MarcusCAG

Congratulations! What a wonderful proposal, and all the best to you.

Zak is a beautiful bird... Thanks for sharing the pics and letting us know how you've both been.

Hi everyone, I know I haven't been around here recently, but the flock's fine and quite feisty these days, and Marcus in particular has been an extra-good boy. We've had more non-family company in the past week that I wonder if he's ever seen before (or at least been a part of considering his former situation, instead of just a relative ornament in a cage), and he's been on his best behavior and giggled to everyone's delight and mumbled a few things and barked like a dog. He stepped up on command and even let his tail be stroked by, to him, a complete stranger. Such a good boy! I also wanted to share with you all that a week or so ago, Marcus said his first "food word" aside from the dreaded french fry that he's been attaching to anything and everything edible. I baked some squash for a pie and offered him some when it was cooled, which he began eating with great relish! He was perching on my forearm in the kitchen then and when I picked up some more squash and asked him if he wanted it, in a funny little voice he said, "Squash!" My husband and I both cheered and cooed over him a ton for that and, unfortunately, it hasn't seemed to open any figurative doors since that episode--because we're back to french fry again whenever he wants to tell us he's hungry (as opposed to his occasional "Want some!"). But at least we know now that he has made the distinction in his mind that other food items can be called other names... The relatively big thing that I wanted to share with everyone, though, took place back in November before I went to visit my parents out-of-state. My one friend's brother had sadly died after a long illness, and I was talking to her on the phone the afternoon before I left while Marcus hung out on his playgym. Afterward, I started cleaning the house and prepping things for my being away. At one point, Marcus asked me very clearly, "What is die?" So he was listening in on the conversation and apparently wanted to know what we had really been talking about! I tried to explain it as best I could without scaring him (because I was just going to be leaving the next day, and I didn't want him to think maybe I had died or something, being gone) and it seemed to go over well. But I was really tickled to hear him ask that, as was my husband when I told him about it. Anyway, so that's our little update for today--I just hope you and all of your birdies have been doing well, too!

This scenario sounds so raw and exciting for you... how are the eggs doing? How are your Greys? I hope everything is going well.

I love the "pot dish" picture, he's gorgeous.

It is so beautiful that you are able to be such a comfort for him now. Twelve years, poor baby... I am so glad to hear that Roscoe is opening up to you so much now, more and more, Gwen, that is just so wonderful.

Mike, I am so sorry to hear about this!! Sometimes accidents do happen, and I can tell how sad and frustrated you are feeling right now. Oliver loves you very much from what you've shared with us, and he does sound like a bright boy; perhaps someone else has found him already and he is still desiring very much to be home with you, too? Just keep putting up your signs and making your calls, you never know when someone might see them and have the tip to his whereabouts you're just longing to hear. And, please, if I may say so, try not to let the alcohol be too much of a crutch for you during this difficult time. If your boy is still out there needing your help, you need to be as clear-headed as you can be to rescue him as circumstances dictate. Know all of us here are thinking of you and your wife right now...

Scene: Me sitting on the couch with a book I've been wanting to read for a while, Marcus up on his swing above and behind me, my hubby across the house and showering in the bathroom. Marcus is starting up with his "Ross?... Ross!" bit that has become oh-so familiar in our home whenever my husband gets home from work. Apparently, Marcus decides that he is being ignored and chooses to up the ante. He starts making wonderfully irritating, loud knife-on-cutting-board sounds. Me: Marcus! I'm reading a book! Marcus: Well, you could sto-op! ...I couldn't help but laugh when he said that!! What a brat!

And that's what's important, isn't it? You're already a great daddy to your little girl... don't let anyone try to convince you otherwise.

I'm sorry I don't have anything helpful to add but I just wanted to say that I'm sorry you and Betsy are going through this turmoil right now. She sounds like a fighter, though, and I sincerely hope you find the answers that you need soon.

I know, this might be an odd post (and maybe someone else has brought this book up here already), but I just got off the phone with my mom and she's reading this book that's apparently kind of a cookbook/essay book by a woman named Robin Mather. The premise is that she got divorced and laid off in a single week (!) and so ended up moving to Michigan, where she cooked great dishes three times a day on $40 a week. Anyway, the reason I'm bringing this up is because my mom said that this woman has an African Grey parrot and has little stories about it in the book, interspersed with her recipes and such. Soooo... I just thought I'd share in case anyone here with a culinary bent wants to read some Grey stories while they're exploring a new cookbook!

