Budgie Boy

A few months ago I made a quiet declaration that has taken on a life of its own. You see, James loves birds. Loves probably isn't a strong enough word. His focus on them is amazing. He can name the most obscure bird out there. It's just like he is with airplanes. And for those wondering, yes, he still loves airplanes. He loves anything that flies because "that's how God made him." Argue with that.
Anyway, James has been doing so well eating, but his independent eating was fairly stagnant. To be fair, he has never had to do it on his own, so it just doesn't occur to him. He's more than happy to eat, but you have to remind him pretty much every bite. It's like coming out of Shawshank around here.
I mumbled to Tom that if he starts eating by himself, I'll buy him a cockatiel. Well...TOM TOLD HIM!!! Lol. James got so excited that I have to admit, his independent eating has skyrocketed. Small snacks he will do all by himself with no reminders and if we break his larger meals into sections, he is doing darn well. And when we do help him eat, he is sooooo much faster. It's rather amazing and life is soooooo much easier. That being said, we were quickly heading toward getting a cockatiel. I started researching, and then started dropping hints that maybe a parakeet would be more fun. ;). Horrible mom. But honestly, I was shooting too high with the cockatiel. Doesn't matter cause he had cockatiel on his mind and that's not easy to change.
Until....
We went to this weird mini zoo in Reston where they have a big budgie (same as parakeet) aviary that you go into with sticks of food and they flock to you.

Operation Cockatiel aborted. Operation Budgie commenced.
Phew.