Possibly the Cutest Picture to Date

Wouldn't you agree?

Bottlebrush Trees

I dug up a photo that was taken a few months ago. Snoball has Bottlebrush wood in his cage and he loves it, but what he loves more is climbing and playing in the real thing outside. :)

My ear is healing just fine

The scabs fell off my ear the other night, so it is healing pretty quickly. It is still sensitive if I lay on it, or try to wedge the phone between my ear and my shoulder. But otherwise I can touch it without pain. (That's one of my cockatiels behind my ear in the picture.)

Snoball is fussing because it's raining. He wants to go outside for his nightly walk, but he doesn't want it to rain. When it slowed to just a drizzle I tried to take him out but he didn't like the droplets hitting him and we came back in. He doesn't understand that mom can't control the weather ... Sorry, Snoball. :(

A photo for you!

I love when he sits this way. He looks so pompous, as if he's saying, "I do declare that tis time for tea!"

Dealing with Hormonal Aggression

Oh the joys of owning an Umbrella Cockatoo! Oh the pleasures that come from the biting, the screaming, the overwhelming destruction! ... OH THE HUMANITY!!

But seriously, guys - if you're thinking of getting a cute and cuddly baby Umbrella Cockatoo ... don't. The longer I have Snoball, the more I realize that these animals never should have been domesticated. That's not to say that I don't love him; I do. I adore Snoball and would do anything for him. But I have come to realize that owning an Umbrella Cockatoo is akin to having a child going through those terrible two's that will NEVER grow up, who is ALWAYS in a destructive mood, who knows how to get past every child-proof known to man, and who NEVER listens to the word "no." To put it nicely, they are not for everyone...

And, Snoball is extra special because he is one of those large males that would be a prime candidate for flock leader had he been born into the wild. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't. So now he is trying to steal the role of flock leader from David and myself. I have been doing a lot of research on the subject which was prompted by a particularly nasty bite from Snoball. He was in a situation that he was uncomfortable with, and although I recognized this and tried to remove him from it, someone interfered. That small delay was enough time for him to run up my arm and latch on to my ear, biting through the thickest part of the cartilage with a sickening CRUNCH. Not pretty... I was able to take a picture of the damage, but it is not for the faint of heart. Click here to see.

He was acting strangely again tonight, and I think I narrowly escaped another bite just before bed time, though I'm not 100% sure that's what he was trying to do. So I sat down and started doing some research. I came across this article, which was very helpful. It is somewhat long but really worth the time. There are a few tips in there that I will be taking to heart over the next year or two. Hopefully, after that much time has passed, he will have settled down into a normal bird again. (Cockatoos go through puberty between the ages of 3 and 6. Snoball just turned 5.) I will be so proud of both Snoball and myself if we can both get through the next few years alive and (mostly) in one piece...

I bought a few new toys for him, hoping it would enable him to take out some of that pent up aggression he's dealing with. While he's never been big on wood toys, I bought him a small non-intimidating one that will be easily broken. It is even cut at just the right angle to allow it to break apart in chips, rather than splintering. Hopefully he will see how much destruction he can cause and will start to enjoy wood. I added some leather strips to the toy to get his attention. (Snoball loves leather.) I also found this dog toy that was perfect for him. It looks like a tiny rubber tire. It is made of non-toxic natural rubber, has lots of grooves and textures around the edge the way real tires do, and is hollow on the inside like a real tire. Best of all, it is made for dogs so the rubber is REALLY tough. He seems to enjoy it so far. He was playing with it in the store, trying to pull the textures off. I am thinking I can hide treats in the hollowed-out part. Snoball's favorite thing to chew is rubber or plastic - anything squishy and chewy - so this should be right up his alley.

The acrylic toy in the back is a clear tube with a ball that rolls back and forth. I can put treats inside and he has to move the ball to get to them. It hangs mobile-style with a key on one side and a plastic ring on the other. One of the girls I work with gave it to him as a gift and he seems to really like it. :)

So, in addition to trying new toys, I am going to give the vet a call on Monday and see if he doesn't have anything homeopathic that I can give Snoball to help calm him down a tad. If not, well, I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, aye? Have a good night, guys.

The post that has no title

I haven't been updating this blog lately because Snoball and I have been posting updates on Facebook. There's a nifty little thing called "Birdbook" which is like Facebook, but for birds! The majority of Snoball's updates have been going there. However, Snoball reminded me tonight that not all of his fans are on Facebook, and asked if he could post an update on his blog. I told him he could, so I'll let him take it from here. ;)

~

Hello!