I'm so glad you and Roscoe enjoyed whichever Marcus videos I've posted that you watched together... And I think that's so sweet that Roscoe said that, Marcus really likes watching videos of other Greys online, too! In this particular video, Dr. Pepperberg didn't tap on Griffin's beak. She snapped her fingers and he twitched his head whenever she made the sound... then he apparently counted the different 'snaps' in his mind and supplied the correct answer at the end: "Four." I have seen videos where she was training Alex and she would kind of push the object toward him so he could feel what it was with his beak; the one I'm thinking of in particular was with Alan Ada (I think that's his name) and it involved learning how to say the word "spoon". By the end of the video, Alex was saying "Ssss... Nnnn!" for the object. I don't think Dr. Pepperberg was tapping on his beak per se as a training technique there, she was just allowing Alex to touch the spoon for reference. But I definitely agree that it wouldn't be a good thing for someone to use such a technique as tapping on the beak to try and dominate their parrot, and/or get a reaction out of them. You never know what might hurt them physically if not simply distance them emotionally on some level. I'm glad Phenix and Charm liked the video so much! And I hopefully will get back on track and dust off the camera more often, and shoot some more 'birdie videos' around here--I've been pretty busy lately, I've unfortunately fallen behind with that sort of thing. And JeffNOK, Ray P, kave70: thank you for your sweet comments too! (And Karen, I'm just happy that Sam seemed to enjoy Marcus' goofy antics, too, even if he didn't say anything to you to that effect. Goodness, I personally was hoping Marcus would actually talk a little more during my bit of Candid Camera, but he didn't--he just produced sweet and silly whistles and things. Ah, well. He was having fun, which is what really matters!)

Congratulations! That's wonderful news!! And, forgive me, please, I'd like to share an illustration here with you since it suddenly popped into the front of my mind after reading your post. (I'm a PT and came across this concept once in one of the fitness forums I used to frequent--obviously it made an impression! But I think it can be applied here, too.) Sometimes when people want to lose weight/change their physique, they are gung-ho when they start their new diet plan and/or exercise program. But so often when they look in the mirror in the mornings, not much seems to have changed from the day before. It can be discouraging! So someone brought out that such a scenario can be compared to a big roll of paper towels. Each day you rip off one sheet. At first, it's like--so what? There is no apparent change to the roll. But each day, little by little, the sheets come off of the roll. And suddenly, a few weeks later, you look at the roll of paper towels and it's half the size it used to be! So even though things seem so insignificant sometimes, whether they be paper towel sheets ripped off, unwanted pounds of bodyfat shed, or the actions belying the tentative new trust of an animal friend over time they really add up to big steps forward. And I'm just so happy to hear that you and Sam have taken one big step forward together.

Congrats on reaching this new milestone together! I can 'hear' your happiness in your words.

Thankfully, Marcus isn't a plucker but partially due to chezron's suggestions, too I've been making the effort to take Marcus out in his little carrier on sunnier days and let him get a few minutes of unadulterated sunshine. He really seems to enjoy it very much. I'm sure whenever you are able to take Gilbert outside, he will also enjoy it. I wonder sometimes at the things they (our parrots) must notice that completely pass us by... It sounds like Gilbert was really a hit with your quilting friends. He must truly be a real entertainer!

That is neat how Missy is also the same age as Ella-Rose. I am so glad for the joy you all must be feeling with your Missy in your home now.

Oh, and Val I did go in the birdroom and tell Marcus that "a Grey parrot name Phenix likes Marcus!" He got a little ruffly-fluffy.

Val, I'm sorry about the volume! I tried to keep my voice low because I knew it would probably be loud in the video, but I was hoping to prompt Marcus to actually talk a little. Whenever he gets into one of his "Dahlia/Dahli" things, he'll often continue with "Come here!" and "Go lay down!" and--if he's really feeling 'bossy'--a few rounds of "Stop it! Go!... Go!" and such. But, alas, not today. Your Charm probably was hearing Tybalt, if it wasn't Bunsen (who was in the room with Marcus). Tybalt is the little whistling screecher in the deep background... I don't know if Beaker really was audible in this video, actually. How unusual! And Dan: Regarding the head-snapping thing... honestly, I think that might have been due to an influence of one of the YouTube videos Marcus and I watched together yesterday. He was on my shoulder at the computer and so I pulled up some clips of Alex and company, and in one of them Dr. Pepperberg snapped for Griffin to add up and count, which he did at the end of the sequence, and each time he heard the snapping sound, Griffin would shake his head rather like that. Marcus seemed very interested in that part of the video. So I think it maybe made an impression on him and he was imitating that in his own way, for whatever reason. (???) That's kind of what came to my mind, at least, when I saw Marcus do that (I could be quite wrong, though). I've never seen him do that before, not the shaking head with the snapping sound, anyway... I found it a bit odd to watch, which is why I asked him if he was okay or whatever it was I said in the video.

Today I managed to get out the video camera and turn it on without Marcus noticing, and then I hid behind the wall in the kitchen and was able to shoot this video of him. It's longer, about seven minutes; he's just being a little goofy up on his Boing and he whistles waaay more in this clip than normal, but he's pretty cute... I think, haha. Anyway, just thought I'd share!

Isaac is a gorgeous boy.

I read at another parrot forum that a nice recipe for cleaning/dusting wood furniture is about a cup of white vinegar with a couple teaspoons of olive oil mixed in a spray bottle filled to about the top with water. Then you just shake it up and go! (They did say you could add a drop or two of lemon essential oil to make it smell like one of the "name-brands".) Anyway, I imagine you could make that recipe in bulk and use it on your wooden floors, too, sans the essential oil...

Jon is just too cute for words!

That is a really excellent idea, Dee, thank you for sharing that... I need to start doing something similar whenever I visit here and Marcus is out. He loves the computer anyway, maybe if I show him pics of all your Greys and everything he'll start asking to visit here, himself!!