Here are rat, there 8 rats, soon more rats

Rat recap:

From the first litter of babies (back in January), we still have Mom, Girl 1, Girl 2, Boy 1, Boy 2. (5 adults total).

Last weekend, Girl 1 had one baby. It's pretty weird to only have one baby, but fine by us. The brings us to 5 adults, 1 baby.

Yesterday, Girl 2 had eight babies. Here they are:

See that weird white splotch on the baby near the top? That's a stomach full of milk. Crazy, right?! They're basically translucent for the first week of so of life.

So that brings us to 5 adults, 9 babies. Check out the developmental differences between a 1 day old rat and a 9 day old rat:

Today I was looking at the Mom rat, and she's definitely pregnant too. Amazingly, I could actually see the babies moving around in her body while she was sleeping. Take a look:

You can see a little flicker at 0:06; a kick at 0:26. 1:13 is where the action really starts---there are definitely a wiggly bunch in there. If you make it until 2:16, don't get scared when the other rat pops up in front!

Projects: I've got a writing project on the back burner right now, and also a big project for Maya, those will hopefully come soon.

Oh, and thanks for the comments, keep them coming (even anti-rodent comments are welcome, I'm equal opportunity.)

Today was Maya's triumphant return to the swimming pool! We've had a lot of stuff going on recently, combined with weather issues, stuff we're practicing at home, and several colds/infections over the past few weeks (months?). But today she was back, and having a great time with her dad:



Here, Maya is practicing how to kick. Dave is practicing how to smile.

And I'm not in the pictures because I had to stay home and clean the rat cages.

Just kidding---I was there . . . I took the pictures! But I couldn't resist putting up this stylish picture of me cleaning cages. (The mask is because the critters sometimes make me sneeze.)

We took some fun pictures during the snowstorm, but I need to find the camera cord and upload them.

Tubes & books

1. We had an ENT appointment Monday. Poor Maya has another ear infection developing, which sealed the deal for tubes. She'll be getting them on March 16th, or earlier if there's a cancellation. Based on the doctor appointments we've had we can definitely say she's had fluid in her ears for at least the past month, but since she had an ear infection in November and one in December it could be much longer. Maybe the surgery will help her hearing (fingers crossed). We're not super psyched about another surgery day, but this is supposed to be an easier procedure and recovery that the adenoids were. You can find more info here about ear tube surgery.

Playing in the waiting room:


Chilling at Blockhead's on Valentine's Day (note the heart shirt, and Dave's stylish tie):

2. I've rejoined the website Paperback Swap. If you like to read, but have gathered enough books and want to clear some out, this site is great. For every book that you mail out to someone, you get a credit and can request a new book. I have had the recent urge to get rid of all of the "stuff" in the apartment, and I like amassing credits so that when I want a new book I can get one for free!

PS. Oh, and the rats are huge and live in a double decker:

We fought a brave battle against the acquisition of giant inflatable toys . . . but we've lost the war. Maya's OT (occupational therapist) brought over a big pool/bouncer thing, which I finished inflating this morning:

Hey, mom, I can stand in this!


It's dual purpose---we can put her in there with her rice bin, because she enjoys picking up and throwing the rice more than digging in it. Also, it can be filled with balls & beanbags so that she can "feel her body in space" (that's therapy talk for roll around in it). :)

And here are the furry, eyes-open, hopping-around, 9-pack of rat pups:

It's been a busy few weeks here. Here are some pictures:

Maya got sick, but Dave helped her feel better with tissues and Sesame Street songs on YouTube:

Then she got better and we took a day trip to NJ and hung out with Grandpa:

Then it was time for her 2nd haircut :)

Then it was Dave's birthday!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray :) I made a cake after enlisting some recipe advice from my brilliant baking friend, Sarita:

But for real, who cares about the human goings on when we have a bunch of little babies here. In all honesty, while I've done the whole baby rodents thing a bunch of times, not everyone has. It's really pretty crazy to watch how quickly they grow.

There will end up being 8 white ones and 1 black one. Here is the black one, 1 full day old, barely pigmented:

Pile on a dinner plate (for perspective's sake):

See the difference in the size & coloring (5 days old)

When you lay them so that they are touching each other, they just instantly fall asleep. Here are all 9 of them (one head is underneath the pink guy all the way to the left) sleeping in my hand.

Doctor update: Maya saw her ENT today (again, he's a fantastic doctor). She seems to always have ear issues (fluid, pressure is off, failing routine hearing tests---but then passing the very sophisticated ones). All of these issues, combined with her speech delay, might justify putting ear tubes in. We'll go back next month to check her ears and decide tubes or no tubes.

Oh brother.

So, for those of you who might not know our pet situation, we have 2 snakes, Ramona & Kona. (and 2 rabbits, who aren't part of this story). Both are ball pythons, both are somewhere around 4-5 ft long (it's hard to measure snakes, and who really cares, anyway). Dave brought home 2 rats on Monday night for the snakes (circle of life, my friends). Kona ate right away, Ramona wouldn't eat. Weird. She's never done that before.

We put the rat in its own little cage. Dave dealt with him, because rats have too much personality for me to feed to snakes without getting sad (mice, ok, rats, not so much). Tuesday night he tries again, Ramona won't eat. We feed the rat more, joke about our new pet.

This morning I go into the spare room (where the rabbits, snake, and our rat friend reside) and hear a weird high pitch noise. For a tiny fraction of a second I think one of the rabbits is having some sort of respiratory issue and then I think "O. M. G. I know that sound" . . .






Yes, those are babies. Apparently, Ramona is a humatitarian (rodentitarian?) and wouldn't eat a very pregnant momma. We moved mom & babies to a larger cage tonight and counted 9 babies.

Pile o' babies:

One baby, with woodchip:


Two babies:


PS: The glove was for two reasons: 1. Some first time moms are sensitive to human scent on a baby. 2. Some anxious moms will attack a human hand. Neither one proved to be an issue.