Mom hasn't been posting on here so I told her I would do it. And I asked her to post the picture of me at the top. I was eating beef stroganoff, but Mom said there was no real beef in it. She said it was "vegetarian." I don't know what that means, but it was really good! I ate all of my noodles and some of hers, too. And I ate the meatballs and green beans. I have red pepper on my face in the picture. Its kind of embarrassing. Mom always has to clean my feet and my face after I eat. She puts my feet in the sink and gets them all wet. It feels weird. And she is always wiping my face off. I tell her she embarrasses me, but I don't think she cares.

Yesterday we had tofu for dinner. Mom let me share off her plate and it was really good! She made rice too and that was my favorite part, especially since it had some sauce stuff on it that tasted really yummy.

Mom lets me cuddle with her at night, and when she comes home. She is always working on the computer, and I don't like that so I sit with her and try to get her attention. Usually when I hold her hand she pays attention. And then I get petted and rubbed. I like that. :) If I am good I can sit with her while she works, but that gets boring. And when I try to play with the computer keys she gets mad. I dont think it's fair that she gets to play with them and I don't.

Sometimes Mom and I make a tent and play in it. I want her to post a picture. I will get her to put one here.

(Sorry to interrupt, guys - here's the photo Snoball was talking about:)

Yeah, that's the picture. See? Mom is bigger than me, so when she's in the tent it makes lots of room for me. I like when we cuddle in our tent. Nobody can see us and then nobody bugs us.

I have lots to talk about but Mom says you guys won't want to hear about everything we do every day. So can I just tell you a few things? Real quick? Ok. Um, we went for a walk today and Mom took me down by this thingy that she said is where the ocean meets a big lake. And she said when the ocean gets too big, it can go through this thingy and go into the lake. Or maybe that is backwards. Maybe when the lake gets too big it goes in the ocean? I don't know what a lake is, but the ocean is lots and LOTS of water so I bet it gets too big a lot. And there were other birds there too! David said they were catching fish. Mom has lots of fish but I dont want to catch them. Sometimes I watch them, but they are boring. So I dont know why those other birds would want to catch the fish. And these two ladies came and said hi to me! They called me a "parroquet" and Mom said that's because they were French. But they told me I was handsome and I like that so I guess I like French.

Mom said she would post more pictures now. I will let her. Goodnight! I love you!

 - Snoball

Ok guys, here's some new(ish) photos of Snoball. :)

Sleepy Snoball... <3

Biiiiig stretch!

Living the South Florida lifestyle 8-)

Tomorrow is going to be a picture day for me, so perhaps I'll get some more good pictures of Snoball. Does he ever take a bad one?! -lol- Goodnight, guys.

Yay! New toys!

Christmas came a little early for Snoball. Well, he'll still be getting something for christmas with the other birds, but he got all this in addition:



That's a massive photo so you might have to open it in a separate window. There were a lot of toys to get into the picture. I also took this one (because I luffs his foots):



I'm going to hunt down a big wicker basket to keep them all in. I already have a small basket that sits on his tree stand and holds his little toys. The blocks came in a big plastic bag but the zipper was broken and it was covered in sticky stuff. I threw that away as quickly as possible... So now I want a big wicker basket that can sit on the floor beside his cage and hold all his blocks. :)

New toys tomorrow!

We went thrifting today (Snoball included) and found a GREAT bag of toys for him. I paid $3 and got a bag of probably 100 JUMBO sized lego blocks, as well as some little people and rattles and random items that were just thrown into the bag. I sorted through it all and threw away all unsafe items. The Snoball-approved ones are soaking overnight in a bleach-vinegar solution to kill any germs that might be lingering. Tomorrow will be like christmas for Snoball. David and I are going to build a little castle with the blocks and put the people inside, then unleash T-5 (Snoball) upon them. They'll never know what hit them...

Pics tomorrow!

Detailing the Car

Snoball went with me to get the car detailed today. We spent the day cleaning cages and then went outside. He played on the tops of the door frames while I organized inside the car. Most of the organizing was simply moving stuff to the trunk because it was getting dark and I didn't want the place to close. We rushed off to the bank where we had a lot of trouble making a deposit. First the drive-up ATM was broken, so I went to the teller window where I was informed that the don't give deposit slips through the window anymore and without one I couldn't make a deposit. So the only option was the walk-up ATM which I didn't want to use since I had Snoball with me. There was a nice old man waiting for the machine so it worked out well. He had lots of questions about Snoball and Snoball apparently had a lot to say to him.

