Elvenking

I am glad people feel that same connection. It's a wonderful thing. I never fail to feel lucky that I have the companionship of such a beautiful wild animal. Stay in love.

Yeah. I will try to speak of him a bit more. He certainly is a fantastic little guy. I want to capture some of his antics on video so you all can see how he behaves when I get a phone call. He is so silly. I think that he thinks I am giving love to the phone because it is rubbing against my face and I am talking to it as I do to him sometimes. The way he gets himself in the way of that is absolutely adoreable. I will try to get a video up of that. I have been waiting for him to do something crazy that I could write about, but he mostly stays his same old loveable little self. Which is a super wonderful thing. You can be sure that he will get tons of kisses when I get home and i will make one of them for you.

Thanks. I am glad there is a place where I can share my love for Issac.

So, it has been a while as I have been super busy at work lately. However, I have had tons of time to spend with my best little friend Issac. I had a little time today at work to share a little bit about the last couple of months with my baby. Issac is now somewhere around 18 months old. He is the sweetest little noise factory in the world. Just talking about him shows the softer side of me as he just melts my heart every time I come home to see him there. I can almost never come home without running over to his cage to let him out. He stretches his wings and I give him little kisses on his tummy. (Soft me again) Anyway, he is a wonderful mimic of so many noises but a bird of few words so far. He says "Hello Boyee" when he is in the right mood, but in general he has fun making really cute sounds. One of my latest favorites is the smaller birds outside and the dog downstairs barking and howling. He also said "Awwweeeee" one day too as that is what I say when he does something cute. On the days I don't have to run off to work, I will bring him into my room in the morning, lay on the bed, and let him trot between a pillow on my bed and along the window sill. As he does this, he does the little high pitched tweets back at the birds outside and "Whoooo"'s at people as they walk by. Then he will come ont my pillow where my head is and bend his head down for some good head rubbing. He is a super loving little guy. I had 4 kids over one afternoon and they just thought he was awesome with the way he flies. I personally never tire of the majesty of his flight either. He knows exactly how to home in on my location and find me no matter where I am. For some reason he wants to really be invovled when I am brushing my teeth, flossing, or on the phone. Sometimes I run around the house ducking and dodging him as he gives chase. Then there are quiet (well sometimes quiet) evening when he just likes to sit on my knee as I watch TV. He is possibly the most magical relationship I have ever had in my life next to my daughter. (I am not sure if that says more about how wonderful of a companion he is, or how I handle relationships. ) The only time I have to deal with a bite or two is when it's time for him to go back in the cage. I can respect that and take the couple of bites. Almost immediately after he gives me a good clamp, he sits on my hand and lets me place him on his perch. Then I thank him lavishly and give him some pine nuts for his troubles. Issac has certainly been there for me. I love this bird with everything I have. He is the best companion that anyone could ask for. It is so wonderful to see his confidence in everything that he does. It let's me know that there is not a care in the world for him other than having me home and being free to fly about the house. He gets tons of pets and kisses and seems to know that is my way of telling him that he is wonderful. So thankful for my little friend. Well that is all for now. I would post some pictures I have taken but my company's web policies block me from seeing many web sites including photo hosting sites, so I will get some pictures of the little guy up later. Thanks for reading and caring about the welfare of my baby. Cheers for now.

Sweet. Congratulations to Gabby! Issac is still figuring out the whole word thing and he is up to about 18 months now. He might go a similar way of waiting a longer time before he gets further than the sweet little, "Hello Boy" that I get out of him sometimes. If he ever does take to talking. I love when he gets excited, then he is more likely to try to copy me. He really loves to pay homage to all the sounds around him including the smaller birds outside which he can mimic perfectly. He likes to sit on the window sill and call back to the birds he hears outside. It's cute to hear a parrot sound like a little tiny bird. Anyway...good going Gabby!

Issac does the same little quiet 'digging' motion at the bottom of the cage when I am leaving. It took me a while to get past the guilt, seeing him asking to get out so sweetly. I usually go by where he is wedging his beak between the bars and rub his little cheeks while saying, "I'll be back boy....it's okay".

All I have to say is LMAO. I wish I knew. But seriously, I have days where I spend hours just cleaning this place up so that it looks like a bird doesn't crap all over the place. Best advice I can give is to get yourself the right tools to deal with the situation. My weapons of choice are a Dyson vacuum and a Bissel Spot Bot. The spot bot is awesome. I will usually wait till there are about 4 or more bad spots to clean up, then break that little baby out to completely remove stains. Most of the time...the poop sits on the carpet without sinking int...if you are light enough with a paper towel...you can often get it to stick to the paper towel with a light brush over it. DO NOT PUSH IT IN HARDER....LOL. My house is completely carpeted, I know possibly the most amount of work required. I also have spot carpet cleaners in a spray bottles for quick couch messes and such. It is a lot of work for me...because Issac does not care where he goes....nothing is sacred...except maybe inside of his cage...where he goes maybe once a month. Nice eh? I make sure that when I take him out of the cage....I hold him over a proper place to poop. But he doesn't seem to get the pattern. But at least I avoid the big poops. The best way is to stay on top of it...and don't get behind...because you will spend a lot of time getting things back to normal. It seems like a ton of work, but soon you almost get involuntary reactions to poop where your hand is reaching for a paper towel before you had to conciously think of it. That is the other thing.....get tons of paper towels!! It is money well spent. Pick poop up...throw it away. I keep my place pretty clean and I know the dedication it requires....good luck.

