Trouble arrives.

Let me introduce you to the smallest and newest member of our family. We're still testing out names that fit him, so I'll have to let you know later what he is going to be called.

Part of me never wanted another cat again because I loved Newton SO much, each relationship we have with our pets is special because they are all so different, and I will always miss him very much. But the house was so very empty and we couldn't imagine being without a cat to love, so this week we began looking. My husband and I were both hoping for a little black boy, and I saw an advert for him and his siblings yesterday morning. After a long day waiting to get in touch with his owners we sped over last night to find he was the last one left of his litter - he had a black and white sister, tabby sister and brother, all playing madly together, and about to be collected by other people. I'd have definitely taken the whole lot of them if I could! We felt that he'd been very well looked after, they'd taken him to the vet to be checked over as well, which not everybody does.

He is nearly 9 weeks old, quite fluffy and not quite black - he has quite a brown head and faint tabby stripes in the daylight.

He is desperate to play all the time until he is too tired, and likes playing with the blind-cords best of all. He keeps forgetting that we are not really scary and runs away to hide under the cupboards often, before coming out for more games. He will sit on our laps for a cuddle only when he's run out of energy for anything else. As I type he has fallen asleep while under the cupboard, with son no.2 asleep on the floor next to him.

Oh, and he likes to climb, he's going to be BIG trouble. He's eyeing up routes to the top of everything.

So here we are, a new phase in our life beginning - at the moment he is still a stranger to us and us to him and it will be lovely getting to know him. As I knew it would, having a new life in the house has made me miss Newton even more because of the depth of the relationship that we had with him, but I'm sure in time we will build a unique relationship with this little one as well.

So I'll keep you informed of all his various new antics and hope you enjoy sharing our experience of him growing up!