The Amazing Things Callum Did

Callum's two favorite things: Kitty and keys....




When I was younger, my dad brought me home this book from the Boston Public Library called : The Amazing Things Maui Did. I dont really remember much from it, except that the illustrations were beautiful and this kid "Maui" did all kinds of cool stuff....it was like a Hawaiian folktale kind of thing. Anyway, I thought the title of this blog appropriate because, lately, Callum is doing so many awesome things that, to us, defy ordinary in every way! I know I am biased, but I really do think that, for just turning one two weeks ago, he is VERY smart (I'm talking Annapolis material here!) Here is a list of some (specific) things he does!

1 When asked what a kitty says, he says "MEEEOH" (he can't do the "ow" sound yet I guess)
2 Whever he sees a dog, or you ask him what a puppy says, he says "ruff ruff"
3. He can tell you what a "snake" says (ssssssssssssssss) as he shows you all his teeth in the process
4 If you ask him what a cow says (or if he hears a motorcycle...which I guess, to him, sounds like the low toned sound of a cow) he looks at you and says a clear "moooooo."
5. He (sometimes) oinks if you ask him what a pig says
6. He LOVES Elmo....and I am not just saying that. This. kid. loves. Elmo. We watch youtube videos, Sesame street, look at his Elmo birthday card he got, play with his "Hokey Pokey" Elmo, etc. He points and screams "MELMO"
7. He shakes his head "NO" if you ask him the following question: "Do you like the Yankees Callum??" (I am most proud of that)
8. Whenever he sees a truck or a car, he points and goes "voom voom!" Also, he plays with his trucks and his cars on the floor, pushing them around saying the same thing
9. He broke our computer--the one I am on right now, actually: In an attempt to "grab" Elmo off the computer screen, he lunged at the keyboard and tore off the "D" and the "R." Amanda got the D on (thats what she....) but the R is seemingly broken, and it is a pain in the butt to type anything with the R in it. (By the way "IT" George....do you know how to put keys back on??"
10. He fixes stuff: We have 3 cordless phones. One of these lives in the basement den. It hadn't worked in a year and a half. Callum loves to play with the phone, preferably pushing buttons while his Nannie or Papa are on the other end. We gave him the "broken" phone to play with (it wouldnt even turn on....despite all our attempts to fix it). In less the 5 minutes the phone was working again, and it still works great!
11. When he sees a picture of a fridge, he points and goes "YUM YUM!"
12. He makes prank calls: When he does play with the phone, he many times presses random, arbitrary numbers (usually a bunch of 3,s, 6s, and 9s for some reason!) We always get a kick out of all the numbers he punches in, and we love hitting "redial" to hear the numbers play back. One evening, just as we were sitting down to eat, and Callum was playing with the phone, we heard the phone start "ringing" on the receiver: Callum had typed in 7 numbers....that just happened to be the correct exchange and final 4 digits of a Portland number! Anyway, the man (Callum's new friend "Richard" ) called back wanting to know why we had called him because he saw our number on his caller ID. I (feeling stupid and embarrassed) explained the situation to him, and he laughed for a whole minute, thinking it was the funniest thing he'd heard in a long time. We ended up talking for a couple of minutes actually....he was telling me about when his kids were little. It was kind of cool, and kind of weird at the same time. His final words to me before we got off: "Well...enjoy all these little things he does, because my youngest is now 24....and tell him his 'prank grandfather' Richard says good night!"