Inara Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 (edited) Our beautiful companion is three years old today, and so much has changed since she came to live with us last September, after her original people put her up for sale on Craigslist. There was no doubt that she had begun her life well loved, but as she grew she became more than they had originally bargained for. When she arrived, she had been living on a southern comfort food diet (that was given to her with a lot of love), and would turn up her pretty little beak at the mere sight of fruits, vegetables, or anything that was not swimming in cheese. She now eats loads of healthy fresh foods, although her distaste for bananas in any form has remained steadfast. Not clipped, but not knowing how to fly or that her wings even belonged to her, when she first arrived -- after many games of swinging on a rope to stimulate her wings and flight instincts, then more formal training, Inara now is the Queen of Flight. She loves flying and practices twice a day for exercise, and any other times she fancies a bit of air through her feathers. This morning, she even managed to land atop the teensy flip screen of my cell phone as I was trying to snap a photo of her on her perch. Her vocabulary has grown in so many ways, that I have stopped counting the words. She chooses to talk for the most part in complete sentences and prefers chatting *with* someone rather than just to herself or just *at* someone. Inara's language use is meaningful and to the point. She asks for what she wants, and often will say what she doesn't want, like the other morning when I was standing near her as she was playing with a new toy, and she imperiously looked at me in the eye and said firmly, "Get out." Her wish was my command. (Actually her command was my command!) She absolutely detested baths and/or showers, now joyfully takes part in both, and most recently has begun to ask for showers. She uses pronouns correctly, and uses various verb tenses correctly (i.e., "I will help you cook the cookies," "Are you cooking in there?") While she would nip at Joe when she first arrived, that behavior has long since extinguished. She doesn't evidence any biting behaviors, despite having bitten one of her former humans hard enough to leave a scar. When she came to live with us, she had worn feathers off of both sides of her neck, and had worn the black off of both sides of her beak from constantly trying to get out of her cage at her former people's home. She now is happy to "go home" to her cage and will say, "Let's go home," or "I want to go home there," when she is ready to go to her cage. Once there she entertains herself or just snoozes contentedly. Inara is not a snuggler, but loves affection in the form of gentle beak rubs and neck tickles, and still loves to have me kiss the bottoms of her feet. She will laugh when she is delighted at something (like a perfect landing after flying a long distance), and is generous with kisses. She prefers a routine, and will let us know if we are straying too far from what she perceives as the schedule for the day. She remains a complete delight, sailed through the "Twos" with flying (literally) colors with just a couple grumpy weeks earlier in the spring, and is a very cherished member of our family. A day does not go by where she does not make us laugh, or melt our hearts. Thank you all, for sharing her (almost) first year with us, and looking forward to many more to come. Inara's Human Edited July 9, 2014 by Inara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytness Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Happy hatch day, Inara! What a great story about her growth since becoming a part of your life. May Inara enjoy many more hatch birthdays to come! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Happy Hatchday Inara! That's funny she likes you to kiss her toes. Greycie likes it too and I get the sense that the Queeny is holding court while her serf pays tribute when I do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Nice post and Happy Hatchday Inara. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brat Birds Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Happy Hatchday HRH!! I enjoy it when my human rubs the bottom of my feet - she has never tried kissing them. LOL Peanut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Happy hatch day! Inara is not done... not by a long shot! I do believe you are going to get those kisses. It just takes time! Bird time, is not our time. Keep doing what you are doing ( developing trust and consistency), and oneday Inara will step up and act like she has been on your shoulder for years! Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffNOK Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Wonderful to read of Inara's growth and progress. She seems to be a delightful little grey. My Gracie will be three in two weeks as well. We still have a long journey ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve 2 Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Great job Inara's Human and husband Joe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2birds Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Happy Hatchday Inara, you sound like a beautiful little bird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GC180 Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 LOL "get out"... Hilarious! It's nice to see that she's so well loved and looked after, she's just as lucky to have you as you are to have her. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inara Posted July 10, 2014 Author Share Posted July 10, 2014 Thank you for the lovely wishes everyone! HRH Inara would like to say to Greyciemae and Peanut that "kiss the foot" is the first step in training your human. They will often erroneously interpret a lifted foot as something that they call "step up," but with persistence and patience, they can be trained, and it looks as if the two of you are well on your way to having a properly trained human. She is quite impressed. JeffNOK, so fun that your Gracie and HRH are the same age, and I believe Steve2's Toulouse is also about the same age. I love the variety in personalities, and am already looking forward to what this next year brings. GC180, HRH commanded my Joe to "You go eat The Squirrel," this morning after The Squirrel had been chattering/threatening at the back deck this morning. Needless to say, request denied! