Day Eight A.M. & P.M.

What a big relief to get past that first fragile week of life.

The puppies had an adventure yesterday.

Some of you know that last June we had three rooms of the house gutted due to a dishwasher leak and have been in reconstruction ever since. The pandemic sure slowed things down but so did the arrival of the wrong countertops — black instead of white.

Yesterday the correct countertops were installed and Daisy and her crew relocated with me to the bedroom for most of the day while that was happening. Thank goodness for that floor chair Lori sent!

The new countertops are special.

They have sparkles and when the light hits the sparkles, little rainbows spread across the walls and ceiling.

The bad news is we once again have no running water in the kitchen — two steps forward and one back, but we are getting there.

While we were hanging in the bedroom, I observed two puppies attempting to mouth each other. It was awkward and clumsy but very definitely the start of interaction.

I saw it again this morning — how cool is that? It means the puppies are starting to engage more with the external world.

They are also gaining additional mastery over their bodies.

Rolling is now a thing, in addition to big stretches. They are also trying hard to get up on their tiny feet but mostly move around by dragging themselves, with occasionally lunges and staggers.

They continue to spend most of their time just eating and sleeping.

And being endlessly fascinating.

Daisy continues to be a relaxed and attentive mother, which is so awesome for the puppies — and us!

Mariposa and Paintbrush (???) or Clarkia (???)

Weights continue to rise evenly and steadily — and we have a new Heavyweight Champion this morning: Clarkia! She weighed in at 30.55 ounces.

Clover, Sage, and Lupine are all at 28+ ounces and so they are close.

Mallow is the smallest at 23.15 ounces but don’t feel too sorry for him as he is likely to be the first to double his birthweight — that should happen this evening or tomorrow morning.