Meet Pauly

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry says that pets are beneficial to children because
•They can be safe recipients of secrets and private thoughts--children often talk to their pets, like they do their stuffed animals.
•They provide lessons about life; reproduction, birth, illnesses, accidents, death, and bereavement.
•They can help develop responsible behavior in the children who care for them.
•They provide a connection to nature.
•They can teach respect for other living things.
•They provide comfort contact
•They give and receive love, loyalty, and affection

Well far be it from us to stand in the way of such amazing benefits.
The boys have really loved getting to know Grnny's bird. And after bird sitting for a couple of days M got on the bandwagon too. So as a birthday gift to the boys Grnny and Grndad bought them a bird.

Please meet Paul, nicknamed Pauly. Here you can see him from the right and then the left. He has a bluish-green belly and beautifully bright head feathers.

Pauly was hand fed as a baby and as such is super tame. He has been very welcoming to the kids picking him up and carrying him around. The trick today was getting them to put him down often enough to eat, drink and sleep!

It was difficult for the boys to decide on one bird out of the three available. There was an immediate bond with A and Pauly (A said he liked Pauly's personality!).  But E had his eye on a bird with unique markings.
In the end Pauly's personality won E over as well.