Callum's Journal

So, Callum's fourth birthday.

We started out by going to the cinema at the beach and seeing Hoodwinked at 11.30, which was his first visit to the cinema. He loved it -- at first he was a bit overwhelmed by the noise, but he soon settled and seemed to get caught up in the story (the squirrel is great) and when it finished he pouted and said 'Again?' in a really hopeful voice.

After that we went to Pizza Hut for lunch, but he didn't eat much, then we went into Sunset Boulevard. There, Callum had a few goes on the rides (cars and horses and stuff), then had a walk along the beach and up over Broad Hill. Then we came home, because he was seeming fairly poorly, and opened his presents. He got a superman figure that talks (sigh!) and some clothes and a jigsaw book from his grandparents, a book about a spider who wants to be a pet and a horrible, horrible spider that moves around from his Auntie Emma and Uncle Richard and Findlay. There was some money fom his great granny Isa, and then a pirate costume from us, the videos I mentioned in my journal, and a small radio controlled Subaru that he loves :D Also, from Eileen (the childminder) he got a book and an activity book (join the dots and stuff) and a packet of stamper pens -- added to the colour-in card the lovely Auntie Thespina sent, and he's sorted for colouring in and decorating ;)

So we've got plenty of crafty stuff left over to make thank you cards, and we had a little buffet of sausages and sandwiches and stuff he likes, but he wasn't overly hungry with his mouth ulcers :( He did pick at his cake though,and his little face lit up when he saw it with the candles, so overall he's had a good day. Now he's talking to granny and grandpa on the phone, then we'll watch some Pingu before he goes to bed.

Edit: Oh, and photos are here --> http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/slin…

Inspired by kareila's list of words Will is saying, I decided to make a note of the things Callum loves to repeat right now.

No matter what he picks up, it is 'too heavy'. No matter what he's doing, if I call to him or ask him to do something he's 'too busy'. Sometimes he's 'really busy'. He has chanted 'shut up' on more than one occassion, which received rather stern glances.

I'm usually a 'good boy' when I do something he recognises as good. We've explained I'm a girl, and he acknowledges mummy = girl, daddy = boy, Callum = boy, but I'm still, nevertheless, a 'good boy'.

He recites the evening routine of background TV programmes in order - the only time when we actually seem to focus even slightly on it when he's awake. So he'll mutter 'cbees, simpsons, charlie lola, no deal no deal' (Cbeebies for a few minutes, then the Simpsons, then back to Cbeebies for Charlie and Lola, then half an hour of playing, then Deal or No Deal on More 4 +1).

He talks on the phone now. We mentioned the word birrthday and he randomly came out with 'to you, happy birthday to you.' So he managed to say happy birthday to his grandpa.

He'll ask for 'chips' and 'sausages', and would probably live on both of them if we let him. He still likes to ask for 'tokee' (chocolate) though too, but also with the added factors of 'cake' and 'bicit' (biscuit) and 'cripits' (crisps).

I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of any just now. I will likely edit when I do.

Me: *spots something suspicious on Callum's hands* What's that?
Callum: Cream for the mouth
Me: *peers* *sniffs it* Aaaah, toothpaste.

He's had great fun washing his hands as per hospital procedure, and proves that even a 3 year old can follow instructions for infection prevention hand washing... ;)

So, Andy's reading Callum's bedtime story, and Callum's repeating each word after him. Tonight it was a book about a frog and stuff, since we've moved on from 'That's Not My Puppy' generally, though sometimes we still take it out as Callum can read it himself, more or less.

So, Andy's read out a sentence, and got to the word 'that'. Callum obediently repeats 'that' and (out of habit I think) carries on with 'my puppy'. I laughed so hard, that Callum picked it up and interspersed 'puppy' into the story from then on :)

Callum's first day 'properly' at the childminder today. Nursery was cancelled due to the snow, so the focus was on getting him to Eileen's house on time - which we managed, somehow!

I left him there, pretty much oblivious to the fact I was leaving and he was fine when Andy picked him up. Eileen said he was quite quiet when I left and he realised, just nodding when he was asked anything and stuff, but then the nine year old girl was off school too (due to them being closed) and she played with him for a while and he started talking happily.

They had some of the decorate-yourself gingerbread men from Sainsbury's we'd had before, so he got one there and took one home. When Andy got there he was playing with Owen, the nine month old baby she looks after too, and had likely been playing with Abbey too til she left :)

So, the childminder seems to be a hit, which is good, and nursery is sorted til the end of term before summer holidays, which is good, and by then we might be able to get him aplace in the ARI nursery - which would also be good!

Callum is off nursery today with a cold. When we tried to waken him up, he just rolled over and stayed sleeping, then came round a bit later, which is unlike him - he's usually desperate to waken up. He also refused cereal for a bit, so a day of rest with some calpol is in order, and hopefully he'll be well tomorrow to see his Auntie Thesp and Uncle Gavin.

We're noticing, already, a difference in Callum now he's started nursery, and it's only been two days - not even full days, at that.

Firstly, he doesn't say 'MINE!' any more - now it's 'My turn! Please!'

Secondly he has a tendancy to say 'Boing!' a lot :)

Thirdly, he says 'Got it' now when he's picked something up, or gone to retrieve something.

Fourthly, he came out with 'Decide!' when his dad was stopping him from getting to his bag of crisps by tackling him and making him giggle.

