Hannukka and Christmas

Today was a very sad day in our house. Our little budgie, Blueberry Pancakes, died today at 2 3/4 almost 3 years old. He hasnt looked well for a few weeks and he was moulting so I knew something was wrong. They always say they are more vulnerable when they are moulting. I was giving him extra vitamins and stuff but he was still feeling a bit bony to me. This afternoon when I was about to clean and feed him I looked at the cage and when I couldnt find him on one of the perches I knew immediately that he was dead, then I caught a glimpse of him on the bottom, extremely stiff and of course passed on to birdy heaven. I put him in a little box with his favorite birdie toy and a small blanket (paper towel to cover him). The box was a pretty purple that I had decorated in July with fireworks stickers and such. My DD and DS were both upset and my DD moreso because it was her bird. She couldnt stop crying no matter how much I comforted her. My Mom told me to go to the pet store with her to see if she wanted to get another bird, maybe two so they wouldnt get lonely. She was excited over that idea but still would cry every 10 minutes or so when she thought about the bird. She helped me to clean out his cage and disinfect it, just in case there was some type of illness the bird had that might have contributed to his death. I threw away all of the old toys and cups that held his food too.

We then went to the pet store which happens to be right around the corner and picked out new toys, cuttle bone, food and water cups and of course a mirror! I let my DD pick out the two birds that she wanted and they both happen to be one of each sex. I wasnt to concerned whether it was two boys or two girls or one of each as long as they got along with one another. There are two of them and here are their stats:
Girls name: Hannukka (Hanna for short)
Color: Yellow/Lime with purple cheeks
She is pudgy and cute also has a brown cere (nose) so we know its a girl

Boys name: Christmas (Chris for short)
Color: White with a blue cast has dark blue/black spots on cheek
He is smaller than the girl and a bit shy compared to her but I think he can hold his own (I hope! LOL) and he is definitely a boy because his cere is blue for a boy.

When my DH came home we burried Blueberry Pancakes in our yard with a wooden cross grave marker. We wrote his name and dates of birth and death on it. My DD wanted to write, "WE LOVE YOU" on it so we did. It was sad but we let her participate and she wanted to put the box in the hole DH dug and then said goodbye to him again. We cried and then I told her that we could plant some flowers there in the spring for him. She was happy about that. To comfort her some more I told her that Blueberry was with Grandma Angie and Poppy in heaven and that Poppy was the one that babysit him when we went to Florida in 2004 so he would be taken care of there with all his friends.

This was her 1st pet death and she will be 7 next month and I think she handled it really well. I am not sure my DS understands well enough but he did cry when he saw the bird was dead. He then stated that the new birds are, "not dead birds Mommy." He gets it enough I guess.