After depositing money we were able to go to the car wash. Everyone thought Snoball was so handsome, and he handled everything really well. I thought for sure he'd get scared of the big brushes and things, but he just held on tightly and sat still. He was a little nervous, but that's about it. He's gotten so much braver when it comes to car things. He climbs onto the steering wheel to look outside when we're at stop lights, and he doesn't get car sick anymore. He hasn't been car sick in at least a month. (And we've driven a LOT during that time.)

Snoball helped me pick up David from work and we all had egg noodles with veggie broth for dinner when we got home. He's tired out and is sleeping soundly now ... even though the bunnies are running around and making a ruckus getting into things. (He spent the afternoon chasing them around the house which is probably PART of why he's so tired. Have you ever tried to chase a rabbit? -lol-)

Snoball visits Grandma

Snoball got to visit David's mom yesterday. They've met once before and she adores him. She has a very calming aura about her so Snoball took right to her. She bird-sat him for about 30 min while David and I went across the street to shop for a new vehicle. He's getting a small amount of money from inheritance so we want to get a vehicle for him. Of course there are a million other things we'd rather buy, but a car is pretty important. We've been sharing a car ever since we met and it's getting very old. Yesterday I thought I was scheduled to work but when I got there I realized I'd made a mistake. Well, neither of us had a cell phone so I couldn't call David to come back and pick me up. Snoball and I took a walk and stopped by a bycicle store to see about getting a repair done (that's what I'm asking for as a birthday gift from my family). Of course everyone asked about Snoball, who was very polite and said hi to everyone. I did finally get a hold of David and he came back to pick us up.

So, all in all, Snoball has been visiting family and friends lately and is doing well. :)

P.S. - the waterfall photo has nothing to do with anything. I just thought it was pretty.

Snoball's bath

Snoball took a bath with David and me today. Well, shower I should say. Showers are always more fun with three. -lol- He'd actually dried off a bit when that photo was taken. He kept holding his foot out for us to stick him back into the water. He put his whole body in the stream of water and ruffled all his feathers up. I love when he does that - so cute! :)

Updates

Snoball is currently in his "prison" (cage). He is being terrible to me today (biting and screaming) and I needed a break to sit down and write this. He was easily distracted with a walnut. BTW - I found a great farmer's market about 30 minutes from me that sells all sorts of nuts for $2 a pound. The cheapest I've EVER seen them in stores (when they're in season) is $2.50/ pound. Needless to say, I was excited about that.

So - the updates! Hmm, what updates? Well, Snoball has met my family. All except for my sister, that is. My dad is of the opinion that animals belong outside, not inside in cages or kept as pets. (I think he just likes to say that because he never wanted to clean up after one.) So he was reluctant to meet Snoball, but I have to say ... it went over REALLY well. I even met my dad yesterday at Home Depot to work out a new toy idea for Snoball. We want to make him something that is basically an assemblage of stainless steel nuts, bolts, washers, screws, etc. We tossed around a lot of ideas but I Came up with a new one last night that might be perfect. I'd like to drill holes through PVC pipes, and slide the screws and various hardware through the holes. That wouldn't be safe if Snoball chewed (a LOT) on the PVC, but I know he'll be far more interested in taking the hardware out so I dont think it'll be a problem. (I'll post more on that when it's done. Stainless Steel is expensive so this will be an on-going project.)

Snoball is still happy and healthy and everyone at my condo is getting to know him. Just today I came in the door with him and an elderly man said, "Oh! There he is! Hello, fella." Of course Snoball responded with a "Hello" and a "Hi" and got himself a lot of praise. :)

I have a horrible head cold and my brain is not thinking clearly today. To make up for the rotten update, how about a bunch of photos? ;)

Snoball and I with my dad's crew: Sammy (the cat who thinks he's a dog) and Coco:



"Are you watching me? Hey! Hey! Are you paying attention? Look at me."



Wendy's baked potato with cheese: guaranteed to reduce Snoball to big, puppy-dog eyes:



At my dad's house, under the Serenity Tree (my fave tree):



"What's your problem? Can't a bird drink in peace?"



Playing in David's studio:



Did Snoball give Pepper that flower in a gesture of romance or friendship? No. Of course not. She picked it for herself, and he is contemplating stealing it...



And the only picture I have of Snoball and Pepper playing together (because this was the ONLY time it happened! -lol-)

Melons!

