Tico

We've been debating about animals for a year now, I was becoming used to the idea of getting a dog, though I'm not a dog person per se. I watch them at Crissy Field, interview people about their pets but I could not resolve the steps backwards I'd be taking when I just emerged from those infant years. last month I woke in the middle of the night and it came to me clear as day, we'd get Eli a bird for his birthday and Eva something in the rodent family (have since decided it'll be a guinea pig). that morning over breakfast Eli asked me if he could have a bird for his birthday, he's always doing this kind of thing with me. i overheard him asking Shu Shu for a bird a few weeks later. so the Saturday after his birthday, we surprised him with a visit to the bird store we visited on his second birthday and told him we'd be getting a bird. he, after many discussions with the owner and staff, on a lineolated parakeet, a little bird with a big bird personality. Eli immediately named him Tico after the bird in the Leo Leoni story that we love. ever day or so we'd go and hold him, he's 4 1/2 months old and had not been hand-trained too well so we felt it worth the wait, and now that he's home, he definately was. it's not unusual to see Eva sitting around knitting with Tico on her head or Eli talking to him through his cage. he's a fine addition to the family.