January 7, 1999

For the first time in their lives, Kato, Dusty and Hercule stayed somewhere other than with their mom. With the babies almost at five full weeks (on Saturday to be exact), I decided to move the boys out. I read that you don't have to do it until after the sixth week, but I'm not taking any chances. The babies are pretty much the same size Brook was when I first got her and she had babies almost a month later. With the boys "dropping," they are living with their pop.

Felix has his own cage in the living room and is really the only rat I allow out there now (I've just had my phone wire and mouse wire chewed through one too many times). When I let Felix out, I put the boys on the couch and let them run around on there. They're too small to get off, so I know they'll be okay. This is exactly what I did with their dad (and Uncle Oscar) when they were their age.

Oh yeah, they make messes. I've got towels on the couch, but that's not the best protection. Here the boys were enjoying some veggies. Within minutes, pea shells and partial pieces of corn were all over my couch (and still are at the moment).

The three aren't as active on the couch as their dad and uncle were, but they've only spent two days on it (this being the second). I don't think they're used to it.

That's no squirrel. That's Dusty enjoying some corn.

The girls run around the hall. Whenever I walk through there for whatever reason, they all run to me and start climbing me, whether I'm walking or still.

That's Kato wondering what's going on (Dusty in the back).

Brook is a true acrobat. I have the entrance to the hall blocked off by some board, so I have to lift my legs over to get through. Every time I do that to leave the hall, she jumps on my leg like a stunt from Die Hard, to be lifted out of the hall and into the living room.

Felix and his boys get along great. They wrestle and play. Brook and the girls really get along great. Talk about wrestling. They wrestle and Brook doesn't always win.

When I first put the boys into the cage with their dad, I went out of the room for something and when I came back, I noticed Dusty wasn't in the cage. I though he went under some stuff in the cage and was hiding. Suddenly, I heard a noise (in Felix's nest I let him make in the corner). I looked over and there was Dusty walking around, nonchalantly, as if it was an everyday occurrence and he had been there a hundred times.

Turns out they were able to squeeze through the top part of the cage. Now, even Felix can't get out of that cage the way it's set up, because the only opening is in the middle of the roof. But the boys are able to climb up the side and squeeze out the top. They're only a couple days away from not being able to do that anymore, but for right now, I've got a rug on top of the cage when I've got them in it.