Two maples in development

These are two Japanese maples, Acer palmatum, that I got in trades. They are both in development. The first one looks decent already. We have to remove the wires and in fall it will be looking almost show ready.
The second one looks like mice bit into the crown. This comes form cutting back severely in some parts and leaving some shoots as they were. The maple buds back well into old wood where I cut off the existing buds as one can see. But I was not so sure and I absolutely did not want to risk such a tremendous piece of material. Progress will be reported.