Gilbert is home

[Timbersmom]

LOL! I can see Gilbert peering under the door and plotting his next attention getting move.

[katana600]

He is such a fascinating and vexing little character. I try to get him to come down with me and have a floor stand down there for him and he refused to come down. If I am in the room with him upstairs he acts as though he wants no part of my attention. But, if I leave his sight, then he is doing all he can do to coax me back so he can ignore me some more. I know it is a sign that he really does feel secure with me near him, he just hasn't really established the trust. I have faith that he will. It was nice to see him trying to come find me to verify he does like me a little. Just a tiny little bit, not too much too soon. I can just hear his wheels turning "those needy humans, always needing attention." LOL. I still can not believe my good fortune to have found him. I needed a challenge and he needed to prove to me where my limits may be.

[Timbersmom]

When Timber was "mad" at me recently over a nail trimming at the vets, he did the same thing. He didn't want to step up, didn't want scratching or any contact with me, but as soon as I was out of the room he would whistle and talk until I got back in the room. then he would go back into "bird of stone" mode. They are fascinating and vexing!

[danmcq]

LOL Dee, I knew you would get a good laugh.

 

Gilbert sounds amazing connected to you and the entire household to me. But, I'll bet if you asked what he was doing peering under the door. He would deny any curiosity whatsoever about others in the household, and would say he had just plucked a nasty termite he saw down there to safe guard HIS home. Because the inferior human morons just don't pay attention to the "Small Stuff".

[katana600]

Yes, "Foolish woman, it wasn't YOU I was looking for, you just happened to be in the line of sight for the termite inspection." LOL Good one, Dan. Gilbert is still so suspicious of me, it often makes me think he really does read my thoughts. LOL. Glad I don't have the gift of hearing his. Last night he allowed a rare step up just before bed time and he was wanting to so some flight practice. He will start flapping his wings so I lift my hand higher to give him the feel that he is rising on his own power. His strength is building, of that I am sure. It may be a question of his endurance level to overcome the few gaps he still has in his wings where he is missing a few flight feathers. At least he is getting the "idea" of progressively getting closer to flight readiness. He gives me the impression of an athlete preparing to come out of retirement, pushing his limits, just testing the air currents. Lately he has been much more active inside the cage too. He hangs by one toe and twists and gyrates. He has a grim determination about it, he makes no sound whatsoever, not so much a carefree boy playing and cavorting as a prisoner marking a line on the wall for each day of his captivity and secretly building strength and digging out one more teaspoon of dirt from the tunnel to avoid detection. Gilbert is fascinating and I am sure he is thinking that he is the one studying me this whole time.

[danmcq]

It's wonderful that he did a step up for you and also got in some good wing flapping exercise. What? Of course he is studying you and using his Empathic and "Remote Viewing" abilities to track you every thought and move.

 

I suppose last night he thought you deserved a little carrot of things to come if you stay on the straight and narrow.

[Timbersmom]

OK Lulu, I have to share something with you. Over the weekend, I realized that Timber calls me "Jamie." All well in good except that my name is Karen. I didn't realize that he called me anything, but hubby was downstairs before me Saturday (we sleep on the second floor, Timber is on the first). When Timber hears me move from the bedroom to the bathroom he starts whistling and talking. I can hear the whistle but not the words. Hubby was down here and he heard him saying, "come here, come here Jamie" over and over. Well, now I know! And, it is better than "asshole" which he has called my husband several times.

 

Too bad we live so far apart. Otherwise, Jamie and Lulu could get the evil twins, Timber and Gilbert, together for a play date!

[katana600]

We have gone away from home again to help family through a serious illness. All my pets are with me and getting along splendidly. When I get an internet connection I will get caught up with you again. Gilbert and Java are spending time in my bedroom with me at my sister's home. We made a scaffolding with two tall ladders so they are high and secure from four large friendly dogs. We have gates up in the hallway and bedroom and are vigilant to keep everyone safe and none of us are taking any chances. Meanwhile Gilbert is smitten with my "little" sister as she is also quite taken with him. He has been stepping up for her and is quite thoroughly enjoying a growth experience. I put some new small toys in his large travel cage and he has been joyfully playing. He is amazing me to be so accepting and accommodating in new surroundings. He is very affectionate and requesting head scratches and has even "flown" from his cage top to get on the bed to show off for his newest "love". He is being ever so sweet and relaxed and just gets better every day.

