It's Michael's last week of summer vacation. I feel a bit sad that it's over and we didn't get to spend many Mommy/son days together. We did go on a couple of trips, but usually I take some random days off to spend with him. I had got my tonsils removed back in May, so it used up most of vacation days. I accumulate days off each month, so I'm trying to build them back up so I can take his school vacations with him. It will be a big test for our baby grey today. Michael goes to my Mom's on Mondays, so we have to leave extra early and Dave and Michael get home late.
I didn't have much time to visit with baby grey this morning. Yes, I'm still calling him baby grey because we haven't decided on a name yet. I wanted to name him Pascal. Pascal was a mathmetician and it was also the first computer language that I learned. Those are both important attributes to a computer programmer. Dave and Michael started calling him Timmy because he's a Timgo. I find that pretty unoriginal. Dave said he wasn't sure he liked that name. I can only picture Timmy from South Park, the handicapped boy who yells out his own name as his only communication. Michael also liked the name Explorer. I'm not sure that the bird would ever be able to say his own name if we name his that.
Anyway, I sat on the floor a little bit this morning talking to baby grey. I made sure he had water and food and gave him some fruit for the day. He seemed disappointed that I wasn't opening the door for him. At least it seemed that way, but maybe it was just me feeling a little bad about leaving my baby in his cage all day. It's funny that pets bring out a lot of the same feelings that having a child do; lots of guilt and questioning yourself, but if you put effort into it you receive lots of love and joy too. He does have a very large cage–I didn't scrimp on that–so he has plenty of room and toys to hopefully keep himself happy for a day. Besides, after being so nippy yesterday, I think a little time alone might do him good.
I had researched last night for an avian veterinarian. Luckily, I found one not too far from home. I called when I got to work today and made a new pet appointment for tomorrow night at 6pm. The receptionist seemed almost apologetic for the late appointment time, but it was perfect for me. I want to make sure that we know a vet in case of emergency. I don't expect anything bad to show up on tests, but I'll do what they think. I also think that I'll have baby grey DNA sexed to make sure he's a boy. Not that it really matters if he's a boy or girl, but if "little boy" lays an egg in 3 or 4 years, it would be bizarre! I also think that definitely knowing the sex might help us interprete his behavior as he goes through adolescence. I'm sure the parrot that we have now will be somewhat different from the adult parrot that he will become.
When I got home from work, Dave already had the parrot out of the cage and eating snacks. He seemed like a happy boy. My nephew Justin had come over to check him out, so I let him hold him for a little bit. After we took Justin home, I took grey and sat on the couch and petted him. He sat with me for over half an hour. That was pretty good and such a nice change from the day before. I hope he'll continue to warm up to us. I had forgotten how much I missed having a bird.