No bragging please!!!

Maria - posted on 08/15/2010

just read all the messages feel bad now for poting above message so im sorry
but in reply to how everyone thinks shes very clever ie mensa i wouldnt neccesarily think that
and my daughter like i said above can do alot and i am NOT pushy parent at all i just talk to my children normally instead of in baby talk my daughter loves to play with other children and uses her imagination alot she puts her tamborine round her face and says im a lion and gets a necklace with a big trinket on it and says shes a doctor all without any pushing she amazes me sometimes but i defintiely dont think she is mensa material comments like that are just jelousy in my opinion

im sure your son is fine like another comment said boys are sower but then they catch up and tend to be smarter so youll have the last laugh when he becomes president!!!lol chin up smile x

Maria - posted on 08/15/2010

sorry my eldest daughter who is soon 2 in 2 weeks can do quite alot have you seen your gp about your son? my daughter was at the same stage just before her 1st birthday saying about 25 words!

but now she can count very high up to 29 on her own and then if i tell her thirty forty fifty shell do the 31 32 33 etc on her own she speaks very well

she knows her primary colours black purple pink white brown,she knows shapes circle squaretriangle star and heart

she can tell you pretty much every animal (not ridiculous things though that most adults dont know)

she can point out every body part including the embarrasing ones(lol)

if i pretend to go wrong in her book she knows and corrects me

she points at heart lungs brain

someone who i dont know very well sent me a birthday card with a 3 on it intstead of a 2 its not bragging i dont think just being proud



i was pregnant with my 7month old daughter when my almost 2 year old was 8 months so by the time she was 1 i didnt do any rough and tumble play or take her to the park much i sat and read books with her and learning programmes i never forced it just went along with what she liked



everyone is different and develops at fifferent stages my eldest didnt crawl till 10.5 months but then waled on her first birthday wheras my 7 month old crawled at 6 months

if you really get worried call your gp or health visitor



also my daughter has never been dumped in a nursery shes alwyas had pretty much one on one attention till my youngest was born

Linda - posted on 08/14/2010

Hi, I have a 5 year old that probably couldn't do all this girl does, let alone my 2 year old. Kids should be kids. There's far to much preassure on kids to grow up too quickly. My 5 year olds target for next term at school is to write his name with all the letters in the right order ( fair enough we did give him a name like Sebastian which is a bit harder tan Ben or Sam I suppose) and write the numbers to 20. School says he is a really good learner. He might not be the best in the class at writing but he is brilliant at building Lego space ships, climbing, making his baby sister smile, building really tall block towers, folding paper aero planes, splashing the entire bathroom with his 2 year old brother, e.t.c... far more useful things for a 5 year old...
Don't worry, they will all get there in the end and then we complain time goes too quick. Just enjoy them when they are little as I have a 15 year old step son and they are not all that much fun most of the time... ;-)

Emily - posted on 08/14/2010

It is hard having kids around the same age as your friends. Some parents cannot help but compare your kids. It hurts reading because you feel your child is behind... that is not true at all. Your child is just different. I know its hard, I deal with this as well. I stumble and have a hard time being happy for my friend when her daughter is ahead of mine. Good luck.

Stacey - posted on 08/12/2010

I have 5 kids and they are all pretty smart I think. But they have all developed at different rates and developed their skills at different times. Babies and toddlers brains are like little sponges and they soak up information at a great rate and whether or not they can spit it back at you at an early age or not does not matter. It is in there, and I have found that in most cases by the time you child reaches school age no-one cares if he or she began talking at 6 months or 18months, because by then they are all talking!! Just keep talking to your toddler about everything and encourage him to explore his world and just talk about it, He is learning even if he can't express it yet.

Valerie - posted on 08/10/2010

I can totally relate my friend. My aug 30 baby is super smart , but what this lady is sayin does not make sense. A normally developing child doesn't do that..I suspect she is playing it up to make herself feel better. I am a 44 year old mom (oops! Thank you, Lord!) but I also have a 26 y.o married son and a 24 y.o daughter...been there, done that..both successful. Ignore her and let your baby be a baby..trust me, it goes way too fast!