Snoball and I just finished cleaning the kitchen. (And by "Snoball and I," I mean I cleaned while he sat and watched and munched on whatever I had.) After the kitchen was clean, Snoball, Pepper, and I shared some cantaloupe and watermelon. :)

Watermelon:


Cantaloupe:

Snoball is my Prince Charming

I didn't want anyone to see the mess that is my house, so I colored over the background of this photo. -lol- We still have junk everywhere from the move, and we're in no hurry to move it. Plus all the animals have toys everywhere. The bunnies have play tunnels and boxes and things all over the living room. It's kind of a permanent clutter because the bunnies love them so much.

This blog doesn't have much of a point to it. I just wanted to let Snoball's first parents know how thankful I am to have Snoball in my life. He's become such a HUGE part of it - integrating himself into every aspect of it. He goes to work with me, he sleeps with me, he does homework with me (as evidenced by the photo) he plays with me, cooks with me, he DEFINITELY eats with me; if there's something in my mouth it NEEDS to be in his too. -lol- I just feel very blessed to have him. I call him my therapy bird. Partly because that's the only way I'm allowed to keep him in a no-pets apartment ;) and partly because it's true. Whenever I'm feeling down, Snoball can always cheer me up. I don't know what I'd do without him.

Someone asked me today what his name was and I jokingly replied: Prince Charming.

Snoball (almost) burns the house down

Snoball is fine and everyone is fine - nothing terrible happened. But we were very lucky. Last night Snoball had two nightfrights. I woke up to him screaming several times and I was getting tired of getting up to comfort him. So I brought him into bed with me. He was fine for a while, and then he went under the covers and went to sleep. I then fell asleep only to be woken about 2 hours later by a loud popping noise and sparks flying everywhere. I looked under the covers at Snoball, who was chewing the wires for the heating pad I keep under my feet at night. He had torn the cord to shreds. We're lucky he didn't electrocute himself or catch something on fire. None of the sparks caught - thank god because it would have lit the bed on fire. Snoball wasn't even put off by any of it. He just looked at me sideways and made a baby noise - the same thing he does whenever he's trying to get out of trouble.

David and I counted our blessings today, that's for sure. And we're not letting Snoball under the covers anymore. Or near ANY wires for that matter. But he is safe and we are safe so (this time) no harm done.

Snoball's Mood Swings

Snoball's hormones seem to be raging. He gets upset easier lately, and has been biting more and more. Normally a quick "bzzzt" and shake of my hand is enough to distract him from biting my fingers. (He doesn't puncture, just applies pressure ... a LOT of pressure) but lately that hasn't been enough. Stage 1 is a quick shake, stage two is a flip upside down, and stage 3 is being put on the floor and walked away from. Lately, not only have we been having to go to stage 3, but he's been chasing my feet once he's on the floor. I tried to turn that into a game at first, but he couldn't do it without getting too rough and getting angry. So now, we have to have a stage 4, which is picked up with wings tucked in, and taken straight to the cage.

Stage 4 doesn't happen often. Usually once he gets walked away from he gets upset and immediately stops being a bully. He'd rather get snuggled than ignored. -lol- He was also screaming a lot in the beginning. I think this was due more to the environment change than his hormones. But he's getting better about it. When he was persistent, he would get his feet squirted with water. He hates that so it stopped him immediately. He's so used to the fact that [screaming = wet feet] now, that all I have to do his give him "that look" or show him a squirt bottle and he stops. -lol-
Bedtime is sometimes difficult, sometimes easy. I think once he gets used to the routine he will go to bed quietly. He stays up and plays with me and my other birds (we're usually doing homework or blogging while everyone runs around and plays) until around 8pm. That's when he starts to get a little loud. At that point, he goes into the "quiet room" which is the only place he's been comfortable sleeping. He has a night cage in there with a pacifier toy that he picked out and a few perches. Once he settles in for the night he is quiet and content until morning, when I wake him up for a shower. He either comes in the shower with me, or stays in bed with David. Then we leave for work, where he stays for a few hours while I go to school (or actually work!) and then we head home again around 6 every night. Sometimes we go shopping and he draws big crowds, or sometimes we go straight home and relax. :)

We were able to sleep in today (until 9) because I took over a friend's shift which is later in the afternoon. I got up and made omlettes for everyone. I put bird seed in the egg so they had a foraging toy as well as a treat. Snoball got breadcrumbs in his egg.



"Hey Mikey, he likes it!"



