Oscar is doing fine. Feedings were a little wonky today due to a garage sale that involved four blocks of my street so I was back and forth, feeding him when I could get someone to watch my tables out front. Then there was the block BBQ and I excused myself half way through to feed him and then returned for dessert.
I am trying to stretch the feedings to 2 1/2 hours now so that I get more sleep. Unlike Oscar, I can't nap during the day in between the two hours and so I need concentrated night sleep.
One of the things I've noticed since he arrived five short days ago is how strong he has become and he appears to have gained at least 1/3 body mass so he is bigger now than when this photo was taken two days ago.
He's a thriving little fellow, eager to eat and then as he finishes his "bottle" he is just as quick to pop off to sleep but not before our postprandial ritual of stimulation of his nether regions in order to encourage defecation. His mother would normally do this as indeed cats and dogs do for their young but it's up to me. He does not like me stroking him with a damp Q-tip and protests with small squeaks and curls into a ball to hinder the action.
Now that he is bigger and stronger, he chooses to sleep beneath the fake fur and on the paper liner which is a warmer spot due to being closer to the heating pad. He makes himself comfortable, just like a human baby.
There is much that is similar, as far as I can tell, between this rodent baby and a human one. They prefer the safety of being wrapped so when I feed him, I swaddle him in a square of fake fur with his head and front paws sticking out which he sometimes wraps his little hands around. As he becomes sated, he starts to fall asleep and drops away from the "nipple."
Such an awed little being.
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