Happy 18 Months, Callum!

Half Moon Bay, July 19, 2009

Our sweet dove, Callum, is 18 months old today! Today, and always, we appreciate his loving, energetic, fun-loving, and friendly nature. He loves most people and all animals but his brother is the one he adores the most (thank goodness the feeling is reciprocated!). Here is an update on what Callum has been up to.

Healthy and at home! At the end of May, after seven months of colds and ear infections and seemingly constant antibiotics, we took Callum out of preschool. It was a hard decision for us since we love the teachers and the other families, but it came down to choosing ear tube surgery (under general anesthesia) or removing him from the group environment to see if he could get better and stronger at home. We chose to bring him home and -- hallelujah -- he's been healthy since then! Over the past two months, we have employed a series of temporary nannies while we conducted dozens of interviews for a full-time nanny, we hired someone, we fired her, and we just finished hiring a new nanny. Whew! If this works out, Callum will be home with a lovely young woman named Alanna for the next year, and we'll try preschool again next fall.

Interviews and lack of sleep aside, it has been a real treat for me to see Callum more often at home. He doesn't seem to mind the brand-new people who come to take care of him - he's just pleased as punch that it's a new day and there's friendly face to play with him. He giggles and screeches around the house and gives me hugs and kisses when I emerge from my office. He's magical.



Walking and running and jumping and dancing. Around 15 months, Callum started walking and his cute scoot came to an end. He has been an adorable little walker - fast and happy with his pudgy belly leading the way. Having an active older brother has motivated Callum to imitate all of his antics. So Callum "runs" now. He jumps. He does a very funny bouncy dance with one knee pumping up and down (reminds me of a country jig?). He climbs everything in sight - the couch, dining room chairs, tables, stools, stairs (one foot per stair now!), and yesterday I found him perched on top of the standing speakers next to the TV. He sees Ronan balance on the sofa arm and jump... and of course Callum has to try that same move. There is a lot of chasing each other around the house laughing, and a LOT of sword play between the two boys. I love how they love playing together.



Eating. Ever since Callum ditched the bottle and started using a sippy cup and feeding himself at 10.5 months, he's been unstoppable in the dining department. He loves food. He eats a ton of it. He sometimes finishes Ronan's leftover food. He stuffs his mouth so full sometimes that we worry about choking and have to fish out chunks of food. One of the funny things Callum does is, during a meal -- mid-mouthful -- if he even GLIMPSES the sight of something more tasty-looking than what he's currently chewing, he spits out his food and starts asking for the new food. He's very opportunistic! So we've learned to shield each of his courses from view so that he'll at least finish his current mouthful before being enticed by the next dish. Tonight, his dinner consisted of cheese, fish, strawberries, cherries, peas, broccoli, and Ronan's leftover mac'n'cheese. And a probiotic smoothie.

Swimming. Both boys started swimming lessons a few weeks ago. Callum is in the mommy-and-me water babies and it's so much fun. In the first class, he was exposed to back floating, getting his face and ears wet, jumping off the side of the pool into my arms, and other cool stuff. I've been very impressed! Callum really likes the swim teacher (the guy who also runs the swim school) and often tries to get out of my arms so that he can swim with Jim! Ronan is also doing great, taking private lessons with a friendly young woman who has him kicking and getting comfortable in the water. We were honestly thrilled to pieces that Ronan even got in the water for his first lesson. He usually needs a bit of warm-up time and a lot of encouragement and patience when starting new activities. When he surprises us with his bravery and comfort, we just want to kiss him all over and tell him that he need not worry, life is just waiting for him to charge forth! But we stick to the kisses and encouragement. :-)



Talking and signing. At 18 months, Callum says a few words: Mama, Dada, Nuhnan (his name for Ronan), thank you, and yes. He signs a few more: More, thank you, please, food, hot, baby, book, ball, horse, phone, milk, no, dog, cat, airplane, hat. The most common "word" he says is really a sound, an inquisitive "Uuuuhh? Uuuhh? Uuuhhh?" that goes along with lots of pointing and a look that says, "I want that. Can you I have that? Can you get that for me?" He makes this sound all the time. And sometimes, to make the point, he drags us over by the hand and moves our hand with his hand toward the object that he wants.

Since he had fluid in his ears for about six months, the doctors were worried about possible speech delays. He seems to hear quite well now (we're going to get his ears checked again on Friday) and he's pretty much at the same spot Ronan was at speech.

Hands down the best word he says is his version of Ronan. Every morning he wakes up and excitedly says, "Nuhnan! Nuhnan!" as he looks around for his brother. He'll run through the house with a big smile on his face, calling out "Nuhnan!"



Listening. Okay, so we know he can hear because he actually does things that we ask him to! There is a wonderful part of Callum that wants to please and do the right thing. I think he's less of a maverick than his brother. Here is what Callum can and wants to do when asked:

- He gives hugs and kisses.
- He points to his body parts - eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, ears, belly button.
- He gets his shoes and tries to put them on when it's time to go out.
- He cleans up his toys.
- He puts dirty laundry in the hamper.
- He unloads cans of food and puts them on a shelf and puts the cardboard by the trash can.
- He washes his hands.
- He brushes his teeth.
- He throws things away in the trash can.
- He shows us to the diaper station when it's time for a change. (Is 18 months too early to try to potty-train a boy?! Heehee.)
- He gets books for us to read to him.

Reading. For the past three months, he has been really into books. Favorites include I Love My Daddy Because, Clifford, Good Night Moon, Pat the Bunny, This Little Chick, and Good Night, Gorilla. He LOVES the page of that last book when you see a pair of surprised eyes, and he does this adorable little surprised baby gasp. And Callum's books have stayed in such great shape. Ronan started "eating" (okay, chewing apart) his books at around 8 or 10 months old, so much that the binding fell apart and the pages were frayed or missing chunks! Callum hasn't eaten a single one of his books, which I have to admit does make reading them a little easier. ;-)

Sharing. Lastly, our 18-month-old bug LOVES to share. Not always, but a lot of the time. He loves to share his food with whomever happens to be sitting next to him. He picks up books and toys and hands them to Ronan. When the boys are drawing together, he takes the caps off pens and shoves them in front of Ronan to see if he wants them (usually, Ronan is annoyed and says, "HEY! Stop that.") He finds little pieces of dirt on the floor and comes over with a grin, happy to give them to us. He didn't like sharing as much when he was at preschool (maybe territorial?) but he's Mr. Generosity here at home.

Happy 18 Months, Callum!