[chelseaB]

So glad for the update!! I have been wondering about you & Gilbert. What a good boy to be so comfortable in a new environment. You have done an amazing job with him!

[Luvparrots]

Have been worrying about where you were. I hope your family gets through your challenges in good form. Watch out for those little sister always after big sister's beau! Will be looking forward to hearing more.

[danmcq]

I am sorry to hear of the illness in your family Dee.

 

I certainly appreciate your taking the time to post an update and it lets us know your ok and were not kidnapped by aliens, terrestrial or non-terrestrial.

 

It sounds like Gilbert is having a blast and coming out. I hope this aides him in being more interactive and friendly with you as well when you get back home.

[Timbersmom]

Thanks for checking in! I think we were all getting concerned about your absence. Glad to hear Gilbert (and everyone) is adapting so well to the temporary changes, and sorry to hear you have a family member who is ill! God bless.

[Ray P]

Thinking good thoughts for you and your family.

[Greywings]

It sounds like travel has some how helped him feel more secure, what a great outcome for him. All the best for your family members healing.

[katana600]

I am still out in the country without internet trying to get a little piece of the forum with a tiny little screen on my phone. We are half way through the course of eight weeks of radiation. I am driving about six hours round trip every day. Gilbert is thriving in this new environment just when I thought he might feel neglected and out of sorts. He can clearly say my sister's name. She went to work Saturday morning. I heard him calling "Good morning sweetheart". When he repeated it he hesitated after "Good Morning sweet..." Then "Marilyn ". He called her name several more times. Then he cajoled sweetly "Get Up ". She had gotten a hair cut and its the first morning she didn't stand in the hallway to blow dry her hair. He must have thought she was still in bed. He says "Mike" and lets both of them rub his head and steps up from inside his cage for both of them. He is saying many new things and is really secure and happy here. I am amazed at his new confidence. He continues to accept new toys and to try new things. I miss being home but am also feeling at home here. We should know more in a week if this treatment is helping my husband's brother. His numbers are not promising and he is gravely ill. I will be here for at least another month before even considering s visit back home but my girls and husband will be flying in for Easter. Thanks for all your caring and concern and especially for your cheers for the strides Gilbert is making.

[Ray P]

Your grey family will always stand by you and look for the best.

As far as Gilbert, When a grey comes out of the closet they swing that door wide open and come out with a bank.

[katana600]

Thanks Ray. How appropriate your words are. Gilbert learned to open his cage. Marilyn mentioned how quiet he was at dinnertime when he would usually call out to entice her to come spend time with him. She went up and called for reinforcements. He was on top of Java's cage and it wasn't pretty. She helped distract him at one end while I reached in and removed Java and closed her in another room to keep her safe. They were both really agitated. I put her cage on the floor and then Gilbert was happy to step up for me and to go back in his own cage. The latch on his cage shows evidence of him biting it as he has been practicing for a long time to learn how to get it open. I put a quick link on it now to keep him inside and safe from the dogs. I hate that he has to be inside a cage when he is free to be out at home all the time but this is a short term living arrangement and the best we can manage in the circumstances. He is really nasty about the lock on his door. He tries to bite me when he sees me put that link on his door. Last night as I put him back in his cage after a long enjoyable time out with his beloved Marilyn he surprised me by biting me as soon as I put him on his perch rather than waiting for me to close the door. He has been more agitated with company over the holiday. Even though he loves my husband and daughters, the extra commotion and changes in his schedule were disruptive. He has done so well here that we can understand his recent regression but boy howdy does that lock on his cage set him off. I have to use a pair of needle nosed pliers to put it on or take it off because he throws himself at me in a state of fury. Under normal circumstances I would avoid anything that upset him so but the safety factor with six dogs in the mix and four that are just getting to know me is too much of a risk and he is only mad at me and is sweet away from his cage so we will manage one day at a time.

[Timbersmom]

Good to "hear" from you! Timber has also learned to inflict his "I'm mad" bites when he knows the opportunity is there instead of at the time of the incident. Safety first, always, but I know it is hard for you to do knowing the distress it causes!

