March 25, 2015 Pupdate

The little ones are starting to have a little more varied routine. They play for about 15 minutes and then they sleep again. They seem to be making somewhat of an effort to potty off of the sleepytime fleece but they do sleep and play on the pottying pads. Bela and I keep it pretty clean so it's not that big a deal. And I have no illusions that they won't sleep in the alfalfa pellet area either. It's a progression, Rome wasn't built in a day after all. I would almost swear that Bizzy did the potty dance a couple of times today though.
They have a bucket in the pen today. So far, they aren't old enough to try to play King of the Bucket but they did move it around. And they are starting to run. It's more of a few fast steps and a little lurching but they are definitely moving faster towards their intended target, animate or inanimate.
They are pretty good at nursing while Bela is standing now. She still goes in to nurse them but they also manage to latch on when she goes in to clean up. They aren't quite a swarm yet and often at least one or two of them is asleep when this happens but they seem to be doing well with their snacks between meals.
I think I felt a tooth in the back of Honey's mouth. They actively chew on fingers or toes now so I have the opportunity to feel what's happening in their little mouths. They are really cute when they do that, too. SO far, they are always cute.
The eyes seem to be working more and more and they are expanding their horizons a little. They definitely notice things outside the pen. At times, I think they are trying to find a way out but right now, they are just into exploring whatever they encounter. Hopefully, we have a little longer before they are going over the ferret ex pen.
It was very warm here today (in the 70s) so I had the windows open. The MSU was making a racket outside with the trimmers, the tractor and various machinery. They didn't flinch but they could hear it. I thought we were supposed to get a thunderstorm but it never materialized. We even got some sun and a lot of gusty wind - enough to make my chimes tinkle, they've never done that from the wind since they are hanging inside in front of a window. They've done it from being knocked into but not from the wind.
I was in the pen playing with them today (shocker, I know) and I had on a loose scrub top over my tank. While I was leaning over getting kisses from Green Hornet, Bizzy climbed into the neckline and was hanging inside. She wasn't struggling, I think she was just snuggling in for a nap (sometimes I carry them around inside a jacket). I'm running out of synonyms for adorable here so insert your own version ;-)
It's hard to get much else done because the big dogs need some attention when the puppies are sleeping but I have a few things I need to get done. Including cleaning the floor AGAIN because Bela decided she'd dig beside the spot I covered up already. She's bound and determined to have access to under the deck for those puppies. I'm bound and determined that she NOT, especially since she dig up the river rock and the weed barrier and into the dirt. She's definitely got the scouting gene from her Mother. And she's not a but repentant about it, she's very pleased with her handiwork so it's hard not to laugh (except when I am scrubbing the floor again.)
She's doing pretty well at consuming her nearly 5,000 calories a day but she is unwilling to eat kibble that has not been dressed up. She eats kibble at Dog Cindi's but here, she expects something that requires a little more effort apparently. At 2am, I don't feel too much like prepping her a fancier snack so I've been making it earlier and just giving it to her then. Other than having to feed it to her with a spoon, that works. (She will eat it herself, it's just much faster if I spoon it up so she doesn't have to chase it around the bowl while I try to keep the other 3 entertained. They eat their much smaller snack much faster than she eats her 1,000 calorie one)
Everyone else is napping right now so I think I'll take this opportunity to send puppy breath to all and say Nighty, nighty, nighty.