Me & My Budgie - "Eddie the Peanut"

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, hobos and tramps, crossed-eyed mosquitoes and bull-legged ants.... it's the Eddie the Peanut Show!"
(An aside: I was looking at the screen just now and noticed the arrow was going like wild all over the screen - then I noticed Eddie was rubbing his head on the mouse)
Often when Eddie the Peanut is on his playpen, he asks me to pick him up, with either "Come up" or "You ready?" and an occasional "Here we go." I often respond with "Not, yet, Eddie", and he then tries again and again until I finally break down and put my hand out. He usually says "Come up, Eddie" when I succumb.
The other morning he and Stewart were on the bed playing while I was cleaning the cage. As I finished, I reached out to Stewart and Said "Come on up, Stewart," at which time he hopped onto my finger and made a bee-line for the new sprig of millet. So I reached down to Eddie, and said, "Come up, Eddie," and he backed up a little. So I put my finger closer and said, "Come on up, Eddie." He turned his back on me and waddled away and said, "Not yet." I musta stood there catching flies my jaw dropped so far. I am CONTINUALLY dumbfounded by this little dude...
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A little Eddie anecdote anyone? I'm in the shower, turning it off, drying off. Eddie knows he can come up on the towel when I dry my hair, so he usually starts in with "You ready?" and wagging himself back and forth on the perch as soon as the water turns off. Well, I grabbed the towel, listened to his pleading, and made a long loud sigh into the towel... and Eddie stopped, side-eyed me, and said (first time - new sentence), "Whaddid you say?" And he sounded JUST LIKE ME!!!!! I fell out. And repeated myself, of course...
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Eddie the Peanut: Hip Slick and Cool. Except when Jaz gets too close and BOPS him one so he hits the floor with a resounding "THUD". Hard to be cool when your feathers are askew.
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I sat here at the computer this evening, with Eddie on his playpen bobbing at his little blue bell. After he tired of entertaining himself there, he asked to come up on me ("You ready? Come up. come up. You ready?") So, I lifted him to my shoulder and he played with my left earlobe, talking the entire time, professing his love, nibbling, saying the area code of my phone number, etc. ( I have to say, the words are terribly sweet, but if you have ever had a budgie make a long kissing sound in your ear at that close proximinity - you will never recover fully.)
After a time, Eddie tired of this interaction, and I could feel him thinking ...plotting perhaps... as he stood stone still on my shoulder. He hopped to the back of the chair as I typed away, and I then heard a small but significant <> on the floor behind me. As I turned in the chair, I could barely catch the end of Eddie's tail disappearing around the corner of the desk. As I asked him what he was doing, he replied, "I love YOU," and kept walking (limping, I should say - his little Joh Wayne sidle). I got up from my place and he stopped to turn and look at me. I asked him if he was ready for bed. Without a word, he turned and headed for the office door. I followed. He turned the corner into the hallway, with me close behind. He stopped a time or two to peck at something significant in the carpet, but for the most part he kept on track down the hall.
When we came to the bedroom door, this little midget and I, he turned to go in, testing the hardwood floor with his beak before hopping onto it. He stopped to look back at me. I asked him if he was tired, did he want a hand? Without a word, he pressed on, across the room, past the bed, and around the corner towards the cages. He stopped. I stopped. I leaned down and put out my hand, asking if he needed help. He asked, "you ready?" I replied "Sure am" and he hopped on. I lifted him to his cage, and asked if he was tired after that long walk. He mumbled "Uh huhm," deep in his throat. As I set him on the perch near Truper, he said aloud, "Thank you." I told him he was welcome, and walked back to the computer.
True Story. Just a few minutes ago. Who is this guy anyway?!
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Eddie loves his red bell, so we now have a new game: I hold his bell up for him, and say "It's Sugar Ray Eddie" and he pummels the bell. I'm trying to teach him to say "Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee," even though I know I have the wrong boxer... So far he just runs up my arm and grabs my lip to turn my head to him and he listens for the words again, his little face so close to my lips I can feel his warmth. Sometimes I just kiss his beak, and he bops my lips for the words. I always do what he wants... of course... like every good budgie-owned person...
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Today Eddie the Peanut was at work with me. He likes to watch the girl budgies, but from the safety of his cage, cause Jaz can be a bully and pushes him off the playpens or the top of his cage. At one point Eddie was on the top perch in his cage, and Jaz was on top of the cage, looking in. I asked Eddie "Is she pretty, Eddie?" And he very slyly said, "Tickle tickle tickle tickle tickle!" then "Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" just like a dirty little man. I fell out.
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He now responds to the verbal command "Flap" - if I say it, he'll lower his head and body like an airplane, let out a little squeak, and flap his wings out a couple of times very quickly. At first I needed to move my hand in front of him a certain way and I gave the word, now all I need is the word.
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Eddie started this morning with "He's a BIG bird!" (26 grams??? I don't think so Mr. Peanut). He also said "He's a very good peanut." Both are new. Then while he was up on top of his cage one of the dogs (Orca) came into the room. Eddie leaned as far as he could off the cage and said "Orca, come up here."
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Just had to tell you an Eddie the Peanut-ism. He was pushing his little blue bell around the base of the playpen, and he stopped and bobbed, and said very clearly, "I LOVE you, you silly good boy!" Made me laugh. It was such a teasing little cheerful voice. (As I wrote that, he is sitting on my shoulder, and when I finished that last sentence he leaned up to my ear and said, "THANK you.")
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Eddie is currently standing on top of my head orating a very important speech. I can't understand ANY of it, but he is quite adamant. Every now and then he'll throw in a human word ("Biiiiiiiiiiiiiird"..."I love YOU"....."Boy"......."Okay, babeeeeeeeee") but mostly it's jabberish. He also hangs upside down from my hair, looking me in the eye. He did it once and said "Whatcha think?" and I replied "I think you're gonna peck my eye." He responded "OK" but didn't do it.
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Eddie the Peanut now rings like the telephone. He "BBBrrriiiiinnnggggs" then waits a moment or two, then "BBBrrriiiiinnnggggs" again, waits and does it again. How do you answer a ringing budgie?????!
- Send Gail and Eddie the Peanut some e-mail