Why, yes, I am king of this bed. You may now bow down."

Although he is not as consistent as Rosie was or as Thimble is about bedtime cuddles, Evan does love to visit me throughout the night for occasional snuggles. (And sometimes, like this morning, he likes to wake Mommy up by sliding over her pillows and her face.) One of his favorites spots on the bed is at my feet, much like Rosie did and Thimbles sometimes does now. His other favorite bedtime sleepy spot is in the new pet bed that I got for him and Thimble, which I always put next to me on my bed at night.

Evan and Thimble both love this bed, but Evan usually wins out and gets to keep it.

For those of you who don't know or don't remember, I adopted Evan after he was paralyzed in a coyote attack that killed his mother and littermates. As a result of the attack, he does not have the use of his back legs. Instead, he pulls himself around with his front legs, at which he is very adept due to his impressive strength and speed. That being said, without hind limb function, Evan cannot jump and requires assistance when ascending onto any high furniture, such as most couches and beds. For that reason, my home is decorated with a variety of stools abutted against the furniture. As an example, this is the stool (which is actually a chest that my dad helped me make when I was a little girl) that I set up for Evan to use to get onto my bed:

"I am also king of this stool. You may now bow down, again."

As I said before, Evan is very strong. He easily pulls himself onto this stool, and then onto my bed. As is the case with the one you see above, I make sure that all stools that Evan uses have a soft, cloth surface on top. Otherwise, an abrasive surface (such as bare wood) would create or exacerbate existing soars that Evan sometimes gets on his back legs from dragging them behind him.

Evan is very proud of his skills and his throne of a stool, so he decided to model for a couple more photos...

Whoa! Photobombed by a yawn.

Let's try that again...

Evan demonstrating his pensive gaze. (In actuality, in this picture he's looking over at Rosie's memorial corner of the room.)

And now, of course, we can't forget the only canine furbaby - Astrid! Astrid has loved the new house from the get-go. She was the first furbaby to visit my new home, and she immediately considered it hers. She explored and sniffed every corner. And now that she's been living there, when we take her anywhere else, even to see her beloved pawpaw and gammy (my dad and mom), she makes it known when she's ready to go back to her house.

One of Astrid's favorite things (which is also one of my favorite things) about the new house is that it has plenty of big windows, from which Astrid loves to keep a watchful eye on neighbors and wildlife. Also, something that all the furbabies love, is that this is their first house with doors that allow a view even from all the way down on the floor. The front entrance has a sturdy glass screen door from top to bottom, and the back door is paned from the top to the bottom as well. Astrid loves this, but so do the kitties (especially Evan, who otherwise has trouble getting to and seeing out of windows).

So many windows, so little time!

Astrid has also gotten into a pretty good routine, and she loves her evening naps during TV time.

"Seriously, Mom, enough with the paparazzi."

So we're all settling in. It's still taking some getting used to, but all it takes is time.

Have a wonderful Friday, bloggers!