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    #81205 07/26/10 01:48 PM
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    I have seen alertness at a very young age being mentioned numerously as the first sign of giftedness.

    What�s your definition of alertness?

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    A baby who is alert will look around at interesting things (movement, sounds, etc.). A baby who is not seems like it is sleeping with it's eyes open.

    no5no5 #81207 07/26/10 01:59 PM
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    Originally Posted by no5no5
    A baby who is alert will look around at interesting things (movement, sounds, etc.). A baby who is not seems like it is sleeping with it's eyes open.


    That... and, well, DD screamed the first two days of her life and hardly slept at all. But maybe she just hated being in the hospital as much as I did. laugh

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    There was a very clear difference between Mr W and other infants. At 4 months he would watch TV shows all the way through, play with toys, watch us intently, interact with others, recognized people, etc. And he was a preemie.

    Other infants at twice his age appeared drugged even though they were normal.


    Dottie #81229 07/26/10 04:32 PM
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    People often commented that DD was unusually alert. I thought they were just trying to be nice.

    I don't remember comments about DS's alertness.

    Cathy A #81231 07/26/10 04:42 PM
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    I don't define it as being 'awake' but rather as being interested in their surroundings and interacting with people and their environment. Almost like you can see the wheels turning behind their eyes.

    Both of my kids were super alert from the very beginning. They didn't miss a trick. I always had that feeling that someone was watching me constantly. My first slept very little... just cat naps through the day and up multiple times each night. I swear she was afraid to miss something by closing her eyes.


    Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it. — L.M. Montgomery
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    Not sure what the definition should be, but we were told from the being how impressed everyone was with DD's alertness. She was a C-section baby and helped deliver herself which freaked the doctor out. He had never experienced anything like that and being the head of the department he has delivered many infants. The nurses adored her because she was alert and active during the two days we were there. I remember laughing at one of the nurses who was gushing over DD and saying that you probably tell everyone that. She assured me they don't and my DD was different. Different how? I really didn't know.

    DD was also a baby who never slept. She took cat naps and was up after 15 minutes ready to go. It was as if she was afraid she would miss out. At her 2 week check up the doctor was shocked at her self soothing abilities. When she laid her on the table DD was not happy about it but cooed herself out of the crying that was soon to follow.

    We also noticed her attention span was lengthy and I have to consider this as part of alertness. She would recognize individuals and expect patterns such as when we visited my mom and grandmother. My grandmother would always reach out to hold her first but when DD was around 2 months my grandmother decided my mom should get the first cuddle time. This did not set well with DD and she became very upset. She looked confused by the whole experience. LOL

    OH and during her first few weeks of her life she was consistently frowning. It really concerned me but I came to realize it was her way of focusing her eyes because she wanted to see everything. Once her eyes were fully functional her frowns went away.

    I remember describing her as an old soul. There was just something in her eyes that looked like she knew things. This intensity that you could not escape ... if that makes sense.

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    Well, just recently I was watching home videos of my little girl. I am baby crazy right at the moment. DD is just so grown up now. I miss my baby. So, I can comment with some authority here.

    As soon as DD came out she went from the nurses to daddy. I was out of it. I have a video of DH holding her and she just stared into DH's eyes. The poor thing had that gunk in her eyes, but she refused to close her eyes or look away.

    I have a video from DD's birthday where she is lying in her isolette with her eyes WIDE open, rooting. She pulled the blanket into her mouth and chewed on it. Eyes wide open.

    I have a video of my step-mom holding her when she was still in the hospital. She was very awkwardly holding her over her shoulder. DD literally propped her arms up on her shoulder and lifted her head all the way up. She was completely supporting her head. There was not even the slightest bob. She held it there for a good 30 seconds, looking at me.

    (I am still quite confused on how floppy babies' heads are supposed to be.)

    In the video of my sister holding DD for the first time, DD followed the camera 180 degrees, turning her head as far as she could each way.

    I also have a video of her looking up at me while I am stroking her head and she smiles this huge grin. She was less than a week old. I did not count it as a smile because I was touching her, but still remarkable. She started really smiling by 3 weeks. Tons of videos of that.

    A couple months after DD was born, my step brother's wife had a baby girl too. My whole family was making comparisons, bla bla bla. They came to the conclusion that because my neice was born via C-section she was not as alert. Huh?

    There are no other babies in our families, but I have always been shocked by the sleepyness of other babies I see.

    From about 4 months on (When DD could sit independantly) she looked like she was following conversations. She looked at who was talking, to the next person, and so on...


    Austin #81239 07/26/10 06:19 PM
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    It is funny you mention other babies seeming to be drugged. That is exactly what I said. My second child lifted her head on the examination table and smiled at three weeks also. She was just "THERE."

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    Our son was alert from birth also. The nurse in the hospital commented on it, but it meant nothing to me at the time. We also have photos and videos of him holding his head up and looking around when other babies are just lying there.

    As for the books, I read to him from the day we got him home and I am shocked to look back at photos and videos and see his interest in those first books. He wiggled and stared at the books, but again it did not mean much to me at the time. I remember being embarrassed when the pediatrician asked what his favorite toys were and I told her "books." He also flipped the books to the correct side to "read" them correctly left to right and front to back. I kept experimenting with him by giving him random books the wrong way and he always set them correctly.

    He barely napped even as an infant, preferring to look around...in fact he got my husband to carry him around the house instead of napping. He was non-verbal, but refused to be propped, laid down in a crib, etc...he "relaxed" by those walks around the house instead of true naps. At soon after a year, he threw his pillow on the floor and jumped out of the crib onto the pillow...and that was the end of the crib and any further attempt at a formal nap.

    I have so many more alert baby stories, but I have to repeat that I didn't think anything of it at the time. We were one of the categories of parents that were "shocked" at the gifted id. I am Ivy League educated with a doctorate, so I expected my son to be bright, but I was 39 when he was born and didn't know baby behavior so everything he did was normal to us. Really, I have to thank Ruf for her list: after I read it, I exclaimed to DH, "Did you know it wasn't typical for DS to do this, this, this, and this???" We were/are both comparatively clueless parents ha ha ha. Nan

    Last edited by NanRos; 07/26/10 06:23 PM. Reason: paragraph spaces
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