Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Feedback please: Is this normal for your children?

All of those things were normal for us, but our son turned 2 in October, so we have no idea where he would test. I am just here because he seems different. One thing though on 9. We have been lucky in that our kiddo is a great sleeper once he is finally down (we do somersaults to settle), but that is right around the time our son started having nightmares, the occasional night terror, and worst of all sleepwalking. All are gone now, well except for an occasional nightmare that pops up if something unduly frightening happens during the day.

Our kiddo taught himself the alphabet and moved onto counting to 39. He can identify any number to 100, but doesn't care to count higher& that is fine with us. He is now decoding words. Loves street signs, "s.t.o.p. spells stop", "y.i.e.l.d. spells yield.". The solar system is a new obsession. He will happily talk your ear off about Jupiter.

We just try to follow his lead. His only questions at this point are what questions. Haven't had any why questions yet but he seems to just know.

As to next steps on your end... Not sure how valuable my advice is to you but we went through tons of puzzles. Jigsaw puzzles were great but I always waited too long to go to more pieces. He would fly through them and start doing them upside down to make them harder. Once he mastered the 48 piece ones he seemed sick of jigsaw puzzles so we moved onto magnetic mighty minds. He still likes those.

Gymnastics is fantastic.

Music is great.

Recently we have noticed he is less tolerant of doing repetition with skills he has mastered. We have never done any drills or flashcards or anything like that but we used to do a parent tot swim class that did the same thing every week. They told us 2 months in that he mastered all of the skills for the following year but That he had to stay in the class due to age and that he would be fine because kids like routine. He did ok for another couple of months but then started getting fussy about 30 seconds into an activity and asking to do the next activity... By another couple of classes it was a full blown meltdown for not switching activities... Then a full blown meltdown simply forentioning it was time to go to swimming class. He remained perfectly happy at home and at gymnastics, but he was fully bored at swimming... The point of this long rambling story is that you know your child. I ignored my instincts too long with swim class. It is absolutely possible for a kid under 2 to be fussy because he is bored and is ready for more...

Hope to see you posting more. I really enjoy reading this forum.

Sorry for typos and grammar issues. On my phone. Between fingers slipping and auto correct, it can be a challenge...

My ds5 has not yet been tested or labeled gifted yet, but did exhibit a lot of those characteristics at that age (2,3,5,6, and 7). Luckily, ds is a pretty good sleeper even though he has severe reflux.

I agree with the others here, saying that puzzles were huge at that time and books. At 15 months, I gave him a tag leapfrog pen (with books); which he loved and started playing the build- a- words games. Also, by 18 months, we started playing games like Memory and Bingo. For his energy, gymnastics, swimming (he loved it, because he was the only student in his class, so his teacher did a lot more with him), and lots of playground time. However, socially things were a little hard, because he spoke 50/50 Spanish and English. He would get frustrated when the kids wouldn't talk back (because he was speaking Spanish) or think he was a baby (he was/is small).

Good luck and enjoy! It's challenging, but fun!

That's interesting your kids all liked puzzles at that age. Mine didn't like traditional puzzles (still doesn't), but he liked the puzzles you could do on the computer (e.g., the Thomas the Tank Engine website). He liked being read to. A lot.

My DS loved puzzles too. He had fine motor challenges which got in his way, but he still enjoyed them. He ADORED mazes. We had this retro game system "Atari Flashback" that had a game called Maze Craze which he loved. None of us (adults included) could touch him. He won every time! He was about four, I think. Ultra competitive DD used to get so mad, lol.

Mazes, yes! DS loved them around 3 or 4, and then found Tower Defense games where you create your own mazes. He was obsessed.

My DD had common ground with 2,5,6,7, and 8. We can't claim 3, because she was being taught early.

1 didn't happen until later, when she saw me taking things apart and just HAD to know what was going on in there. I lost count of how many times I was asked to remove the toilet tank lid, and describe the parts and their functions.

As for #4, DD had limited (or rather, unexceptional) fine motor skills, probably because we kept her in mitts for the first month of her life, until we were confident she'd stopped gouging at her face with her nails. But gross motor skills... yikes. At 14mos she could throw a ball in the general direction she had intended, at a level I'd seen before in some 4-5yos. She could also kick a ball unerringly straight, over and over again.

Thanks for sharing, Dude! I recall reading your posts and your daughter sounds like a gem.

I ask this not to doubt you, but rather to inform myself as a newbie parent: is the consistent kicking/throwing unusual at 14mos? I ask because our pediatrician was floored that my son would kick a ball well around 9 months, when he was walking but still holding my finger. That boy has wicked aim and can do a decently firm shot while running at a makeshift "goal" now (e.g. A mixing bowl, box). Ditto for throwing-- like your daughter, he has a solid arm. Maybe I just take this for granted.

Thanks for recounting your experience, SAHM! It sounds you have a sharp little man!

I appreciate the tips you've shared--particularly your son's experience with boredom in the swimming lessons. I'll have to be mindful of that with our music sessions, as they do tend toward repetition, though they only run for 14 classes.

I think that maintaining constant stimulation is the key challenge I face with my son. Mealtimes are our worst fussy time outside of settling for sleep because he's physically restrained. So far, what's worked has been to read while eating, sing songs with gestures, or watch short clips on the iPad and mime/discuss what we see.

Those are good to know, thanks Melessa. How do you like the Leapfrog systems?

The consistent aim is VERY unusual at that age. My kiddo was also advanced in gross motor with good aim. It all really started to sink in after reviewing this site...

http://www.pbs.org/parents/childdevelopmenttracker/two/index.html

Check out ages 1 - 5 milestones. I am guessing you will be as floored as I was...