And just now, he tried to forcefeed his daddy some crisps and when his daddy said no he gave him a disapproving look, and said 'Oh, come on - please!'

His speaking, I think, is going to come along massively just by being around the other kids who do like to talk... lots... to everyone :)

Callum's first day at nursery went quite well. We got there at 9, were one of the first to arrive too, so managed to get into the school and through to his nursery room and to his peg before the masses ploughed in - and when they did, there was barely enough room for everyone to get near the pegs.

Callum didn't want to wear his gym shoes at all, and whined a bit when we Andy changed his shoes. He gave up whining though and wandered through to his class, and we were shown up to the parents room, and given a welcome pack and some leaflets about all sorts of things, and a couple of free books. He was due to leave at 10, so we went back down then and he was sitting playing with a wooden toy set with three other kiddies, looking quite content. Before he'd come with us to get his jacket and change his shoes though, he wanted to tidy up, but they all kept remarking about how cute he was and how well behaved he was. They think he's likely to stay longer tomorrow, to have the midmorning snack at 10, then maybe we can pick him up at 10.30.

He was very bouncy when we left, pulling at our hands to bounce along quicker than he'd normally walk. I put his backpack on his back on the way up, and after the initial grumbling he was ok with it, but we carried it back after I asked him if he wanted to put his bag on and he loudly proclaimed 'NO!'

It looks like it'll be good for him.

Callum had his first trip to the nursery today, and Andy and I accompanied him. We got there at the appointed time, and waited in the reception area for Mrs Biddie, the deputy head teacher, who wasn't long at all before she came over, and she was really nice.

She said hello to Callum, who displayed his knowledge of what a tree was, what a card was and then asked 'why?' she had a shiny star on her badge when she pointed it out. We were then led to the nursery where Callum had a name badge put above his new coat hook and a picture of a snail, and he hung up his jacket while we were quickly introduced to the nursery nurses darting about. The teacher in charge of the class wasn't in today (ill), so we shall see her next week. After that, he wandered off to play with the other kids and the toys and completely ignored us departing to fill in forms.

We were shown around a bit first, the wall where his pictures will be put up for us to collect, the small kiddies loo, etc. We then went to Mrs Biddie's office (argh, feels like I've been bad at school again to say such a thing...) and filled in a mass of paperwork which gives them permission to change his nappy, take him across the road to the park (nearby trips - anything further afield has its own permission slip apparently) and confirmed our details, his details and emergency contacts.

Then we were shown the Mini-Gym, which looked like *great* fun. We were given a small list of items he'll need (£1.50 per week for 'snacks' that he gets mid-morning, and gym shoes), and they'll provide an apron for him that a retired nursery nurse makes for £4.50, which isn't bad at all. We then went back to the nursery room where he was happily drawing in a corner with some pens, and when we went over he looked incredibly... not bothered to see us :) We eventually managed to persuade him to get his coat and then leave, but he did seem quite reluctant. On the way to his jacket he picked up a bit of 'toast' on the floor (a plastic toy) and gave it to his daddy. Daddy put it in the box on the table, and Callum immediately took it back out and put it in the toaster on the floor, which is obviously where he was asking his dad to put it. Stupid dad :)

He starts next wednesday at 9.00ish (they should be there between 9-9.15), and for the first few days we can wait upstairs for him cos he'll only be there for maybe an hour or so til he gets used to it - though judging by today, I'm not sure if that'll take long. Usually he'll be there til 11.15-30ish. We got to take hom his first, official nursery drawing too, which was nice :)

Today, the toilet training of Doom continued.

Alas, Callum was having... issues with his solid-matter part of going to the potty, so despite several trips to see if he'd get it all out, he didn't manage to. In the end though, after about the third slightly dirty nappy, we put a pair of ants on him and let him loose.

He had an accident, and was quite distressed. But it seemed that he'd managed to eventually get it out (both ways) which I guess was something. He is doing quite well though, apart from that. He is super-proud when he manages to do anything, and will excitedly point to the loo and squeal 'looooooooook!'.

We played Elefun with him earlier, which is fun. He used just one net, instead of the two he usually waves about, and seems to now get the gist of the game. He's still quite upset when it gets put away again though, but he managed to not cry.

Grease was on ITV2 today too, and I turned it over when it was quite near the end. Callum proceeded to dance wildly about to it (with me joining in admittedly), and giggled lots. It was repeated later, so he managed to see it from the beginning and dance his way through it.

He's now stringing sentences together quite well, when he can be bothered. Rather than just pointing or saying 'gone!', he'll happily say 'teddy has gone away', for example. He can also read some words in one of his books. He always picks 'That's not my puppy' to read, and has mastered the 'that's not my puppy' sentence, and recognises most numbers from 1-10 now too. It's quite amazing to see how fast he develops sometimes, from seemingly nothing, to almost perfect knowledge.

We had snow just after Christmas, and both he and his daddy enjoyed playing in it. When having a snowball fight though, Callum would politely ask his daddy to 'stop please' and check if he was ready before he threw a snowball, which was rather cute.

Oh, and as an edit: Callum saw in the New Year by having his final barf of 2005 at roughly 9.30pm, on December the 31st, falling asleep, waking up groggily to see the fireworks, glaring a bit, and going back to sleep.