Gilbert is home

[katana600]

How funny, I enjoyed your vision of our girl. I do think Cajun is a fusion of French as well as other cultural influences. That's our girl. There is no doubt she knows her special no no word is an attention getter. The first time we heard it, my husband and daughter were not as well versed in the grey persuasion and unfortunately let her in on the shock element. Since then, there is no doubt in my mind that she can read body language and has telepathy to "know" that even though they leave the room before they grin at her cheeky and cunning placement of that one word. Since then I have advised them that in time, we will have grandchildren and they will never be able to chastise those grandbabies when they learn from the parrot because they are part of the reinforcement and I have a long memory. LOL. Since that first moment of saying David's name, she has said it over and over again and it is used with the same emphasis and inflection that I am convinced she believes it is a new naughty word. Hahahaha. She was silent all day yesterday but when he came in about nine, he was talking with me in the kitchen and she shouted his name five or six times. We did celebrate wildly, she said it, I said it and she said it more. He came right in and gave her pine nuts and little by little they are becoming more smitten.

[kittykittykitty]

I am so very thrilled with you!

[katana600]

There are many joys of having an older rehomed parrot. Progress is measured in grey time and small miracles evolve all the time. She opens up and tells me the story of her past with phrases and announcements and then... she tells stories back to me of who we are as well. LOL. In recent weeks when she has been ornery and withdrawn, I went back to the beginning and thought of things that we had tried and were worth another attempt. One favorite is for her to share my morning oatmeal. She is a particular little pearl of her origins. She has taught me that it has to be just right. LOL. Maybe her name should be Goldilocks. We have it so "right" now that she is making great strides forward again. Her oatmeal has to be the right kind, the right consistency and the right temperature. The presentation has to be just the way she likes it to draw her out to the top of her door. It has to be stirred and a fresh spoonful every time. I am not permitted to speak. LOL. I love watching her tilt her head to use her lower mandible to scoop out a bite like a steamshovel clearing a landscape. She makes a particular breathy "haa" sound and the sound of her gulping and grinding with her tongue on the roof of her beak is satisfying. Her eyes pin like I have never seen them. In the morning she starts making the beep of the microwave as her way of getting excited about the sharing to come. She has a three beep signal of approval. Although I wouldn't risk transferring germs to her, I have pretended I was going to have a bite with her as a sharing gesture and she wants no part of that. LOL. What a complex study she has become. Once she finishes and walks away, I get to finish the rest of the bowl. In all the time we have enjoyed her company, this little morning ritual we share has helped me to see her making strides and showing great pleasure in the process. Glad she finally has taught me how to "do it right". While I am in the kitchen preparing it, taking the temperature to get it to 120-125 she is in the background encouraging me along... "hey Lulu" mixed in with a couple "Maaaa" calls to hurry me along and not to forget it while it cools. That breathy little "haaa" sound is almost like an "ahh" but I can feel her breath across the spoon. At first I started this because I have read of others giving comfort to an adult parrot that beckons sweet memories of their infancy and the trust in the "mother" feeding them. But lately I have been perceiving this is more for me to look at her for just a few moments as an adorable little chick she started out being with such potential and eagerness for her humans. Whatever is the glimmer of truth between us, she is responding in other ways throughout the day, so this has been a particular good strategy that she refused earlier in our relationship that now she is ready to move forward just a smidgen.

[Timbersmom]

Yes, things always have to be just "right!" Reminds me of the Felix posts from the Everythingbirds website.

[katana600]

Another joy of a rehomed parrot is the sounds she makes and keeps me wondering what jogged her memory and where she has been. Yesterday she started whistling a tune from the old Disney Robin Hood videos. Later she was making a chirping parrot sound that I have never heard before. We fostered a cockatiel for five months almost five years ago and Java will mimic his chirps, then Miss Gilbert will return them with amplified volume. The new one was the sweetest sound, not quite the same as a cockatiel, a happy baby parrot chirrup. Its so nice to have Gil return to her happy place. She has been really mushy with us, asking for a lot of head rubs and being warm and soft again. She is on her fifth roll of paper tape in a week. Some she will unwind and decorate like lace. Others she chews through to the core more like the pressed paper birdy bagels. It makes me smile to hear her over there rustling, munching and playing in the messy little world of her own creation. I am watching closely for nesting behavior and that isn't what she is doing. My little one is just playing cheerfully. I offer her different "new" toys from the big cupboard full of my wishful thinking and she is taking more things in stride and choosing new small foot toys to add to her collection. I put my offerings down low on a footstool outside her cage and she will climb down there and take them. Its so much fun to watch and see the ones she flings to the floor in dismissal and others she becomes interested enough to carry back to the cage top with great efforts. She has come such a long way. I can take her regressions and withdrawals in stride because if we just wait it out and watch, she has a burst of new and better strategies after she rests and sorts things out for herself. My kids loved that Robin Hood video and Miss Gilbert is taking me to her happy place and its fun for me too.

