-Does she sound gifted?
Certainly could be. You have genetics on your side and a lot of early milestones. I still have yet to meet a kid that was WAY advanced (I'm not talking about walking early but massive sentences like you said, super early, untaught reading etc.) at an early age and then evened out. Every now and then on these boards you hear a rumor about such a kid but I've never met one in real life or read any articles/research about such kids.
-What did your kids act like when they were almost 2?
DD is 18 months. I would say she's not obscenely verbal but certainly has over 300 words between signing and speaking (her speaking is slowly catching up to her signing) and can sign up to 4 word sentences. She also is exposed to 3 languages daily so I wonder if that affects her speaking, though, to some extent...
-Do I need to get her evaluated. I can't see any reason to, but I am worried she might miss out on things without the proper ID.
No, or at least not yet. Like others said, I think 5 is the absolute earliest for a semi-accurate result and something like 7 or 8 is better? But I'm certainly not an expert here.
-Is IQ hereditary?
Yeah, and my *guess* since women are more likely to study now and getting higher degrees it will probably become more so in the future (because in principle smarter people can meet and reproduce and aren't forced to marry someone more locally). But that's totally my assumption there.
From my own personal experience both DH and my families are filled with gifted adults and we live scattered across the globe so it's not just in the water.
-Her language is what really sets her apart. At 22 months, she talks nonstop in complete and complex sentences. I have counted over 20 words. Let's see, today she said, "I want to go to Jason's deli because I know I am going to get a lollipop after I eat my vegetables there." She also can say 4 and 5 syllable words near perfect. My question is" She is obviously ahead in the verbal area. Does that ever even out?
I'd doubt it. I work with a number of gifted adults and basically I've seen two camps the early talkers (sounds like your DD) and the late talkers (one that didn't talk until 4). The early talkers never seemed to slow down.
-I am a stay at home mom and devoted to her. We go to museums as she demands. We go to the playground. She loves playing in the backyard. But, that is it. No school. Do I need to get her signed up?
Not unless you want to or she desires it. DD has recently started daycare, it's been interesting... BUT it seems like FINALLY she's gotten the stimulation that she needs and has been sleeping way more (14 hours a day when before it would be somewhere between 10-12 hours). It's a multi-age daycare where most of the kids are quite a bit older AND in a new language so she's had quite the mental input there along with tons of free time to play.
-Should I be teaching her how to read? She knows letters but I have not told her what sounds they make. (I wish I had way back when when she asked the names. I should have just told her the sounds, right?)
I'm definitely in the no camp and tend to think actively teaching a young child does more harm than good. That being said, I see nothing wrong with introducing DD to activities that she likes that are reading related and also answering her questions. So, for instance, DD loves starfall and I let her play on there. She also has some sight words and points at other words to learn them and I always tell her what they are. I just don't actively sit down and teach her phonics/grammar.