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monax Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 (edited) Congratulations! I have really enjoyed hearing about Inara...she is so charming and smart! Toby, my TAG, is about 3 months away from his third birthday and we could not imagine life without him. He is not quite advanced as Inara, but he is talkative, musical, and seems to be on a roll with new phrases almost every day. We had a rough 6 months or so as he went through his petulant, rebellious "terrible twos", but he seems to have finally settled down. He has also become an excellent flyer and like Inara can execute some precision landings! Unfortunately, putting him to bed as become a 20 minute ritual as he will fly around and up the stairs to evade capture. :-) It's great that quite a few of us have Greys around the same age....good to share experiences. Edited July 11, 2014 by monax 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Happy belated hatchday Inara! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inara Posted July 11, 2014 Author Share Posted July 11, 2014 "It's great that quite a few of us have Greys around the same age....good to share experiences." Monax, I agree, it is really fun to get to know others whose fids are close to the same age. I love reading, hearing about, and watching others' also. Having only had older birds before, HRH has been a new but very welcome experience for me, and it really helps to see what others her age are up to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muse Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Happy belated hatchday! I always love hearing the heartwarming updates on the sweet little Inara! What an adorable girl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 I missed the hatch day by a few but since HRH is such a deva, I am sure she is having a hatchday week so... Happy Hatchweek Miss Inara! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 As far as bedtime... I have a suggestion! Like kids... birds will do anything to avoid it! At 745... tell your bird its " bedtime!" Always read a book to your bird. Anything toddler related, or poems. Sophie's favorite " thomas the tank engine", or poems by Shel silverstein. She couldn't resist! Consistency is key. Sophie now puts herself to bed at 745 every nite. If I am late getting home, I ask Sean to read to her. When Sean is at college and I have to work late, I have a backup sitter to come and read to Sophie. Reading a story, is very important to Sophie. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezron Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 (edited) Such a wonderful love story! Thank you for writing this! Brutus loves to have his feet kissed. We take a lot of time in the morning kissing his feet. He will stay completely still if you keep kissing his feet, so it takes a lot of time. Edited July 21, 2014 by chezron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muse Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 As far as bedtime... I have a suggestion! Like kids... birds will do anything to avoid it! At 745... tell your bird its " bedtime!" Always read a book to your bird. Anything toddler related, or poems. Sophie's favorite " thomas the tank engine", or poems by Shel silverstein. She couldn't resist! Consistency is key. Sophie now puts herself to bed at 745 every nite. If I am late getting home, I ask Sean to read to her. When Sean is at college and I have to work late, I have a backup sitter to come and read to Sophie. Reading a story, is very important to Sophie. Nancy I don't read a book to Peck, but we do have a bedtime routine. I sing him a lullaby (usually Teddy Bears' Picnic) and then I make the kissing sound. The last few nights, it's a 50/50 chance of getting a kiss or what sounds like a very loud ... breaking wind. Last night was a kiss. Hehe. Lucky me. Megan's routine is simple. She goes to bed earlier with daddy, and is on a stand in our room. I have to walk right behind her to go into the bathroom, and as I do, I stop and give her a quick scritch, and if she wants, a kiss. She has been making "the noise" (a soft 'coo') as I scritch her. She's come a long way from the bird who used to strike the bars as I walked by coming to bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inara Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 Such a wonderful love story! Thank you for writing this! Brutus loves to have his feet kissed. We take a lot of time in the morning kissing his feet. He will stay completely still if you keep kissing his feet, so it takes a lot of time. Yes, they do seem to know who is the regal one in the house and whom is the servant. Hahah Nancy, and Muse, I agree that having a routine before bed is a good thing. HRH responds well to having a good daily rhythm that is somewhat predictable. I keep it flexible enough so that she doesn't freak out if we're not home during supper time, or if I have to leave for the day, etc. but all in all she has a rhythm that is pretty predictable and that she can feel secure within. I also continue to without fail, give her a great treat whenever she goes "home," so that it is always a pleasure. If I walk with her to her home and she notices that I am not also carrying a little piece of grape, or nut, or what have you, she will look me in the eye and say, "Go get the cookie, you." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Inara... LOL! You better get that cookie! AWESOME! Everyone does something different that works for them as a family.There is no right or wrong way. We figure out what works for our birds. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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