Bilbo is a total lap hog

I said it to my family before Bilbo was ever brought in the house--he is a lap hog. He's also becoming a bit of an attention-whore.

It took some encouragement for him to get comfortable sitting in our laps when we're comfortably on furniture, but he's more frequently climbing into laps. He's never had a problem when we were on the floor, but he wasn't sure about getting up on furniture.

As I type this, he's lounged in a circle of my legs and hanging over my thigh while I balance my laptop on the arm of the loveseat where I'm sitting. He invited himself up. We no longer have to invite him up by lifting him. He's helping himself to the luxury of a warm lap.

And one more event happened that shows just how well he's fitting in. Today, Jack pounced on Bilbo and wrestled him. No hissing or growling, but Bilbo was left dumbfounded after Jack zipped away from his exuberance. All the other cats growl or hiss at Bilbo when he wants to play with them, but then Jack decided to go ahead and play. It ended as quickly as it began, but that's a start. Jack was wary a short time later when he came back and Bilbo was watching him.

Four weeks in the house. Only four weeks. Everyone is adjusting far faster than I expected, considering the older cats range from 9-14 years and those three came to us as kittens, so they've all had many years in our house.

And I took this yesterday:

All three boys were in our bedroom snoozing in close vicinity like it was something they'd been doing all along. They all settled this way while I was praying the Divine Mercy chaplet, and Bilbo once again laid close to where I was kneeling.

He's better about entertaining himself with toys and is pretty funny when he does, but he does have to learn that body parts are not toys. Our older kitties all learned while fairly young not to attack our hands or feet or arms. He's having to learn as an adult, but he's a smart boy, very smart.

He's also starting to clean himself more often and better. I hope that continues. I'd prefer not to have to bathe him.

Bilbo's such a sweetheart that I just can't believe no one was looking for him. However, I looked at the local online marketplace again, and there are people reporting found cats as I did with him and no one claiming them. There are also a lot of listings of cats for sale or giveaway.

We received an early Christmas present when he came to us. He's turned into the gift that we didn't know we needed.

To all of you and your families (including the four-leggeds), have a warm, joyous Christmas! 🎄