Two Weeks Old Today (Well Most of Us)

It's the puppies again. We're taking a break from learning and growing and changing and sleeping to let you know how we're doing.

We're two weeks old today, and most of us have eyes opening.

Once our eyes open, we're no longer considered neonates; we're puppies in transition (called the transitional stage, which lasts about a week), and lots of things happen during our transition.  Here's what you can expect to see from us over the next seven days:

• We'll start moving around more.
• We'll show more interest in each other (pawing and mouthing each other).
• We already move backward and forward, but we'll get better at these skills.
• We'll start walking more than we squiggle and crawl.
• We'll start moving away from the puppy pile to potty. As soon as we're able, we instinctively won't potty where we sleep (that's the foundation of the housebreaking & crate training we receive in our forever homes later on).
• We'll potty on our own. We won't need Momma Elsie to do that for us.
• Our eyesight will become more usable (we don't really "see" yet -- all we see right now is blurry light and shadows).
• We might (if we're really developing fast) learn to lap liquids. That will definitely come by our fourth week, but it might happen this week. That's getting us ready to drink from a bowl (or a stream or river or puddle).
• We'll start to teethe (our first teeth with poke through our gums around the 20th day). And teething is uncomfortable for us, just like it is for human babies.
• By the end of week, we'll start to hear and respond to sound.

That's a busy week for us! We still sleep about 90% of the time because our bodies need the rest to be able to grow. But this week, when we're awake, we'll start to be more active.

Here are some pictures Momma Joan took of us this early this morning. We're not sure we like that bright flash that happens when she takes our picture, but it's okay for now.  Here we are:

We prefer to explore on our feet, but we're not strong enough to go very far (note Miss Lime's open eyes behind Master Red).

We still have Yoda ears. :)

We still nurse every couple of hours. 

We still love to sleep.

We can almost sit, but we're a little wobbly still.

Our eyes are opening.

The puppy pile is our favorite place to sleep, except when it's hot.

We can nurse in all kinds of positions (note Miss Lime in center).

Miss Pink is still the smallest, but she's a fast developer, often doing things first.

We all use our noses to navigate.

And we still use each other as pillows. :)  We stay warmer this way.

So all is well in the whelping box.  And (tee hee) in a couple of days, when we can see better, we'll even get to try out toys!  (Whatever they are.)

Phew. Time for another nap. We'll check in with you again when we turn three weeks old. In the meantime, we have a lot of changes to go through.

Nighty night!  It's sleepy-bye time.

The Puppies