Visitors

We currently have my parents visiting us, which is a wonderful experience. Fantastic fun, and best of all, it has relieved me of the obligation of blogging - if you want to know what we're doing with our lives, check out my parents' blog (listed opposite).

The visitors I'm talking about now probably won't make it onto my folks' blog, so here it is:

The story started soon after we returned from our African Adventures this summer. Stephanie had been promised a pet of her own and she chose a hamster. After scouring the UAE, we finally found a suitable Syrian hamster who puts up with the kids with the most amazing patience. All Stephanie's friends have had a play with the little thing (Zigsy by name) and some have fallen in love.

Amelia fell so in love that she pestered her parents for a hamster of her own - this despite her mom's dislike (almost a phobia actually) of all things rodent. Amelia turned 5, her parents gave her a little bundle of happiness (Charlotte), and all was calm and ordered in their household until about 10 days after Charlotte's arrival when Charlotte decided to present Amelia with 8 little babies. Clearly Charlotte wasn't as young and innocent as the petshop owner had told them! Amelia's mom had a bit of a panic, but bravely decided to let her kids enjoy the hamster baby experience, and did her bit by making sure the feeding mom had lotsa good stuff to help her milk production and keeping the kids out of Charlotte's nest.

Then on Christmas Eve, disaster struck. The pinkies were nearly 2 weeks old and Charlotte had a stroke. In a panic they rushed her to the vet, where she was hospitilised for 2 days and died on Boxing Day morning. Much mourning in their household - and more panic! What to do with 8 feeding babies?

They took on the challenge.

Now, feeding 8 babies and keeping them clean (their little bottoms need to be stimulated to release their poos) is no small task, so Alex volunteered to take some on. Last night we collected our 4 and at time of press, they're all still alive. They are being fed by eye dropper on an almost continuous basis and are kept warm by means of latex of gloves filled with warm water. 2 of them are looking a bit weak, but all are accepting sustenance, so watch this post for the survival rate!