Minor Setback

After this morning's incident with the door slamming in the wind, Chelsea regressed back to day one.   She wouldn't let me come near her to touch her or pick her up.  Every time I came too close she'd take off running.  It took countless pieces of cheese and hotdogs to coax her into coming close to me again and hours of failed attempts at picking her up before she finally gave in and let me.

So I walked around holding her and petting her and trying to calm her down until I felt her relax in my arms.  Then I sat down and put her on my lap and she laid there the whole time until I got up and laid her back on her safety blanket.  She looked up at me with this face as if to say "well.. that wasn't so bad".  :)

Chelsea in my lap

Now, every time I walk by her she doesn't even flinch or move her head/eyes.   And every time I walk by her I make sure to reach down and pet her so she associates us moving around as a positive thing.  I just cant stand how she freaks out whenever someone moves.  I feel so bad for her.  I really wonder what goes on in her mind.

I noticed though that when she sleeps she crosses her paws, just like Charlotte does.  Rob also noticed last night that Chelsea has a small patch of white under the dark hair on her chest, just like Charlotte does.  All of this further confirms to us that she was probably born to be Charlotte's littler sister.:)

Crossing her paws in her sleep.

You can tell by her tail that she is super relaxed at the moment.

Today she felt a bit adventurous and decided to go outside on the balcony for a bit.  She sniffed around and watched the birds and squirrels in the trees before coming in and looking at me as if to say "do you see all that cool STUFF out there!?".

 I leave the windows open and the balcony door open all day and it's so funny to watch her and Char because as soon as a big gust of wind comes through the balcony because they both pop their heads up out of their blankets and sniff around at whatever scents are wafting around in the breeze.  Wish I had heightened senses and could smell what they smell.  Or maybe not, depending on what it is that they smell...

Charlotte spend the day either on my lap or on our bed sleeping.  I let her be because I know it is important for her to feel safe and if she feels safe on our bed then I am okay with her being up there.

Chelsea had a few little accidents today, but the good thing is that means she is drinking.  I did catch her drinking an awful lot today which is a great sign.   While I still try to hand feed her, I also put her food in her dish to get her used to going to her dish to eat.

Other than that minor setback today, things have been progressing well.  Even though she wouldn't let me pick her up today she still got very close to me while I was sitting on the floor.  Close enough for me to put out my hand and touch her, but of course she ran past me while I did it.   I've also noticed she'll circle me while she runs.  I've tried sitting by the balcony door with my back to her and she comes close enough to sniff me but if I turn to see where she is she runs.  So I she is definitely warming up to coming closer to me.  We'll see how she reacts when Rob comes home.