i can't believe it's already been a week since ivy came home! it feels like it just happened yesterday. i really think she is starting to settle in and feel comfortable with her surroundings. she seems to be falling into our daily routine with us, and she has even started gaining a small bit of weight back over the past few days.

on food...she has been having baby food in the morning with mashed up harrison's pellets mixed in. sometimes some fresh banana if i can get her to eat it. as my husband says, only on the ODD days of the week i've offered pellets in her cage, but she hasn't touched those. one night, i sat with her on the couch and hand fed her some pellets. she ground through a good number of them, and think she might have actually ingested some of it! she seems to like the taste of it, so i am pretty happy with the progress on that so far.

she isn't to interested in her dry fruit/nut mix. she will play with some of it in her beak but drop most, if not all, of it to the cage floor. but oh, she is sure to eat every crumb of her mac nuts! i've been giving her about 6 a day right now, unshelled. she still has a pretty hard time cracking them herself, and usually just ends up gnawing on the shell while the nut lays at the cage floor. she doesn't seem to like almonds. brazil nuts sometimes.

fresh foods? she looks at me as though i have lost my mind! she's turned her beak up to coconut, mango, pomegranate (she was actually scared of this one!), kale, carrots, and broccoli. cooked pasta she will mash up in her mouth and drop. i have a sweet potato i want to try, as well as making a veggie mash. she is one picky eater!

for dinner, i try giving her pasta or fresh veggies fruits. and after about 10 minutes of trying to get her to eat it, i give her some baby food and then try again. not having a whole lot of luck, but at least she is getting something in her. i've been giving her a small amount of thick formula at night (in a small bowl), and she eats that right up, no questions asked.

as i mentioned before, i mash up pellets to put in her baby food and she does eat them that way. but any other tips on getting her onto some more solid foods? i've tried eating her food and making yummy sounds (even with the pellets, yuck!), letting her eat off a plate at the dinner table, letting her eat her food off my plate...she just seems like she couldn't care less! i don't mind doing this for now at all, but she very well can't eat baby food out of a spoon for the rest of her life! i really don't want her to get (overly) spoiled.

on flying/behavior...it makes me happy that ivy can fly, she really seems to enjoy it. however, any time i leave her sight, she will attempt to fly to me and we just can't have this. often, she lands atop the crown moulding, which we cannot have either. i always remove her immediately and tell her "off limits". but once i put her on her playgym and step away, she is back up there again. i know things like this will take time of course, and it's only been a week. but any tips here on keeping her off certain places?

also, she seems a bit too overly needy of me. and again, while that is ok for a little while to a degree, i certainly don't want this to grow into an adult behavior where she screams for me every time she loses sight of me or tries to fly everywhere i go. i want her to feel confident that i will return. right now, the only way i can find to help this along is to have her in her cage and be about doing my chores. i will stop by her cage every so often when she is being quiet to tell her what a good girl she is. tips?

she is really excellent about quieting down at night and going to sleep. she is very sweet and gentle, not nippy in the least. she loves being cuddled and so far seems to love everyone. she likes toys well enough, but will stop instantly if she knows she can get a snuggle. she seems to have a hard time balancing when it comes to foot toys, cracking nuts, or anything where she has to balance on one foot. she drops everything unless she is on the couch or floor...well, i guess she still drops it there too but it's easier to pick right back up.

also, she wing "flips" a lot, almost constantly sometimes...often accompanied by low little squawks. much of the time, she doesn't perch upright but sort of hunches over, like she is about to start begging. it seems to be just baby behavior, though. she is still very very young.

i am so happy ivy is in my life, she is an amazing girl. my husband and i went out together today for the first time since ivy came home. up until now, at least one of us has been home with her. it was a bit unnerving at first, to know she was "home alone". but i also knew she was safe, and this was confirmed when we came home a few hours later.

photos, left to right....the crown moulding incident : take 5, ivy loves her plastic links, "harrison's is made of peeeopleeeee!" (ugh, sorry! bad!), "geez mom, not in front of the camera!!"

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Emily what a great update. Your detailed analysis of Ivy gives great insight into your affection for her. It's very good to see that.
I could understand your concerns. I'm sure some of that will pass as she gets older. But, I'm curious how the 24-7 snuggle battle will go. As much as I'd love a good snuggle with a feather, eventually that'd be a problem if it became a necessary action.
Save the moulding!! hahaa
You're doing great, keep us posted,
Mark

Ivy looks so soft and cuddly. You are so lucky to have her.

Good update. You so lucky to have her.

I cannot get over how beautiful Ivy is, and she looks like such a sweetheart. I love updates on her.

Keep em comin Emily!

I love the pix. The one of her spitting out pellets made me laugh :-).

As I recall, she's only 6 months old, right? She's just a babe--she needs those snuggles to feel safe in her new surroundings. I'm guessing that she'll become less needy over time as she learns that your place is home, and a safe place to hang.

As for the whole thing with the molding--if you figure out how to keep them off places they don't belong, short of clipping wings or caging, be sure to let me know, eh? I have to watch the "fighter pilots" like a hawk around here. If they think they can get away with anything, even for a moment, they're sure as heck gonna give it a try!

Ruby says "come on, let her have the molding!" The photos and update made my day. I was at the hospital all day with my father-in-law. He had back surgery. All went well, but I needed the lift from Ivy!
Thanks!

you macaws conspire, i swear to god, ruby lol!

owie on the back surgery, i am glad he is doing ok. and i am glad ivy could brighten your day a little.

wow, this made me feel SO much better lol! i like feeling not alone

ivy is only 6 months, yes. so it's ok to give some extra snuggles as a baby? i just don't want her becoming overly dependent. GEEZ i guess i really worry a lot!