UPDATE ON BIRD: Okay Parrot Peeps, I need to share! So weve had Bird in our home for two weeks and a day, and it has been an emotional journey for all of us... not because anything traumatic or miraculous has happened, but because we are a very feeling, very vocal family. I mean, we FEEL. Each of us has had our feelings hurt by Birds tiny little cold shoulder. With the exception of my husband, Beau Carper, who is pretty much an expert at reading people (and apparently birds), each of us has been bitten by Bird. My blood has been drawn. We all accept the fact that we were wrong at the time, and weve all moved on. Our first two days with Bird were tentative and watchful, but problem-free. On the third day, Bird refused to go to bed. I had let him out too late, and of course he didnt want to go back in. Jodee King came to the rescue with her magical towel and showed us its OK to be firm with Bird when necessary. Bird has not refused to go to bed since. I should also mention that we routinely bribe him with a bedtime treat. Hey, we believe in picking our battles. Birds only baggage involves a broom so he does not like to hop up from his cage. When he feels like being social, we will flutter to the floor and THEN hop up. This has actually been perfect for us because it eliminates much of the guesswork regarding Birds mood...swings. There, I said it. Bird pulled a Crazy Ivan on me the other day and rushed me. Im still not sure what that was all about, but we have a lifetime to figure each other out. Bird loves buttons and all things hot pink. This works well for our family since fuchsia is my daughters favorite color as well as the color of my obnoxiously cozy bathrobe (it was on sale!). We are homebodies who homeschool so we are home a lot... but not always. Yesterday we were out most of the day, and Bird was irritated when we got home. He strutted around on top of his cage as if thinking, Skibbity...skibbity... (Think Popeye). Music is said to soothe the savage beast, so I put on some Michael Buble and Dorris Day and got to work on dinner. Bird noticeably calmed. He really is a mellow sort. When dinner was finished, the music inevitably turnt up to Black Eyed Peas, and of course we had the obligatory, impromptu DANCE PARTY! Many laughs were had, and all was forgiven. Then we bribed Bird and put him to bed. This morning, I approached Bird conspiratorially with some of my breakfast: a clementine. To my delight, he wanted me to share. He tasted it and moved on, and this pleased me greatly. A little later, Bird flew over to the computer from which the beats emanated last night. When I sat down to crank up some tunes for him, he flew to the floor. We all had a pow-wow on the floor, held Bird in turns as he chose us, and introduced him to a ping-pong ball. After a bit, I returned him to the top of his cage, and my son gave him a treat. And then I introduced Bird to the rest of our breakfast: a tiny smack of organic, crunchy peanut butter. He dropped the little nut and proceeded to lick my finger! What a wonderful surprise! Who knew his little tongue would feel so warm and smooth? Add that to my list of favorites. Another favorite of mine is the way Birds feathers raise ever so slightly when my daughter pets him. Its not the fluffy, How dare you, sir?! that he has shown us often throughout this trial; its more of a, A little to the left... ahhh, right there. Its the sweetest thing! We may nickname him, Squeaker, because of those adorable, little mousey sounds he makes. He is just so fantastic! Bird is the talkin-est darn thing you ever saw, and that is the best possible thing for our family. He talks in many different voices, and hes a perfect gentleman... who usually talks in a womans voice. He hasnt gone on a ripper yet, but he does whisper quite loudly in a mans voice. Its pretty funny. He growls at our dogs when they try to put paws on the cage. Oh, and he makes this scratchy, grumbling sound when hes bored... I think it may be the sound our dryer makes! Its always super-creepy, but I just tell him, Bird, lets not do that. And he moves on to his nursery rhymes and other conversation starters. We are so grateful for this journey! We have a lot to learn, and we are enjoying (almost) every step of the way. We are set to officially adopt Bird on the first day of the New Year! As I was proofreading this to my children, Bird climbed (not fluttered) down his cage to the floor (FOR THE FIRST TIME!) for a nut he dropped earlier. The kids are very excited about this and wanted you all to know!
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 17:15:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015