The Cuppycake Song

This picture is of Java... my sweetheart. He loves to be with me wherever I am in the house. He is my commentator and the singer of the bunch! He is working hard to learn "You are my Sunshine." He gets most of it... most of the time now.

I don't know what it is about the "Cuppy Cake song" that the birds like so much, but it is one of their favorites. Sunny especially loved this song, and we used it to help her make the transition to Connie's home. Since she had to be shipped such a long way, we wanted her to feel comfortable and "at home" there immediately. So I played the Cuppycake Song for Sunny over and over in the weeks before she left. When she arrived, Connie played the same song for her and Sunny just loved it! I think it was a great way to ease her transition. I also had Connie record her voice for Sunny before she left here and I played that for her so that when she met Connie, she had the great association of hearing that voice while sitting on my arm! Sunny handled the transition like a trooper and might have without all these steps, but I am sure it helped her to feel more at ease. Whether you have a parrot or not, you will enjoy the Cuppy Cake Song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12Z6pWhM6TA

Speech is getting clearer!!

When I took out the babies this a.m. #1 hopped up on my hand and said, "Hello!" It was very clear but #1 was not satisfied. She said it over and over, experimenting with vocal quality, tone and prolongation of different sounds in the word. She ended up saying "Hello" about ten times and each time sounded different from the time before. Not to be outdone, #2 immediately started saying, "Hello," too. But in a totally different way, this baby sounded like a neighbor sticking his head in the door with a really prolonged, "Hellooooooo!" As I sit down to write this one of the two babies said, "Peek a Boo!" very clearly. I have noticed that they are the most likely to say words when they are out of the cage. Are they rewarding me for taking them out of their cage? I think our best speech lessons are when I have them sitting on my arm, they make eye contact and really concentrate. Of course, Java and Kiwi are in the background praising their efforts.

My youngest "baby" is in his new home!

The first thing I thought of this a.m. was to wonder how "Baby" is handling going off into the world and leaving behind his siblings and friends, and his "Mama Tami!" It seemed like the birds were really quiet this a.m. I am sure that they all are very aware that one of their number is gone. One has to wonder what they think. Knowing that they are social birds who live in a flock, I would guess that in the wild, the loss of one of their members is never good news! Java and Kiwi stayed close to me when I let them out, and Kiwi kept telling me that she is a "good bird!" She says that when she wants reassurance. I was personally most reassured when I got this message from Nikki this a.m.!!

"Good Morning!! The baby is doing great. He came out of the carrier last night and stepped right up and sat with me for about 45 minutes. I wanted it to be longer but I knew he was tired. He came right out to me this morning and already let me pet his break and seems pretty comfortable. He is exploring his cage as I write. When I put him in it last night he pretty much went to sleep- I don't blame him. We are still deciding on a name. It is between Tegan and Jaden I think. I will get to know his personality in the next couple of days and go from there. He truly is wonderful and I cannot wait to countinue to bond. I will pick up some hand feeding formula today. I really want to take him to work today but I am going to give him a few days to adjust. I will talk to you soon. Thank you so much for such a wonderful gift! Nikki"