Sara - posted on 08/08/2010

Every mother likes to brag about their child. We can't help it. We love them, and they amaze us! However... just because a child is a bit advanced verbally now doesn't mean that she will necessarily be a genius as an adult. Infancy through childhood is a period of RAPID learning... but you can't learn every skill at once. While her kid might be working on language skills, yours might be working on gross or fine motor skills. So maybe your kid can build a much more elaborate block tower or put together a puzzle faster, or jump on one foot where her kid can't do that. Your kid will catch up verbally later, and her kid will catch up physically later.
However, if you are worried about a specific area of your child's development, mention it to your pediatrician and see if you need to do a little early intervention to get him back on track. Sometimes there are minor physical issues that can delay speech in toddlers.

Alizbeth - posted on 08/05/2010

I feel the same. My son is smart but stubborn. He rolls his eyes and walks away if we try to get him to speak, or worse cries out of frustration. He says words that benefit him. I think it also depends on if your child is in daycare or if you are a stay at home mom. In daycare they learn so that they can keep up with older kids. The only words my son puts together is bye I love you or more "bye uh luh." as he waves. He can't count and he knows the ABC's song but not the letters. He barks when he sees dogs and meows when he sees cats. He gives high fives, fist bumps and kisses and understands when I tell him to do something.

Valerie - posted on 08/03/2010

I talked to someone today who has a son one month older than mine. He isn't putting 2 words together either. They had him evaluated and the lady told them that sometimes when you are asking him to say "cat", he's looking at the cat and thinking about why the cat does certain things. He's just thinking about it at a totally different level.

Ashley - posted on 08/03/2010

As I learned the hard way what you say above is far from normal. Plus girls learn and develop quicker than boys. My son is two years old and we are trying to get him to talk....Every child is differant and some need a extra little push but there is nothing wrong with that. And after 6 months of help my son only says dada, ball and nigh nigh (night night) and does the sign more. But he is very intelligent

Tiffany - posted on 08/01/2010

Its a well known fact girls begin communication earlier than boys. Their brains have more synapses and boys don't catch up until they're about 7. Don't feel bad. Girls are just quicker than boys at that age. If it makes you feel better, my 23 month old is hardly talking either. His 2 words together are "Whats that?" and he says "Zat?" instead.. lol..

Tabatha - posted on 07/30/2010

I completely identify with you! It is suspected that my 23 month old has Apraxia. He has full understanding of everything we say and proves it, but he can't talk. Everything is in vowels. (Apraxia is a condition where they have the word based knowledge, but the communication center of their brain doesn't relay the message to their mouth/jaw/tongue muscles) He knows a few words in sign, so that's something and he's very good at communicating in other ways, but when I hear children younger than him talking away, I feel pretty sad. On the otheer hand, he's quite far ahead developmentally in other areas (doing puzzles, stacking blocks, dancing...) Every child is different and every child is special!! It's also entirely possible that your friend is embellishing a bit...I have a friend like that as well. Her 18 month old is already ROLLER-SKATING according to her.....

Amanda - posted on 07/25/2010

my 23 month old is occasionally stringing 4 words together, and constantly astounds us at how she uses them properly. however she does have 2 MUCH older siblings and i'm sure that has ALOT to do with it. ABC's and counting? not even a little. She's sort of starting to identify colours. all i know is she's on track, exactly where she should be, and is obviously a smart little thing, so i'm not concerned. Every child moves at his or her own pace after all.

I hate bragging parents too. Wonderful, you're raising a genius, good for you. i'm perfectly content to rais a normal, happy, well-adjusted toddler myself tyvm.

Amanda - posted on 07/23/2010

don't worry my 23 montrh old daughter is the same she cant count to 20 so you have nothing to worry about

Pamela - posted on 07/22/2010

if it makes you feel any better the way your friend discribes her child not only shows that she puts a lot of pressure on her daughter, but also discribes the classic signs of ashbugers (spelling?) syndrome in toddlers! my friend used to brag about how her 18 month old could hold adult conversations, spell, do math, etc. that was until he was diagnosed last year and the doctor asked "yes but did he have an imagination? could he self soothe? could he relate to children his own age?" and she had to say no.

each child is different and if she values the ability to count over happiness you shouldn't feel like a bad parent, you should feel sorry for the child! :)

Millie - posted on 07/22/2010

My son is also 23 months and can't say his own name yet. There are just parents out there that start early to teach thier kids those things. Be proud of what your son can do and all that he is learning! Also I think I heard that girls are verbal faster than boys.

