Things have been challenging lately ("life stuff" that doesn't make the farm 'blog), and it has been one of those life sequences, for me, where it is really tough to crack a smile. Photographing my alpacas is one of the most enjoyable things about them, to me, and here is one of the reasons why.

I challenge you to look at these pictures and not smile. Shoot, the third one makes me break out laughing! I do believe it is now my favorite photograph that I have ever taken.

Here, without further ado, is a cria, just turning three weeks old, learning to eat hay:

... There. You feel better now.

Newbie #1 is actually not so new. He was born a week ago yesterday, but he was so immature (floppy, crooked, etc.) that I was not sure if he was going to make it.

Look at him now! This is Spider. He is actually turning out quite nice all of a sudden. His mom is Hidden Hill Peruvian Vivace (a fawn who apparently carries black -- yay!) and his dad is ... Ah ... Ahem. Well, we bred Vivace twice, and these guys have very variable gestation lengths, so I'm not actually positive who the sire is. It's either Rainer's Axel Cloud (who we do not own) or Vivanno (who we do), and I don't think we're going to know who the daddy is until the DNA comes back!

Newbie #2 is truly new (born just this morning). This was a textbook birth, and he wins the prize for First Male Cria Born on our Farm to Nurse Unassisted! (I forgot that alpacas could do that!) It helps that his dam, Ella (Skyeview Mozzarella) is an absolutely fantastic mom. This is her first time, too. I wish they could all be like this!

This guy is another “maybe harley” – not a screaming harlequin, but he does have two spots, one on his leg and one on his tail. I'm pretty hopeful!