Flight Camera Action: Welcome, Kuma-chan!

I have exciting news as we have been searching for a new addition to our home!

We are happy and proud "parents" of a beautiful British Shorthaired kitten that we've decided to name Kuma.

It means "bear" in Japanese, which will be quite fitting because he looks like a cuddly toy, almost like a teddy bear would.

Kuma enjoys our coffee table

I originally wanted to name him Kumo, which means "cloud" (because his fur is so soft and his coloring was like a rain cloud), but Kuma seemed to roll off the tongue a bit easier. Also, Kumo has an alternative meaning of "spider", which I wasn't too keen on.

His father is apparently a Champion winner of some sort and he looks BIG. We saw him featured in a magazine and his head was almost as large as the woman's head who was holding him!

Kuma smiling!

Thus, he's only 4 months old but pretty "robust" and beefy, estimated to be around 13 pounds as an adult.

We saw some other kittens, but when we met Kuma, we just knew he was the right one for us. He was playful, affectionate, unafraid and curious.

He is cute, of course, but he looks so healthy; his eyes are bright and his fur is ridiculously plush with the prettiest silver sheen to it. I really never noticed that sort of thing with cats.

Kuma napping and sitting still for once.

We've only had him for the weekend so far but he's been surprisingly well-behaved. It took him less than an hour to get acclimated to our apartment before he started darting around and following us.

Also, he's a licker:

Kuma giving Boy kisses

Also, I'm sorry, but I've become one of those people who create Instagram accounts for their pets. If anything, it's so that I don't spam my normal followers with tons of photos and video clips of Kuma!

You can follow him at @KumatheKittychan.

Enjoying the couch

As for a general update, I now at the last 3 weeks of my programming course. It's been an exciting challenge and I have to keep reminding myself that it's a long-term marathon and not a sprint to any finish line.

I will say that I am looking forward to Christmas! I've been trying to contain my need for festivities because I want to focus on what's at hand, but my sister will be flying in and spending the holiday with me. She's a baker so I can't wait to have some good smells coming from our kitchen!

In the meantime, please bear with me as I post a few more photos of Kuma-chan...he keeps trying to leap up onto the table, stare at the computer screen and tap at the keyboard.