WASHINGTON -- The National Zoo has released a new Panda Cam video of giant panda Mei Xiang and her baby, born on Sunday night.

Look closely: in this video -- taken Thursday morning -- you can actually see the tiny newborn, who is only about the size of a stick of butter right now. You can also hear the little cub's squeaks, as he or she (we won't know which for at least a few weeks) is picked up by Mei Xiang, then put down for grooming.

The Zoo said in a media release that keepers are "encouraged by the cub’s activity and vocalizations -- two signs that it is healthy."

Regular, reassuring updates on mother and tiny stick of butter baby are also being provided on Twitter:


National Zoo
Morning update: Keepers say Mei is managing to get some good rest, and they're continuing to hear good sounds from the cub.

There's now a Flickr pool of Panda Cam screen grabs showing the baby, too. We are duly charmed. And amazed at how tiny that new panda really is.

For those who aren't already spending all their waking moments watching Mei Xiang and her new baby, here's a link to one of the Panda Cams and another. You can even watch from your phone, using the National Zoo's app.

Also on HuffPost:

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  • Tai Shan takes a short plunge off the edge of a faux rock during his debut to the press November 29, 2005 at the National Zoo. Tai Shan was sent to China in February, 2010.

  • Mei Xiang and Tai Shan, who was born at 3:41 a.m. July 9, 2005, weighing only a few ounces at birth. This photo was taken in December, 2005.

  • Giant Panda cub Tai Shan cuddles with his mother, Mei Xiang, while they eat melon balls in the morning at the National Zoo's Giant Panda Habitat on August 30, 2006.

  • Giant Panda Tian Tian plays with a box on January 20, 2011 at the National Zoo. The snack is made with apples and pears frozen in apple juice.

  • Giant Panda Mei Xiang eats a breakfast of bamboo at the National Zoo's Giant Panda Habitat on August 30, 2006.

  • Giant Panda Tian Tian enjoys a fruitcicle at the National Zoo on January 20, 2011.

  • The 4th Birthday Of Giant Panda

    Giant panda Tian Tian eats bamboo at the National Zoo on July 9, 2009.

  • Tai Shan officially celebrated his fourth birthday with singing, guests and a massive, three-tiered "veggie-sicle" cake. The frozen masterpiece was made over the course of two weeks by Zoo commissary staff by freezing a combination of water, beets and beet juice while enhancing it with bamboo and fruit. Tai quickly took to the frozen treat, licking at the ice, spotting his furry face with the melting beet juice.

  • Panda cub Tai Shan is examined, weighed and measured on September 19, 2005.

  • The National Zoo's Chief Veterinarian Dr. Suzan Murray, Curator of Primates and Giant Pandas Lisa Stevens and animal keeper Nicole Meese conducted a health exam on Tai Shan when he was a cub in 2005.