[Ray P]

Dee it`s not just fun for you, It`s fun for all of us.

Miss Gilbert is our rescue poster child.

[Inara]

So nice to catch up with Miss G, this evening. Your oatmeal time is just priceless, and through your description I could envision the entire exchange. How fantastico that your girl is loving to say David's name! What excitement that must bring each time!

 

The sounds of the past really are very fascinating, aren't they? My wild caught (and very seriously rescued) CAG, Lestat had a repertoire of spooky hoots and growls that never failed to bring to my mind visions of creatures that roamed the jungle. He also burst out counting like the Count from Sesame Street one day out of nowhere, so I knew that the then teenagers of his first home, had watched SStreet as children. He also had been kept in a kitchen (no doubt that and the neglect and torment he suffered contributed to his lifelong respiratory issues) and would mumble from time to time, "The pasta is boiling over." This from a guy who was said to have never spoken during his entire life with them.

 

The first week HRH Inara was with us, she looked my Joe dead in the eye one night at the dinner table and said clear as a bell, "You @ss." This certainly gave us a peek into her first family's private life. She has never said it since, being so young and it being a phrase neither of us has ever had an occasion to use.

 

I so enjoy the mysterious Miss G, and find her more enchanting with each passing post.

[katana600]

After the recent storm of silence, Miss Gilbert is coming out! I mean literally. Yesterday was the first real nice dinner I was preparing in weeks due to lots of things. But, I was surprising my hubby with his birthday favorite of shrimp etoufee even though it is not near his birthday. I made the brown rice. I was cutting up the good veggies and Gilbert was hooting, singing, whistling and I was laughing and talking to her. She can see me in the kitchen from her cage but it never fails when I am out there she gets vocal and happy. Then, I noticed the silence. I turned to go to her and see what she was getting into on top of her cage and to my surprise she was already on the floor just around the corner from the kitchen island. She had gotten down her ladder and came to me! She happily allowed me to lift her to the counter and was content to stand very very quietly watching me work a few feet away on the island. In a short time, she was asking to go back. I stopped and let her look at all the array of chopped goods and she was not interested. As luck would have it, hubby was delayed at work until about nine. We fixed our plates, Java on my shoulder and Gil on her cage. I stopped and offered her some plain brown rice that was set aside just for her. Much to my surprise she cheerfully ran right out to the edge of the door, swaying and begging for a bite. She wasn't impressed with the plain rice but it was endearing to watch her gulp a couple of beakfuls. After I sat at a tray to eat a bite, Java suddenly ran down my arm, quick as a wink, she pinched a whole shrimp from my bowl. I didn't use a lot of seasoning and the shrimp was steamed and still on top of the sauce so I let her have it. I use that term lightly, I don't think I could have retrieved it if I thought of it. I did take her back to her cage and as I passed Gil, she leaned out as far as she could trying to get a bite for herself. She is our Cajun pearl, after all. I rinsed a piece of shrimp and offered it to her and she ate like a castaway on a deserted island. My heaven's I have never seen such a thing. This morning, I was a little slow coming out thinking they two of them might have turned pink like flamingoes on a shrimp diet. Something has definitely clicked with Miss G-girl and she is open to more involvement. She was a wildchild yesterday with the paper tape. I have taken a couple photos, will try to get them from the phone to the forum. I feel like the sun is shining and this little girl is opening her petals and unfurling her personality for her moment of grace. (And please Dear Lord let it be grace and not the unleashing of a Tasmanian devil all at once). This has been a day of dreams coming to fruition. I do take the occasional unladylike outbursts in stride. She has one pretty bad go-to word and has been also calling out "idiot" a few times lately. The other sweet and wonderful things she will say far outnumber her "Turrette's-like" indescretions. Oh how I love these upturns Miss Gilbert's progress.

[Ray P]

Miss. G`s train has been a long time coming , but it`s roaring into the station now.

