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A Glider Mommy's Journal
January 2001
Again, for the most part this is a synopsis. I apologize for it but I'm still recovering in many ways from last fall. It was after the holidays that we became aware of how different our two 'daughters' were. Ezri is a lover... she wants to be the center of attention all the time. She's very cuddly and loves to play with us (the humans that is). Shiva on the other hand is very shy, and rather skittish.
Shiva also doesn't 'listen' the way that Ezri does. When you say 'No' or "Don't do that" Ezri doesn't do it. She obeys and trusts us about that stuff. Shiva is just the opposite. She's into everything and everywhere, proving to us on many occasions that our house is not as glider proof as we had thought it was. Shiva is obsessed with our coffee table. Most of the pictures that we have of her involve her being on the table. She's been talked to about this many times, but insists that its her personal playground. She's trained us not to leave anything on it that we don't want her to play with.
Shiva also insists on exploring all parts of the house. Ezri is content to play just in the living room or to be my 'shoulder' glider and just walk around with me. Shiva wants to see everything, and is usually looking for extra food.
She's bigger than Ezri is.... even though Ezri is 3 months older than her. At first, I was concerned about this, thinking that she might need a diet, but my friends at the Glider Central board calmed me down. Gliders, like people come in all different shapes and sizes.
Shiva is not a cuddler. She crabs incessantly if you try and take her pouch out during the day, sadly meaning that I've missed out on many sunbeam naps that Ezri and I used to take together. With Shiva, its really a one day at a time relationship. Many times I feel that she's Ezri's glider, not ours.
Her insistance at exploring blocked off parts of the house has led to many hours of headaches for us, and not a little bit of concern for her safety. She's much easier to play with if Ezri is out at the same time as her (I think part of it is that she sees Ezri playing with us, and that helps her trust).
One of the best differences is what a hunter Shiva is! Anything that moves, she will chase and attack (including my toes!) She loves all the dangling cat toys that we have, especially this new mouse that makes a squeaking noise when it moves. We no longer need a security system, we now have a guard glider!
Feb. 7th 2001
Last night was one of the best nights I've had with the girls in ages! Both behaved (no exploring non-glider rooms) and both went out of their way to be adorable when I had the camera out.
I have to talk about the camera itself for a moment here. We have a Sony CyberShot digital camera. I really and truly believe that anyone with kids or sugar gliders _must_ own a digital camera. As any glider owner knows, its very hard to take pictures of them - they move fast and the room is usually semi-dark, making it hard to line up shots. The advantage of the digital camera is that you can see the photos right away, and you don't waste money developing pictures of half of a tail.
Ezri has become quite the show off these last few weeks... she's master the art of jumping from the tops of our curtains and landing ever-so-gracefully on the top of my head. Its hard to be upset about it though. She's so proud afterwards that she landed the jump that she just cuddles and kisses. If for some reason she makes a jump and misses her target, she immediately runs to Mommy (that's me!) and seeks to be consoled. She loves back rubs and will arch into them so that I'm rubbing just the right spot.
Shiva went exploring on the coffee table again last night. I had a glass of water with a straw sitting on the table. More and more my babies are starting to think that they are human..... Shiva tried very hard to drink out of the straw last night. When it proved too difficult, she used the straw as a ladder and climbed down into the glass for a quick drink. As much as I love to share with my daughters, that was the last drink I took out of that glass!
Speaking of sharing, a week or two ago, I was drinking a glass of grape juice while Ezri was sitting on my shoulder. As I'm taking a big gulp, I notice a little face inside the glass with me sneaking a drink! Cheeky little beggar she is. She also has a popsicle fetish. I've been consuming them en masse lately because of wisdom teeth growth, and she thinks they are too be shared. Actually, Ezri thinks everything I have is to be shared. Go figure.
Pushing Grant to do an update of the photos, so that recent adventures can be seen. I'll post as soon as they are updated.