Two-year-old into its ranks

Mensa welcomes two-year-old into its ranks, second toddler this year

By Eric Pfeiffer 

Mensa must be looking for young blood: The high-IQ society has for the second time this year welcomed a member who is just two years old.

The Victoria Times Colonist reports that Anthony Popa Urria is the youngest Canadian ever admitted into Mensa and has an estimated IQ of 154. The toddler can recite the alphabet backward and forward, count to 1,000 and name the planets in the solar system. He is, however, only the second two-year-old admitted to Mensa this year.

In March, Emmelyn Roettger was welcome into Mensa one month shy of her third birthday. She is the youngest U.S. member of the group. Amazingly, doctors at first thought Roettger suffered from autism, because she appeared to avoid eye contact with other individuals.

"It turned out that she just needed glasses!" her mother Michelle Horne, 41, told MSNBC. "It was so obvious that any delays she had were vision-related. From there on out, she just took off."

In this video, Emmelyn shows off her impressive reading skills:

Popa Urria has incredible comprehension skills of his own, reportedly speaking in three languages (English, Spanish and some Romanian).

"He was very alert since he was about four months old. He was curious, looking around," his grandmother Felicia told the Times Colonist.

"He wasn't even speaking yet, but my mom would have three flash cards up and she would say, 'Pick the letter C,' and he would point to it," added his mother, Laura.

Yet despite their similarly high IQ's, Popa Urria and Roettger's parents have different educational background. Neither of Roettger's parents belong to Mensa, and they say they have been very surprised by their daughter's exceptional development. Meanwhile, Popa Urria's mother reportedly holds four degrees, including a master's in economics.