[katana600]

It is amazing when she starts taking a step forward. Early on, it would have been impossible to measure, but with every tiny increment of trust or courage or whatever moves her there is a greater potential on the next attempt. For a couple of weeks, I have seen a thaw in her shroud of icy behavior. She is shedding her thick protective garments and seeking the warmth of the sun. After a couple of forays into the kitchen in as many weeks, she is starting to cautiously and slowly climb down her ladder to the floor. Sometimes she stays with a five foot radius, then she is moved to return up the ladder mysteriously, silently and with an abundance of caution. Once she gets back up there she stands perfectly still for hours at a time. It seems to be her way of processing and regaining her composure. I have read about flight/fight adrenaline rush and how some instincts include a third option of freezing in place to avoid detection by a predator. I also saw a nature program about antelope. If one has a close call with a lion, it will lie still and then it will tremble tremendously. The guide said, theTh antelopes that do not shake, die. The fear is just too much. Interestingly enough, often what I was reading as her chest shaking with excitement of some sort... usually not good, it could be just the aftereffect of going into some scary territory for her. Regardless, we see less and less of that frozen behavior and each brave little move she takes forward helps for the next time. Another really great benefit of her climbing off her cage is she will step up to either of us from any other place in the house. She is even seeking out a "lift" back to her cage. She also has been allowing me to carry her from room to room, out to the screened porch and has had a view of every spot on the main floor. She has gotten brave enough for me to lift my hand high in the air and cheer for her to flap flap flap gentle descent. Three times yesterday, she flapped so hard, she released her grip from my hand. My husband aptly pointed out, she isn't actually "flying" but she is descending more slowly and for greater distances. Regardless of what we might call it, Miss Gilbert is broadening her horizons. She also has had a flurry of activity on the playtop. The way I see it, the greater the MESS in and around her cage, the greater our success in bringing her to a happier place. I love her mess just a little too much, perhaps. LOL.

[katana600]

[Ray P]

OH my, I think she has it down to a science.

 

I think she is normal.

[katana600]

This was at the pinnacle of her paper tearing campaign. She made a mound of paper and then she and Java stood on the edge of their cage tops, swayed and talked smack to each other. Things are changing between them too. Java pretty much stays on her own cage and flies to be with me now. Miss Gilbert can climb to the floor and back up her cage, but not up Java's. The more Gil plays and finds things on her own cage the less Java will bother her. It works pretty well. Java doesn't go to the floor and Gil can't fly, so for now we have the house covered from top to bottom. Miss Gilbert got into a little pout today when I cleaned up her mess, but when I got out some more toys for her playtop, she forgot about it and played with a foraging toy. I count it as a great accomplishment for my husband to grumble to Gil about her mess. I have waited so long for this, I have to admit I left it for a couple of days.

[Acappella]

Yep, that's a mess. I know what it's like to finally see that kind of mess when you inherit a bird that doesn't know how to play. You go Gil girl.

[katana600]

I so thoroughly enjoyed her new fascination and energy that I left it a little longer, mainly because I didn't want to hinder her progress. The last photo with all the paper on the mat in front of her cage was her response to me picking up some of the strands from the seed catcher around the outside of her cage and some draped inside her cage. I was taking advantage of her being topside. Her response was to drag her paper and fling it to the floor. She certainly is showing personality plus. In my cleaning I tried moving in a previously favored foraging toy. Rather than putting inside in a familiar place, I changed the direction from a merry-go-round horizontal installation to a ferris-wheel upright. She had that thing emptied of treats in ten minutes. Now she stands on the rail and spins it, opens and closes the doors on it and gives it a workout. She likes the creak it makes. Since she has accepted the paper tape, that's what I am using to wrap up some almonds and pine nuts to encourage her to be more curious. Playing is great, but the renewed interest in coming off her cage and especially to use her new ladder is real progress. Today she must have heard you cheering her on. I had a contractor in the house and he got to hear her so go Gil girrrrl, pretty girl. Pretty sweet, I love it.

[kittykittykitty]

I love it, too.

[katana600]

What lovely changes we are enjoying. Along with the paper and the acrylic puzzle toys, she has taken an interest in the birdie kabob balsa-like chew toys. She has had one in and out of her cage for more than a year and has steadfastly maneuvered around it, giving it wide berth. She chewed it up in one sitting a day or so ago, I put in a new one, and another new one when that one was destroyed. She stacks pieces in her water dish which she usually doesn't "play" in. I find it so endearing, but there is just a moment when I think she may be trying out new building materials and techniques to plot her strategy for escape or to build up a fortress to keep me at bay. Or perhaps if the oatmeal is not forthcoming, she is making spitballs to launch in my general direction. LOL. The paper lace "spanish moss" look is back with loops of tattered paper hanging from above. I don't know, maybe she likes that haunted house look. She also has been putting some interesting words together. She quickly accepted the gender designation but backtracked a little and seemed confused so I have dropped it and will let her sort through it at her own pace. She used to sing out "Gilbert's a good boy" in a lilting sing song. She would also say "night night sweet boy" with a real emphasis on the boy. She stops herself in the middle and seems to think about it. She starts Gilbert's a good b... and then says good Gilgirl. Night night Gil.... go Gilgirl. Sweet boy has become Sweet Gil pretty girl. The funny thing is when she says boy, she has a ladies voice that sounds sweet and like a song. When she says Pretty Girl or Gilgirl it is a raspy gravelly kinda spooky tone. Time will tell and she will sort through all permutations and come to terms with new things.