Not that my approach is the most budget friendly...but I use a two pronged approach....A Dyson vacuum and a Bissel Spot Bot. The Dyson I understand can be cost prohibitive, but I personally would never go back after having one...but any vacuum will do a fine job. The main thing is your poop stains...the Spot Bot is absolutely brilliant. I don;t find myself using the auto clean mode as much because it uses a lot of the cleaning solution. But that little hand vac part of it is awesome for poop stains.

For lack of many other things to say, I think he just calls me "Booooyyyeee" like I do to him when I see him. "Hi Booooyyyee".

Lol....so at least two other matches to Issac's 'gimmie that' behavior. I also have to be very quick on the remote ans stuff it into the couch pillows when I am done. I have this little thing where he will get down by my hand to get the remote and I have to fling him up to get him off and so I don't get bit. Ninja stuff.

Awe he wants to share with you. What a sweet guy.

Maybe Issac likes to hear the sounds things around the house make when he taps them. I am not sure, but it looks like he is concentrating when he does it. And when he is doing his 'happy' dance, I really don;t know what I am doing to get him all riled up, maybe he is just pulling out all the stops to be as cute as possible to get my attention back. He may not even want it initially, but he will not miss a phone call, flossing or brushing if he can help it. Something about my teeth for sure, he obviously would LOVE to get the chance to inspect them. If I smille big for only a second when he is close he is coming to check out daddy's choppers. Strange bird...but I love him insanely. One other behavior is that he gets quite upset when I use my remote controls, and he will try to take them by force (Biting). Nipping at me like...."I want to play with it too". Does anyone else have a Grey that does this? Is there a way to curb this behavior?

So I had a bit of an idea that could maybe become a sticky. Would like to start a thread for observations of our birds behaviors and what people think these behaviors may mean. It might grow to be a nice resource of why our birds do the things they do. So I will start with one about Issac. Sometimes I like to show Issac things or he approaches things to investigate them. He sort of takes the front of his beak, and taps these items a few times in quick succession. He does it to cups, bottles, walls etc. What do you think he gets out of this activity? Is he trying to tell me something? The other thing that Issac does is get really excited and acts like a goof every time I am doing something that involves my head. Talking on the phone, brushing my teeth, or flossing them. He gets all nutty and sometimes starts panting and drooping his wings. Especially when I am on the phone. People can hear him panting near the phone and he is getting all lovey and rooling upsidedown in my arms and just being....really a total sweetie. As soon as I stop, he is over it. Also, if he sees my teeth, he really wants to help me out with them. I can;t let him get close, but if I am smiling, he gets excited and appears to want to clean my teeth. (Yes, they are clean...ha) What is that behavior and why during those acts.

I love to let Issac strut across the window sill and I hope for people to come by. Just the other day I captured an audience with a father and his son who loved to look at and hear issac make noises. I tell Issac to give them kisses and he does.

Gosh they are beautiful.

Saw Rio today in 3D with my daughter. Tearing up all over the place. Even the first part of the movie where Blu is following his companion, Linda, throughout her daily tasks, it reminds me of my bond with Issac and I just get so touched. Just a great...great movie for bird lovers. The expressions on the blue macaws deliver many 'awe' moments. Anyone who likes birds will love the movie. I was really tearing up at the end...but I won't spoil it. I am a super softie for birds. I think one of my favorite lines was, "Excuse me I am not a pet, I am a companion".

I had been thinking of leaving the tv angled towards his cage while I am away. Its just not in a good position. I do leave the sound of the tv on...and he hears kids pbs shows all day.

I am taking my daughter to see this too. Can't wait. I am probably more excited tahn she is. HA!

Ohh beauty marks for sure. He is being such a wonderful friend this morning.

Okay...managed to get a picture of his little red freckles. Look closely. They are very light red. (I added saturation to the picture to make it more apparant)

I find the whole nail maintenance thing to be quite difficult with Issac as well. He will also play a towel game, but it's more like...'you try anything with that towel and i am gonna bite yer a**!' He is a super sweet and nice bird, but he knows how to express himself when the time comes.

Yeah...he was sitting right by me and watching. You couldn't hear the lady on TV drink...only see her. I cracked up.

LOL...Issac wants the Wii Wand when I do this. He wants to play.

Issac makes the sound of me gulping when ever he sees me filling one of my water cups or tilting back to drink. The other night I was sitting on my couch with Issac, and the TV was on. A lady on the screen picked up a martini and started drinking it, and Issac started gulping. I told him, "Yes she is getting a drink". I found it neat that he was actually watching the people on the screen. That's all.

Yep...sounds about the same. Like freckles as someone else said too.