[katana600]

When we came to Pennsylvania in January, we packed for a week. We drove back last weekend and got a bigger cage. Gilbert is happy for the freedom. I also brought back the tall dog gates with the doors so I don't have to leap over hurdles in two spots to get in with Gilbert. I am spending time away and its been merciful that he knows and accepts my sister but he did pluck all his chest feathers when I spent four nights away when my brother in law was hospitalized. At least he was able to calm himself and stop after baring his chest and his stress disappeared when I came back. We will be coming home soon.

[judygram]

Bless his little pea picking heart, its great that you could take him with you when you are away from home but it only takes a few days for him to regress back into plucking himself again but if you are going to be home soon then hopefully things will return to normal. Poor dear has had a rough life before coming to you Dee but we have heard of his remarkable return to normalcy from the updates you have so kindly provided and I am looking forward to you being back to posting more often.

[Timbersmom]

Good to hear from you and glad Gilbert is handling things so well.

[katana600]

What a wild adventure for Gilbert. He has done remarkably well in a situation that might have stressed him to his limits at a different time in our relationship. Due to integrating our two parrots and two small dogs into a household with four really big dogs, Gilbert was in protective custody upstairs in my bedroom with two sets of safety gates to keep the big dogs away from him. Luckily the floor plan was open and we created a makeshift sewing room in the upstairs foyer so he could see us work and he could also hear us and chat with us from upstairs to downstairs. It was the perfect setup for his personality. He fell totally head-over-heels in love with my younger sister, Marilyn from the very beginning. She felt the same affection for him. She came home from work every day to go directly upstairs with him to visit and take a little nap sometimes too. Very early on, he was offering her his foot for a step up from inside his cage, which has been unheard of for me in the past year. She was a little afraid of him, but since he was asking, she took the risk and they bonded like nothing I have seen. He learned to say her name, he learned to say two new names of their dogs and he took great relish in bossing the dogs around from his high perch. He also learned to say "light on". Sometimes I would forget and about the time it was getting dark he would call out for me to come turn his light on. Once our out-of-town hospital stay was over, he quit messing with his chest feathers and they are regrowing nicely. The amazing thing is how he has come out of his shell in the past three months or so. He is climbing all over inside and outside his cage. He is playing with new toys and trying new foods and is almost like a long-term "normal" grey. Since we got home yesterday he has been climbing all over from his big cage to his travel cage, from his floor stand to walking around on the floor. Last night he "flew" from his cage twice and made it across the living room to land on the sofa next to David and was real sweet to him. He has been asking for more and more head scritches and for long periods of sustained contact. I look back at where he was just a few months ago, and this trip was very very good for Gilbert. He was even chatting away in the car on the long drive home.

[katana600]

Oh dear, I almost forgot a funny part of his stay away from home. He appears to believe David is the one who went away from us rather than the other way around. David came to visit several times but had to travel and work out of Atlanta most of the time. Since he came up to get us, Gilbert seems to blame him for everything wrong in the world. For about a week now, he will elicit a response from David by whistling and talking and right when David responds, he says disparagingly "Quiet!" He will call out Night Night and when David tells him good night, he shouts "Quiet". The best part is the nasty little satisfied chuckle he makes when he does his little verbal smackdown. He knows just what he is doing, it is really funny, especially since it is aimed at someone besides me for a change. LOL. I am over-the-moon delighted with Gilbert's new activity level and his new vocabulary and especially for his new outlook on things. He is ready to take life with gusto and vitality after a long long time of huddling and pulled up tight with fear.

[judygram]

I dare say that Gilbert couldn't have made this trip earlier on in the relationship and come away unscathed, it happened at just the right time, sorry about the reason but these things happen and Gilbert has come thru with flying colors, he really has come a long way from when you first met him and who would have believed he would be this way now, I am in awe of you Dee for you have been exactly what Gilbert needed and obviously he needed you at that point in time. I look forward to the further adventures of Gilbert and his family for we have missed the updates we were getting on a regular basis.

[Wingy]

I had been meaning to ask you. Are you still using the rescue remedy or did you stop?