Lailah is certainly relishing the extra time I now have for her and is progressing in leaps and bounds. My little girl and I are making great progress in her “Up” and “Down” training. I can now lift her up by her healthy foot and also by holding her body without her showing any signs of distress. It is a cooperative effort between the two of us to get her handicapped body on my arm or shoulder (and to keep it there).
On the other hand, she is also turning into an ADS slave driver as she is unable to get around by herself, using me as a willing cabby to help her explore her surroundings.

This Morning

• “Up Up Up” “Get up you lazy bones and take me downstairs with you!”
• Wow … kitchen sink, running water. “Sink’s too slippery. You cannot expect me to sit on here.” “You need to hold me under the water by hand.” “No, I don’t care, if you get wet … slave’s duty.”
• Ohhhh “Up Up Up” swinging perch in front of window. “No, it is not too wobbly for me and I do not want to sit on the boring solid perch” … (5 seconds later) “Up Up Up” “I told you it was too wobbly, you stupid human.”
• Ohhhhhh Fridge … wow … heaven. “Gimme some of that juice.”
• Ooooohhhh Freezer … “Gimme some of those veggies.” “I said, GIMME some of those veggies!” “Ughghghgh … how could you give me cold veggies?!” (spits them out)
• Oooohhhhh coffee maker … wow … exciting noise … “Lemme, lemme, lemme look” …. ohhhhh foamy stuff (oat milk foam)
• “Up Up Up” “I wanna sit on the banister”. (keeps sliding down but insists on going there) … “Hold me, hold me, hold me” …

… and so forth …

Her further exploits this morning included

• having a chair shower,
• sitting on the sofa side looking into the bird hall,
• going back upstairs only to decide she really wanted to be downstairs,
• trying the other banister which she seemed to think for some reason would be easier to sit on,
• and trying the wobbly window swing perch one more time

I am now having five minutes peace as she is eating her breakfast, recovering from the best personal trainer a gal could have. 🙂

Angel Hugs

I need to tell you about last night, too. It was supercute. I had put Lailah back on the macaw platform ( an 80″ x 80″ wooden construction I suspended with stainless steel chains from the ceiling in my bedroom) while I was cleaning & feeding / watering the birds. She hobbled to the part that is right at the door watching me dash in and out emptying water bowls in the adjacent bathroom. All the while telling me that she really did not want to be stuck there: “Up up up!” … and when I bent down to let her climb on my shoulder she gave me an angel hug … her good foot on my right shoulder, her wonky foot on my left shoulder & head resting on my shoulder. So adorable.

Here’s a photo of Lailah showing me exactly where she would like me to scritch her. Look at her wonky foot … do you see her nails? I have been filing a bit of them every day and they are getting down to a decent size. This morning, I even managed to file one claw on her good foot a tiny bit. That is the next goal: To get Lailah comfortable enough to groom the claws on her healthy foot, too.