And Its Name Is ---

YOUKI !!!!!

"Who is It?" I'm sure you are asking.

Youki (ALSO the name of a fruit cocktail flavored/pineapplish tasting pop that our kids love to drink, but we've only ever seen it in W. Africa) is the name of Rebekah's African Grey parrot. I sent her and her daddy out to look at cages, thinking it would be nice to have a place for the critter to live before we got the critter... they came back with a loaner cage, a cage on order... and a bird.

Rebekah had discusses several potential names: Napolean for a boy, Josephine or Joan of Arc for a girl - but since it is hard to tell boy or girl on a parrot, she changed her mind completely and went with Youki!

Youki is just a baby and is still quite nervous. It can take a long time for these birds to become true pets, but once they do, they are quite devoted and entertaining. Rebekah has been working hard with Youki and in just a weekend, he's moved from having to have a blanket over the cage because our family was just too much... too much stimulation?... to where he is now eating, climbing around in his cage, preening himself and making happy noises - as long as we don't get too close. Rebekah sits and reads to him, plays music for him and makes all sorts of noises - he's even calmed just to the sound of her voice a few times.

We'll keep you updated on this adventure is it continues to progress, and as soon as he's calmed down enough to not be traumatized by the experience, we'll take a few photos and post them for you all to see.