We now have curled sleeping from most of them, and some are doing ear-scratching with the hind leg. This ear-scratching takes a lot of balance, so they kind of hunker down and then slowly bring the rear leg forward and then move it up and down around the ear, or neck to get that itch!
When I am cleaning the larger puppy nest I have been putting them in their small one that they were born in. With 8, nothing is quick and easy. It's 4 handfulls of puppies to move them from one to the other and then back again. Tonight when I changed the bedding and papers, 5 of them excaped over the edge of the smaller playpen and started wandering around the living room. Agile little monkeys. Their vision is still mostly dark and shadow, they have no interest in toys or anything that moves at this point, but we're not far off.
In their own regular nest, I have beguun to raise the bed with foam squares to create some physical challenge and separate the peepee from the sleepee even more. Their little back feet and nails really frantically scratch the top layer of the fleece doggie bed so I have switched to a soft cotton ikea bathmat. Seems to be holding up better.
Every 5 days, I take the puppies one by one and weigh them, change their ribbon, and then clip all their nails front and back. As I am sure you can imagine, this is quite a task and sometimes stretches into 2 sittings. The puppies do not like having their nails cut, but if I don't get them used to it, this will be more than a nightmare when then are older. Momma also appreciates it as it will save the skin on her belly from severe scratching during the frantic nursing!
Tiny little teeth are becoming visible through the gums on the top and bottom in all of the dogs. When the teeth appear, this is when Momma becomes less enthused about going in to nurse and I will begin the introduction of real food!