It has been a whirlwind week for Mr. Marbles. I picked him up and brought him home mid-day on Easter Sunday. It took him about a day and a half to adjust to the new surroundings, and to start eating and drinking normally, although mostly at night. He’s made dramatic progress in just a few days, compared to the several weeks it took Kali to get to the same point.

Early this morning, about 3 a.m., I got out of bed, closed Romeo and Kali in our bedroom, and opened the door to Mr. Marble’s room. He hesitated for perhaps a second, and then confidently strode out into the hall, and then into the living room, where he made a boundary patrol, checked out smells of special interest, took a tour through our laundry room and pantry, then ran back to make sure his own room was still there before venturing back out again. After about 15 minutes, he strolled back into “his” room, jumped up onto the futon, stretched out, and waiting for me to come in and pet him.

Ms. Kali wasn’t ready for the same stroll through the house until she had been with us over two weeks. So Marbles, or whatever his name turns out to be, is way ahead of her schedule.

So what are we going to call the Cat Currently Known as Mr. Marbles? We don’t dislike the name, Marbles, but it doesn’t slip off your tongue as easily as a good cat name should. It’s somehow just a little more complex to say. So we are thinking about the Hawaiian word, Kinikini. One of its several meanings is marbles: “Marble, game of marbles (formerly round pebbles or seeds); to play marbles.” And, likewise, one meaning of Kini is a marble, “Marble (a child’s best marble in the game…). So on the morning of the 6th day since he arrived, Kinikini, or Kini, The-Cat-Formerly-Known-As-Mr. Marbles, seems like a good choice. We’ll just have to try it out and see how it feels in use.

In any case, here’s a collection of First Week photos. Enjoy!