Sara - posted on 07/21/2010

Yes, I understand - She could list a thing or two that she does - but to keep on & on ... that's just rubbing it in!

Valerie - posted on 07/21/2010

Thanks Angie and Lori, that helped. My son does watch Barney, so hopefully that helps too. When I went to Kinder, way back when, it was just playtime. There is so much pressure on kids these days. When I was pregnant I was told to get on the wait list for a nationally recognized pre-school. I just didn't want my son to have that kind of pressure. Some might say I should have listened!

Lori - posted on 07/21/2010

Don't worry about it Valerie, my 23 month old knows her ABCs and can count -- not in order of course, but who cares! She doesn't need to know what a first grader knows yet so just keep encouraging him to speak and that is good enough, he'll get it soon!

Angie - posted on 07/21/2010

I have a 23 month old daughter as well, She is very bright also. But there is thing called rubbing things in your face. I just wanted to say Every kid learns on their own pace. Not all children are fast, normal, or even slow! Its their pace. There isnt a normal 2 year old, because they are all differant in there own ways. But I do have to admit, When your child counts to 10 for the first time, you will be so happy, you will want to tell everyone. I do know, how you feel. My daughter was so slow at getting teeth. My friends would be like She should have teeth by now, My kids got them way before now. It gets old fast. I couldnt help but to compare her to other kids alot to. I dont know if you all do? I can tell you guys that I started letting my daughter watch Barney ABC and 123's and within a month She could do what they did and sing all the songs. So She does know her abc's and 123's. It got on my nerves cause She wanted to watch it like 80x a day everyday. lol But Barney Shows Taught her alot. SO I cant take the credit for it!

Hope your friends are more understanding. Angie

Valerie - posted on 07/21/2010

Kristina, thanks! My son is smart too. He can point to his body parts, eyebrows to elbows. He's very mechanically minded which he didn't get from me. He knows the words we are saying to him, I've decided he's going to be the strong, silent type.

Kristina - posted on 07/20/2010

My son is also 23 months old and isn't putting two words together yet either. He does understand just about everything we say to him or ask him to do though. He can also point to almost any part on his body we ask him to, so I know he is smart. What I have been doing lately to get him to talk more is just get him to repeat words back to me such as cup, open, more, thank you, I love you. Also instead of him waving goodbye to people I say to him "use your words". We have been practicing the word potty lately too, it will definitely come in handy! I am not worried about his progress at all and in fact I am very proud of my little ones progress in life and prefer to not push him too hard. He will have to learn enough later when he starts school.

Valerie - posted on 07/20/2010

Thanks, Carol. That makes me feel a little bit better. If this is all true, this is a very unusual child. When I post to FB it is usually, well, my child put a pea up his nose today!!! No bragging here, for sure.

Johnny - posted on 07/19/2010

Well, my kid's fairly good verbally, but she can't do any of the stuff that your bragging friend's kid can. She does speak in full sentences and knows most of her ABC's, and can sort of count to 10, but she also often mixes things up or counts, 1, 2, 13, 14, 9.... And my kid definitely does not know her colors, I am actually beginning to wonder if she's color blind, lol. She can quote entire books... Bernstein Bears Old Hat, New Hat she knows cover to cover...because she recognizes the pictures!!!! It's not like she can read! Duh! Wishful thinking.

Perhaps your friend has confused months with years and her 26 YEAR old really isn't that bright ;-P It's funny to read that, because having worked in daycare for many years, and knowing many 2-4 year olds right now, I can not think of a single kid who I have ever met who was doing all those things by 26 months. She should probably enroll her in Mensa ASAP.
I wonder how much time they are spending drilling spelling into a 2 year old instead of allowing her to independently play and develop an imagination. That kid will be in big trouble when she grows up and she can't develop her own thoughts without Mommy there to coach her.

And by the way, who the heck "communicates in paragraph form"? Can someone tell me how to do that verbally? I think I missed that lesson somewhere along the way.