We went to work around 10:30 or so and Snoball spent the day playing on the perches there and interacting with customers. He is so spoiled at work. People come in and ask to see Snoball (not me), people ask how Snoball is (not how I am), people ask which toys Snoball recommends (not which toys I recommend), etc. :) Little kids are always stealing treats out of the food bins to bring to Snoball. I don't usually yell at them. (don't tell my boss) ;)

We came home early today and had some fun exploring everyone else's cages and toys. Snoball spent some time in the big comfy chair with me while I did my Detective Fiction homework (reading several detective stories ... go figure). I don't think he liked the stories much - he fell asleep. I'll have to let my professor know that Snoball does not approve. (Yes, I read them out loud to the animals. It helps me to remember the stories better.)

I found a rattle that was originally bought for the bunnies, but thought Snoball might like it. So I tried to hand it to him, but he was being a brat and threw it back at me. "Fine Snoball," I said, "I didn't want you to play with it anyway. Y'know why, Snoball? Because *I* wanted to play with it." And I took off across the living room, using the rattle as a tambourine and singing a song from the musical Chicago. After a while of me dancing around and clapping with the rattle and looking at Snoball as if to say, "Wow, you sure are missing out. Poor Snoball... and to think you could've had this very rattle," Snoball got very upset and insisted that I give him the rattle. He was making a fuss and reaching his foot out and doing his typical unhappy "UGH!!!" -lol- He got the rattle in the end and enjoyed it. He likes for me to hold the rattle and let him take the links in his mouth and shake them back and forth. They make a clicky-clacky noise that way and he gets really excited over it. Sometimes he even puts his head feathers up. :) This is the rattle in question:



I think that's it for today. Tomorrow morning Snoball goes to work while I go to school for 4 hours. (Yuck) Maybe we'll go somewhere afterwards. I've been taking him to fish stores because I want to set up a goldfish tank and I am pricing things out and getting ideas. He's a little unsure about the fish - he doesn't know whether to like them or be afraid of them - but they keep his attention.

Snoball is home

That's Snoball and I *trying* to relax and watch TV uninterrupted, but David was making it difficult. ;)

We picked up Snoball's cage (finally) the night before last and got it all put together. He took to it right away, as if he thought that cage had always belonged to him. He went in for a drink and when he saw the bowl was empty (we hadn't had time to fill it yet since we had JUST finished putting the cage together!) he looked at us as if to say, "Are you two stupid or something? Where's my water? Where's my food?!"

Here's a photo of his cage and his swinging playgym that I made for him (it's three hula hoops wrapped in sisal and tied together). Rufio was taking advantage of the hanging gym at the time...



Snoball and I found that basket and a few of the toys that are in it at a thrift store the other day. I stopped in to see if I could get some blankets for the walls of David's music studio (we're trying to be economical about buffering the sound, and thought old comforters might work. They do, btw.) Anyway, I happened to have Snoball with me so he sat on my shoulder while I browsed. He drew quite a crowd of old women, that's for sure! EVERYONE wanted to pet him, and EVERYONE told him what a handsome bird he was. Of course Snoball turned on the charm, and said "hello" to everyone in turn. We picked up a few things for the house - a new vegetable steamer for $2! and went to check out. They had a shelf of knick knacks on the counter, and Snoball reached over and helped himself to a little plastic tea cup. (Snoball always helps himself to whatever he wants, doesn't he Bev? -lol-) So I told the lady, "Well, I guess we're buying this cup too." It was hysterical. I also bought him a toy cell phone for $0.50! He pulled all the rubber buttons out and broke the thing to pieces but he had a blast, and I only paid 50c. :D



This is the cup toy he picked up. It cost me a whopping $0.25!



I have an appointment to finish up the leasing process on Tuesday morning. After that I should officially be on the lease and Snoball will be home for good. We're going to try to keep him here until all that goes through but he has to remain a secret until I'm on the lease or we could be told he has to go, or David could be evicted. They're silly condo rules, but we're trying to play it safe.

Anyway, that's it for today. More adventures to follow soon. ;)

-Haylee

Nothing Exciting

Unfortunately, I have nothing exciting to update but I thought it was time to do it anyway. Poor Snoball and poor me - we have been separated from each other for the past two weeks! I have not been able to visit him because I am just now getting over a very bad case of mono. I was spending a lot of time in bed and was not feeling up to driving. Even if I felt I were able to drive, I wouldn't have gone to see him since I didn't want to risk getting him (or any of my other birds that were being boarded at the store) sick.


I am well now, and I have been in to see him twice. I packed a nice fruit and bread breakfast for us and spent the morning with him before going to class last week. He was clearly mad at me, and wanted nothing to do with me and nothing to do with the food. I sat and ate while he wandered off in the other direction and started knocking things off the table.


