Pac-Man does funny things.

He’s the king of lounging in dust piles.

Oftentimes he sits up and tumps over.

Then he makes like a horse…

And over he goes!

Finn is growing like a weed and already these photos from last week look dated. It won’t be long before we won’t be able to do this any more!

Petunia has been fairly intrigued by her little brother and is more tolerant of him than the other grown-ups. They started playing recently, and this morning they were butting heads. Petunia even tried standing on her hind legs, which looked really funny because she’s so huge right now!

“Mama, play with me!”

“Play with me now!”

“Why are grown-ups so boring?”

Petunia is due this week, and I’m pretty sure she’s got twins. I’ve felt a baby on the right and a baby on the left at the same time. I suppose it could be one big stretch limo of a baby, but I certainly hope not! It/they are lively little critters too! I love feeling them kick after the heartbreak with Nubbin’s kids. I’m probably going to be a bit of a nervous wreck until these babies are safely delivered!

Petunia was looking tired and depressed earlier this week, so I started giving her an extra ration of grain by herself in the mornings along with some Gatorade powder and she seems to have perked up quite a bit. She’s also got a stubborn cough that she contracted a couple of weeks ago. Nubbin was coughing first but she got over it as soon as she lost her pregnancy. I wonder if Petunia has the same thing and is also having a hard time fighting it while pregnant.

May 29th was me and Phil’s 15th wedding anniversary. How time does fly when you’re having fun! Phil bought me flowers and made this lovely arrangement with stuffed goats, a couple of crazy creatures holding hands front and center, and “15 Years of Goatastic Good Times” typed up for me to read. He’d written down something that had happened in each of the fifteen years we’ve been together, with an emphasis on goats.

Last week I went to haul water and Pac-Man came with me. I want him to get accustomed to riding in the bed of a truck without the cage on it, and I really want him to get comfortable leaving the other goats. I want him to enjoy being by himself with people and having adventures like Cuzco does. I doubt any goat we own from now on is going to love getting out by himself the way Cuzco does because all of them will be raised with other goats, but I’d like him to at least get used to the idea and not be terrified, loud, or unhappy.

He did pretty good besides occasionally climbing on the side when we were stopped. I don’t think this goat will ever try to jump out. He’s not terribly athletic and he knows it, so it makes him a bit of a coward when it comes to heights and jumping. This means he’ll likely never be a great companion on rough or technical hikes, but on the flip side, we’ll never have to rescue him off a cliff face like we did with Nibbles.

“Please let me on the porch. I’m a good goat!”

Who can resist a request like that?

“Who goes there? State the secret password!”

“I’m gorgeous…”

“You know I am.”

Phil gave a great interview to Modern Farmer magazine the other day!

Phil loves it when Finn helps with his work. Or at least helps him watch inane YouTube videos. 

Finn’s teeth are growing and yesterday he was showing them off, the little monster! Did I mention that these sharp, scary little teeth are the first thing I felt when I reached inside Lilly to see what the delay was about? The first thing Finn did before he even entered the world was to bite my finger!

But once I saw him I thought he was way too cute to put back.

You can tell these two belong together–they look like a matched set!

Yesterday we went for an outing in the scrub oak behind the house. Finn thoroughly enjoyed himself, hiding behind bushes, leaping from rock to rock, and tasting everything in sight.

Later on I took Finn with me to a Saddle Club meeting  where he distracted everyone with cuteness. No one seemed to mind.

I also took Daisy to the groomers today to get shaved.

I’m not sure I brought home the same dog! I took down a dirty mop and brought home what looks like a sleek labrador cross! The poor girl has been spending as much time as possible wallowing in water troughs, creeks, puddles, the cow pond, and anything else wet. She also had a few ticks hiding down in all that fur. She’s about half the size she was and I had to remove what used to be a snug chain collar because it was hanging down like a necklace, but I think she’ll be a lot more comfortable now.

Nubbin was much better today and only hung around crying by herself for a little while this morning before she went out and grazed with the other goats. Last night Nubbin slept outside by herself, curled up with her face away from everyone, and she was in the exact same place and in the same position this morning when I let the goats out. I don’t think she moved all night. But tonight she’s sharing a shed with Cuzco again, which is her usual resting place. I’m happy to see she’s socializing again instead of moping around by herself.

And we felt Petunias babies squirming today! Phil and I both felt them, and we felt them on both sides! So I’m pretty sure she’s got two. And they are lively ones! I swear they were doing the jitterbug in there! It’s the first time I’ve ever been able to feel babies move and it was so exciting. Nubbin was too deep and soft to feel anything, Nibbles was too fat, and Lilly is so tight and toned that I don’t think any baby could kick its way past those abs of hers! Petunia is just right, and she feels like she’s bulging with kids. I told her to stay out of trouble and keep them safely inside till they’re cooked properly!

Little Finn is doing great. He’s bouncing around like a jumping bean and discovering the joys of bumping his head, tumbling off heights, falling in holes, and all the other things little kids do when their courage is greater than their ability. I’m not sure yet, but I think this little guy might be polled like his mama. He has swirls, so I thought for sure he’d have horns, but they haven’t sprouted yet. Nubbin and Petunia’s were poking through within a 3-4 days if I recall correctly. So far Finn only has round nubs and he’s almost a week old. Pac-Man is enamored with Finn. He looks at him with all the pride of fatherhood, convinced that this is his progeny. I told him he’s mistaken, but Pac-Man won’t hear a word of it. The two boys like to stick their tongues out at each other. In fact, Finn doesn’t seem to know how to put his tongue back in. I told him it’s going to get sunburned the way he keeps poking it out all the time. 

It’s been a sad morning. We have two less babies to welcome into 2014. Nubbin delivered during the night while we were in bed, three weeks before her time. One was very bloated and partly hairless–obviously dead for a while. The other looked perfect but was born too soon. Nubbin was a good mama and had dried her off, but it was no use. I don’t think we’d have been able to save her even if we’d been there to warm her and tube feed her. Three weeks is so early.

Both were does and were colored just like their mama–bay bodies, white belts, and white patches on their foreheads. I cry a little when I think we could’ve had three Nubbins jumping around. She may have been hit by one of the other goats, or perhaps the umbilical cord got wrapped around its neck–we’ll never know. The hardest part is listening to Nubbin cry for her little ones. She’s so sad right now and won’t stop looking and calling for them. All I can do is cry with her.

This little guy is so cute I can’t stop posting photos of him! These were taken yesterday afternoon as well. He spent a lot of time bouncing up and down the stairs behind this retaining wall and posed for the camera with his beautiful mama.

“Helloooo down there!”

“Mom, look what I can do!”
Finn spent some time showing off his balancing skills on top of this wall, and even demonstrated his ability to stand on three legs and scratch his chin while perched on this height. Then suddenly without any warning he leaped off! Scared me and Lilly to death. The wall is six feet high and and he landed flat on his belly on the cement below with all four legs sprawled out. I think he got the wind knocked out of him because he didn’t cry. But he shakily got to his feet, limped off, and after discovering that he was ok, he raced around to the stairs and bounced straight up them again. Phew!

He posed proudly on the stairs for one more shot…

Then laid down and had a warm bath.