When IBK Beatrice wants milk, she climbs up the front of my shirt, perches
on top of a boob, looks straight into my eyes and squeaks with a big open
mouth, then nuzzles into my hair. I let her stay there while I warm up her
bottle, then she'll spend about ten minutes drinking a couple of
teaspoonfuls. Then she heads for her tiny litterbox - and she did not have
to be shown how to use it.

She spent last night in a chair on top of "Uncle" Abelard, who apparently
appreciates the extra warmth. The rest of the cats are now mostly ignoring
her and giving only perfunctory hisses. Baby Eyes is still the most
unforgiving of the bunch, however, she has mellowed to the point that I no
longer feel the baby is unsafe in her presence.

She follows me everywhere and makes me stop and play with her. I'm trying to
devote as much time as I can to play with her, since she doesn't have other
IBKs to play with anymore.

When I am at the computer she is either right at my feet either sleeping or
playing with my toes, or she is on the sofa next to me, or in my lap. This
morning she tailed me out into the yard and was leaping around in the clover
as Billy and Lily supervised, and occasionally hissed at her, from under the
parked car.

It's been a very long time since I lived with such a small one, I think
about twelve years. Billy and Lily were not nearly so small as Beatrice. It
just blows my mind that they wanted me to take her more than two weeks ago.

Although she eats a bit of gooshy food, she isn't weaned and should have
stayed with mama for another two weeks or more, but I just could not leave
her in harm's way any longer.