Congrats on the new flock member! I have an almost 5 month old Quaker so we're still learning the Quaker traits, but he's the light of my life.
He's scary smart sometimes-- he figured out how to pull a string of beads out of a toy from the top that I didn't even consider he could do that. He's very accomplished at undoing knots, he learned how to spin in a circle to get a treat with just 2 training sessions! His vocabulary is already quite large-- out, step up, and good boy are most used, but he also says whatcha doing?, peekaboo, popcorn, hello, and yesterday said apple for the first time.
I don't have any issues with his noise level-- he flock calls when I leave the room but will settle down after a few minutes. We also have a routine where I put him (his cage) in the window of a particular room with the tv on when he's going to be alone for a few hours and he never complains while he's in there because he knows not to expect me to come back immediately. And he gets to watch Nick Jr, which I swear helped his vocabulary. He'll sit in there and just talk to the TV. He loves paw patrol!
In the last few days his preening of me is getting a little too bitey so we're working on that. It started when I got sick and couldn't talk at the start of this week and also was wearing a mask to keep my mom from getting it (just a cold but a wicked one). He was not a fan of my silence or my mask!
Another thing we're working on is that it's 50/50 on if he'll fly back to his cage to poop. He gets lots of praise when he does poop on his cage but no scolding or anything when he doesn't go in the right place. And he has the ability to get himself to his cage at any time, so we're taking care to avoid the issues with poop training where he would decide he couldn't go unless it was by command. I'm pretty good about recognizing his signs and getting him to his cage or at least getting a hand under his butt, but my mom isn't so quick so he's had a few accidents on the furniture. I roll my eyes as I type this because to bird people that's nothing but it's very upsetting to my mom, so we're working on *her* training on that too.
You've probably read this but Quakers are especially prone to atherosclerosis so a pellet diet and seeds as treats only are a must for long term health. I've read they don't like change but my boy gets bored easily so his toys get rotated every few days and almost daily I'll make a chain that has lots of fun stuff tied to it to destroy to keep him busy for a few hours. He always wants something in his beak to chew on so I give him an abundance of appropriate things to help keep him away from the forbidden things (clothes, hands, glasses, walls, etc).
He loves having head scratches but only on his terms when he wants them. So I ask "do you want head scratches?" so he knows my intent when I reach for himand he gets to decide always. I respect when he backs away and isn't interested-- he's not a snuggler at this point, but it's because he's just too busy chewing, exploring, and playing, not because he isn't affectionate.
I can't wait to see pics of your new baby
do you have a name picked out?