His name is definitely Milk. I think he's too small to really respond to it, but his ears aren't super floppy, and he seems to be in around the same size and feeding schedule as a one week old kitten, so that settles the matter of his birthday. Today was mostly spent keeping house, and taking care of Milk. He's very small, and very squeaky.
I added the same picture of him onto my about page. He's been doing really well with drinking. I was a little worried, since sometimes kittens have a hard time figuring out how to bottle feed, apparently, and little baby kittens need to eat so frequently that even missing one of the snack times could have dire consequences- but Milk eats his food like a champ, even if he is terrible at trying to keep himself from getting soggy in said process.
At least he is very agreeable when it comes to wiping him clean and brushing him with a soft bristled toothbrush to fluff up his fur and help him dry faster. I've gone ahead and placed an order at the general store for some more specific supplies for him, but in the meantime he's doing just fine with using the hot water bottle as a heat source and some careful monitoring of the squirmy little guy. He is sooooo sleepy. Like 90% of his time is spent sleeping, and the other 10% is spent eating ravenously.
I ended up using some of Father's cleaning cloths for when he refills his fountain pens to either wipe up Milk's messes or to swaddle him up in temporarily when he'd managed to slop milk dribbles all over his current blankie, which he would do, and then proceed to squeak his head off at the sheer insult of my having caused that to happen, apparently. He is very demanding, but very cute. He's lucky he's so adorable. Hopefully Father doesn't mind too much- the milk will come out in the wash, and it's hardly a concern of staining, given the state of the cotton, but I do hate to make a mess.
I will have to figure out some way to contain him. We don't have any old baby equipment- I'm way too old for Father to have kept it laying around the house, even if I were to duck down into the basement to search, it'd likely be fruitless. Besides, I'm pretty sure he donated it back to the church again, once I'd outgrown it.
I've decided to put him into one of the laundry baskets for now, the woven wicker ones, and after padding it out with soft things and his heat source, he seems happy enough. He is going to be far more explorative once he figures out how to walk properly though, and I'm kind of nervous about when that time comes. Lots of stuff a kitten shouldn't get into, around here.
I think that's a good plan for the day up ahead. I'll go about... not baby proofing, because he's not a baby, but kitten proofing? The place. That'll be good. Besides, I could use a break from stalking about the house, and cramming my face into wherever I think there might be a fault in the defenses. Things are right as rain, as they always are, thankfully. If there's one thing Father is, it's meticulous: and I'd hate to muck things up while he's gone.
The weekend's coming up, too. A Sunday reset would be in good order, maybe after heading to church. Prep some lunches- meals, really, for the week ahead... Something to eat in the small hours when I'm up late with Milk, and busy holding his bottle up for him while my stomach growls.
I'm a little worried about how that'll go, to be honest. I haven't been around very much of the community since the news broke. Not through their lack of trying, but... It's just a lot right now, and it's for the best if I just try to keep it out of mind and not focus too much on it. If I do that- it becomes a lot more difficult to just button it up and leave it buried beneath the earth.
It's fine. I can always leave if it becomes too much.
Father would understand.