Before the birth of Butterstick II, the National Zoo’s giant panda Mei Xiang refused to participate in ultrasounds, leading DCist to declare that she was over Cub Watch 2013. But it seems her difficult streak will continue even now that her cub has arrived.

The National Zoo said today that Mei Xiang stopped keepers from retrieving Butterstick for the cub’s second veterinary exam.

Mei Xiang was more alert and more aware of the keepers’ presence today, especially compared with Sunday when she seemed focused on the cub to the exclusion of everything else around her. As opposed to Sunday, today she positioned her body and her cub so that panda keepers couldn’t reach the cub. When they attempted to distract her and retrieve the cub, she persistently moved out of reach. It’s clear that she was holding tight to the cub and did not want to give it up. The keepers stopped the attempt so as not to upset her.

Mei, girl, what’s going on? Is it that Tian Tian turns 16 today, and he’s getting a “fruitsicle cake”? Is all this baby panda father drama getting to you?