We had a lot of the same questions as you, so I started with a few books
(here's the first one I looked at) and checked websites (like About.com-searching "Early Signs of Giftedness") for info on what the tested gifted child typically was doing when
they were babies. That answered the question for me.
Like your child, my son was a screamer. He demanded to be carried around all the time. But unlike yours, he
hated the baby carriers, so I ended up with "tennis elbow" from the weight of hauling him from room to room so he could switch on & off the light switches, look into closets, peruse the artwork, etc. Did I mention he was in the 96th percentile for weight?
One thing that he loved was the Baby Einstein videos. I knew that the AAP said not to allow children under two to watch TV, but I was desperate for a shower or toilet! I'd put him in his swing or playring, and pop one in. He would watch a half hour at a time before squirming for something else.
( Story-There was a scene in one of those videos where two elephants were sitting at a bistro table...there was a flower in a vase and salt & pepper shakers sitting on top. One elephant would sniff the flower and act like it was heavenly, then when the other was about to sniff it, the first would point behind him and when his attention was off the flower, his companion sneakily peppered the flower. When the other elephant saw nothing behind him, he shrugged and turned back around to sniff the flower...of course sneezing like only an elephant could! My son would laugh and laugh at that. It was the first "joke" he "got". He was about six months old. Later, he told me his first joke at three.)
I second the recommendation to keep trying to teach the sign language. Our son used it for about six months, and I think it cut down on his frustration tremendously.
