Hello! I've been lurking for awhile now, but this is my first post. My identical twin boys just turned 2, and I'm hoping you all can give me some insight. They were both later walkers & talkers (14 and 15 months respectively). To be honest, I was a little concerned about their development in those areas because they seemed so far behind many of their peers. Around the time they were 16 -17 months old, J started pointing out and naming numbers in a "Curious George" book. Around 18 months or so, both J & W became fascinated with a toy that teaches letter sounds, names, etc. It drove me nuts listening to it, because no matter what mode I put it on, they always put it back to playing letter sounds. Within a few weeks, J started pointing to alphabet blocks and saying the sound of the letter on it. I was a little shocked and tried to quiz him by writing letters down and asking him what they said, but he wasn't interested in being quizzed at all. To this day, they are both very resistant to being quizzed. By 21 months, J & W could identify all the upper case letters by letter name. Around that time, we realized that they would bring us almost any of their books if we asked for it by title. To make a long story short, at 2 years old, they both know the alphabet (upper & lower case, in order, and all of the letter sounds), numbers 1-12, rote count to 15, a bunch of shapes, and around 6 or 7 colors. They also appear to have several of their books memorized. Their speech is about on par, maybe even a little behind, with other 2-year-olds I've met.

Here's the thing: My husband and I both really, honestly, truly thought that this was completely the norm. The boys rarely do these things around others, and we just assumed that other kids were doing the same things at home. It wasn't until a friend of mine mentioned that she was teaching her 3-year-olds the alphabet by going over the letters every day that I questioned our assumptions about what most other kids are doing.

I don�t really know what I�m asking for in posting this here. In fact, I feel like a poser or something even posting on a Gifted Issues Discussion Forum. I�m confused, and I don�t feel like I can talk to anyone IRL about what the boys are doing.

Are these things really that unusual? Any advice or input you guys have would be deeply appreciated.

Thanks,
Julie