Little Cotton Rabbits

Autumn

Thanks so much for all the kind and thoughtful comments that were left on the previous post - reading them really helps and I'm really grateful for the chance to get stuff off my chest without everyone thinking "she's off again...!". Toby is definitely much happier now that his tooth is out and so life here has returned to normal.

I thought I'd do a quick hedgehog update before the weekend. This week has definitely had an autumnal feel to it - the leaves on the trees have started to change colour and drop (I've even been out with my rake gathering piles of leaves to dry for Herbert's bedding). Herbert him/herself is doing great and is now tipping the scales at 498gms which will probably mean that he'll be up to the target weight within the next week.

I'm beginning to feel a little sad though at the thought of seeing his little prickly behind waddling off into the distance and so plans are afoot for a spot of house building this weekend - hedgehog house building. We'll be putting the house in his run and letting him camp out in the garden next week so that he can get used to all the smells and sounds of being outside all the time (up to now he's only been out in the run after dark for a few hours and then back into the crate in the garage). One he's acclimatised we'll remove the run and he'll be free to roam. I'm really hoping that he'll stick around and maybe use the house to hibernate in but we'll have to wait and see - he may have other plans!

I've not taken any recent pictures of Herbert as I'm trying to limit contact - we'll get some to remember him by before he toddles off! So hodggie pictures today are courtesy of Hamlyn's 365 Animal Stories, 1975 vintage!

A big thankyou to the tooth fairy!

If you drop in here regularly you'll know that I do my best to keep my blog focused on the happy aspects of my life and mostly on my knitting. But ocassionally there's a need to give it a little flavour of what is going on in the background as there are times when I struggle to be positive and carefree. So today I'm going to be self-indulgent and get something off my chest so that next time we can go on with the business of knitting and having some gentle fun.

Since Toby was diagnosed as severely autistic I've had times where I'd wake each morning with a feeling of expectation and find myself thinking "things will start to get better when..." ...he starts nursery, ...he starts school, ...the summer comes... and thinking in that way is probably a saftey mechanism that has helped me get through some especially tough times. The problem comes when the realisation hits that things haven't got easier and I start to think "what if this is as good as it gets?"

This weekend I realised that I had got through the summer holidays by thinking that once Toby was back at school things would be better - foolish thinking because of course they are not. In fact the last week has been one of the toughest for a long while. For a start Toby slept less well than usual (and usual is bad enough!) but he's also been incredibly restless and demanding and the constant high pitched keening noise that he makes when he's distressed is especially hard to take.

Because Toby can't communicate we were left guessing as to why he was so out of sorts and then on Sunday evening I made a breakthrough! I spotted a wobbly tooth. I don't think it was actually causing him pain - it's just the fact that it felt different and in Toby's world different ain't good!

This kind of sums up autism - that something as simple as loosing a first tooth can cause so much angst and distress and in turn push a family to the edge of reason. We're all very grateful that yesterday the tooth fairy zapped the offending tooth and since then Toby has seemed much happier and actually slept through last night!

* Since the offending tooth has disappeared without trace (probably swallowed) I've had to use a stunt tooth - one of Amy's which the tooth fairy let me borrow (just incase she reads this!)

A case of mistaken identity?

Originally when I peeked under Herbert's spines I was pretty confident in my assessment of the tackle situation, (albeit quite small and furry) however now I am beginning to have my doubts. It's largely a matter of toilet ettiquette that has cast doubt in my mind. You see apparently little boy hedgehogs are far more likely to pooh in their beds than little girl hedgehogs (I am now restraining myself from further comment) - I'm told it's something to do with not having to share a bed as a grown up whereas the girls of course have babies to consider at some point. In the last few days Herbert has been quite scrupulous in exiting the bed chamber to dump his/her load. So for the minute we are pondering whether we should change our little guests name from HErbert to SHErbert - maybe I'll have another peek and see if anything is clearer.

Anyway sexuality aside the hedgehog is making great progress. His weight has increased from 140gms on the day he was found to 350gms and he's moved on from completely mashed food to lumpier chunks and some nibbly bits (raisins, kitten biscuits and nuts) as well as developing a keen taste for worms and slugs (good hodger!). I'm keeping all contact to a minimum so am having to curb all my impulses to stroke and cuddle even though he is so adorable cute. He still retains his roll reflex and will freeze and roll into a ball at sudden noises or when picked up and he's quite vocal with hissing and grunting to warn me away - all of which are positive signs for his re-introduction to the wild.

(this picture shows how much he's grown in 3 weeks)

The trouble is that the leaves have started falling and there's a nip to the air so autumn is definitely arriving and the thoughts of little hedgehogs should be now turning to building their nest for hibernation (or a hibernacula). It's now a race against time to fatten him up enough to get him through the winter ahead.

A round the world trip...

Talking of giveaways, do you remember my 100th post giveaway won by Jessica at Kerflop back in June? Well, I made a bunny, packaged her up and off she went on her way to Idaho, USA. But the days and weeks passed and she didn't arrive and as the weeks turned to months we had to assume the worst and consider that we might never see her again and so I made another for Jessica. This was my first ever missing parcel and I felt quite sad as each toy becomes a little individual personality and I don't like to think of any of them lost and alone! I secretly hoped that the first bunny had found a happy home somewhere and not met an untimely end mangled in some postal equipment or dropped out of a plane. Anyway, it turns out that my fears were unjustified as last week this arrived...

and inside, a little battered and squashed but still looking happy I found bunny.

So my faith in the postal service has been restored - quite amazing when you think she has travelled half way around the world and found her way back home again! In view of the fact that she came back I think I'm going to keep her as my lucky mascot. Meanwhile, I'm really pleased to report that this little bunny has reached Jessica at Kerflop who gets a gold star for her patience!

Cake competition

Well, my 1 year anniversary cake give-away competition has just closed and, resorting to the random number generator again we have a winner, comment number 10:

Well done Sarah at Lupin Cottage (I'll email you about your cakey preferences) and thanks so much to everyone for the wonderful comments and for taking the time to enter.