[katana600]

We have some big changes in the works. We had some excitement around here when high winds came through and toppled a 40 foot pine tree along the driveway. Luckily it fell right between the car and the garage doors and a contractor came and took it out the same day. He came back to remove four more that were in danger after two spit. So, with the noise and crashing Miss Gilbert was in a fuss. Now that she had a quiet day to think it through she wants to go check out the new look. We put a dog crate in the living room to contain them while new people were coming and going from the house. She came off her cage this morning while David was sitting on the floor tossing a ball for the dog. Gil made her way across the living room and onto the dog crate. It looks a lot like her travel cage. She looked a little nervous but did not want a "rescue" to get back to her cage. Now, she is preening and relaxed even though the dogs are running and chasing a ball near her. Just watching her look ever so much like a normal grey surveying her kingdom, I am sure we are fast tracking on that positive path Greywings mentioned.

[Inara]

Miss GG is going to be wearing a matched set of Wonder Woman bracelets next, to go with her pearls! It's just so heartwarming to read of her daily adventures and how much fun she is having. She sure deserves it, and so do you.

[Greywings]

Well I think she has gotten her Masters certification in paper shredding and is moving on the gender designation and plans to run the household her way, yes all very positive!

Edited March 17, 2014 by Greywings

[birdhouse]

Or perhaps if the oatmeal is not forthcoming, she is making spitballs to launch in my general direction. LOL.

 

Oh, but you think you're joking...! So it would probably surprise you to learn how long it took me to stop Phenix from using the poor dogs as target practice. Not as much fun as it sounds, surprisingly.:eek:

 

She quickly accepted the gender designation but backtracked a little and seemed confused so I have dropped it and will let her sort through it at her own pace. She used to sing out "Gilbert's a good boy" in a lilting sing song. She would also say "night night sweet boy" with a real emphasis on the boy. She stops herself in the middle and seems to think about it.

 

Phenix also did the same thing where he seemed to get it right away, then would kind of slip back into old habits once in a while. He was "confused" for maybe 5 months or so & then it really petered out a lot. But it was probably the better part of a year before totally stopped referring to himself in any kind of feminine gender at all.

 

He'd also say things like, "Phenix is a good birl!" for a while. Something to watch him change & adapt the linguistics. Pretty amazing, really.

[katana600]

It seems like forever we could clean Gil's cage by putting one paper towel under the spot she would stand in. Now it was the highlight of my weekend to hear my husband asking her what's with this mess? Now we have to sweep around her cage twice a day and she is flinging things three or four feet out. She got out and about again yesterday and made a beeline to that wooden chest. I have moved it in the living room twice and she knows right where it is even when I drape a quilt over it. I am letting her play her game but I really don't care if she shreds it to bits if it is one of those enrichment things that draws her out just a bit more. It's the funniest thing when she climbs down off the cage, down her ladder and then when she is done she quietly goes back and returns. She reminds me of a hobo on the train tracks, just sliding in and out, not attracting any attention to herself. David likes it when he hears her outside the bedroom doorway. She has taken to hanging onto the side of her cage, peering around the corner and telling him "Hey" as a greeting and "Whatter ya doin' down there?". I am actually watching for the day when Miss Gilbert takes a notice of her power over the dogs. Luckily they can jump up on the furniture to escape her, so far. There is just no limit to what this girl is going to do as she evolves and becomes the head of the household.

[kittykittykitty]

I think she is already! Head of the house, that is.

[katana600]

She is my leader, I watch for any opportunity to let her suggest the next move. We made another huge step forward. When she splashed in her water dish, I quickly took that as an offer for a mist shower. For the first time ever she didn't squawk, growl or wig out with a gentle spray. She leaned forward and looked ever so much like she may take a chunk out of me but she just beaked the spray nozzle and playfully tried biting the water coming out. Woohoo! She is wanting to be beautiful for spring. First willing shower in more than three years. I can barely believe it myself. Every day when she rustles around with her paper draping and playing with toys I feel a little squeal of my own trying to escape. She is playing! She is whistling happy songs and she will soon be ready for her debutante ball.

[kittykittykitty]

After everything you experienced with your other babies and the grey time and love and patience with this little darling you deserve every beautiful, precious moment. I am so absolutely thrilled with you!