I have been told that he is getting restless. He has been screaming more and more, biting people more often, and ruining everything in sight. Part of this, I'm afraid, is his hormones. I expected this behaviour to some extent so I am trying to take it in stride. The other half of it is that he doesn't like being cooped up at the store all the time. Obviously, the current situation wasn't done on purpose. If I'm sick, I'm sick. But Snoball doesn't understand that. He must think he's been abandoned there.


I return to work tomorrow so the schedule will go back to normal. He'll be able to come out and play a lot more and I'll be able to stop and have breakfast with him before going to class and such. Additionally, our leasing paperwork is in the final stages so Snoball should be able to come home within the next two weeks. We purchased a HUGE (taller than me!) macaw cage for him but we haven't picked it up yet. We're still organizing the apartment and sorting out the roommates' stuff. It's slow going, but we're getting there. I'll be sure to post photos when everything is all finished up.

Snoball Meets His New Sister

I'm back at home with Mom and David for a few days! Mom was really sick last week with Bronchitis so I didn't get to see her much. She had to call out of work on Sunday so I spent the whole day without her. The other girls took good care of me, but they don't play with me the way Mom does. Mom was off 3 days in a row this week so she took me home with her to play! I'm really glad, but it makes me a little confused sometimes. Do I live there? Or do I live here? Or do I live at both places? I'm not really sure yet. I have to ask Mom to clear it up for me.

Yesterday I had a date. :) Mom and David are adopting another cockatoo just like me so that I'll have someone to play with when they're not home. She's a moluccan cockatoo named Pepper. I already know how to say her name because Mom and David told me so much about her. She's older than I am, but she likes to play even more than I do! I went to her house yesterday and we played out on the back patio. Pepper was hopping and flapping and running and jumping all over the place while I watched. She had too much energy. She tried to get me to play, but I hid behind Mom. I'm not sure if I want to play with her just yet. I have to get to know her a little better first.

Today Mom and David and I stayed in bed and watched movies all day.

- That is not true, Snoball. We cleaned the bedroom and the kitchen. And we vaccuumed, thank you very much!

Well we did watch a lot of movies! We watched one called "Spirited Away" that Mom really likes and another one called "My Neighbor Totoro."

I need a bath really bad. My dust is getting everywhere and it's all over my beak. Mom said she'd give me one tonight. I'm going to go eat dinner before my bath. Goodnight now!

Love,

Snoball

Image credit goes to: http://claire-1991.deviantart.com/

Snoball Feeds The Babies

Friday, August 07, 2009 ~

After a rather commonplace day at work - Snoball getting attention from all the customers, throwing his toys and bowls around, opening every nut (or bag of nuts) in sight, and generally causing an endearing ruckus - I had to go handfeed the baby birds ... roughly 52 of them last I checked... Yes, 52 baby birds.

The whole process takes at least an hour, so I brought Snoball into the back with me. He played with (and broke) my hair tie on a towel-covered shelf while I sorted out all of the feeding equipment - syringes, measuring cups, etc. Then I brought him with me onto the counter where everything gets prepared. He sat and watched while I poured, weighed, measured, mixed - all of it. I think he was a little confused, actually. Snoball didn't understand why I was playing with such boring toys, or why I was moving water and formula back and forth from one container to another. Where's the fun in that?

The fun, Snoball discovered, comes when it's time to do the actual feeding. Snoball rode into the nursery on my shoulder for the first time. He was a little startled when a cacophony of crying babies started up. -lol- Snoball just watched for a while, trying to figure out why the babies were crying and what the heck I was doing. It wasn't long, however, before he realized that I was feeding them ... and was most definitely NOT feeding him.

Snoball then proceeded to stick his head into all of the baby buckets, one at a time, trying to steal formula from the syringes before the babies got it! -lol- Most of the babies don't finish all of their formula, so I gave Snoball the leftovers. I handed him a small syringe just to see what he would do with it. He picked it up and turned it over and around, trying to figure out how to get the food out. His first thought - which would have eventually been successful had I not intervened - was to chew the tip off and get the food that way. I didn't want him to break the syringe, so I took it back from him and started dripping it into his mouth. And believe it or not, Snoball actually licked it up, little by little.

When I was setting up the feeding instruments for Katie today, Snoball kept looking at me sideways as if to say, "Well? When does the food come out?" -lol- I guess he'll be my helper from now on when I handfeed the babies. :)

Image credit: http://hahli1994.deviantart.com/