Minky in all his glory

We have shortened Foothills Michael's name to Minky - it so aptly describes the colour of his fleece.  He has the cutest little white spot just above his right eye - a remnant of his father's white fleece genes.

Here are some updated pics of his progress:

Can you see the white patch of fleece above his
right eye (look at the corner where his forehead
meets the shadecloth tree protection structure)?
 And just look at those eye lashes LOL

Any which way you look at Minky, he is a
very handsome fellow :)

Can't you just eat him up!
Too adorable.
I just want to hug him, but
those eyes have 180°
vision, and he expertly, and
playfully, skips sideways
to avoid the hug most times.

Minky is coming along in leaps and bounds  Here he is at just half an hour old...

From this...

And here he is at 14 days old.  My - how he has grown!!  Miranda is proving to be an excellent mother to her precious little cria.  She has visibly settled down since Minky was born, and now, finally, spends most of the day grazing in the paddock, and lying under the Black Wattle trees when she needs shade. What a turnaround from hiding in her stable most of the time.

...to this in 14 short days.  Don't grow up
too quickly, Minky.

Minky and RMan have a definite "thing" going.  RMan spends a very healthy portion of his day just sitting in the paddock, and Minky can't resist having a regular sniff of RMan.  Alpacas are incredibly inquisitive creatures.

There is nothing Minky enjoys more that a good race around the paddock, and RMan is more than happy to oblige.  Anywhere that he runs, Minky has to beat him there... :)

We have opted to lock them into the stable (with the top half of the door left open) at nighttime, in preparation for the cold, wet winter nights which lie ahead.  If we can achieve a routine now, then it won't be so difficult to achieve then - we hope... LOL