Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion The first thing.....What was it?

DD3 hated being on her tummy so much that she would roll almost all the way over to her tummy, then stop before she got there. I told DH that she knew what she was doing even at 3 and 4 mo-old, that if she rolled all the way over, she'd be on her dreaded tummy and scream like the dickens. So she just decided not to roll all the way over. She did not regularly roll onto her tummy until she was 5.5 mo-old, not because she couldn't but because she didn't want to. Of course this sounded crazy to our family, but DH and I somehow understood what she was thinking. She was a very colicky baby and constantly bored -- a change of scenery to the grocery store could hold her attention for quite some time.

Kriston, your car story about DS sounds like DD9-mo. I don't even know if DD9mo is GT because she's just 9mo, but she has been showing some unusual signs since birth which I've been more keen to notice since she's our 2nd child. Anyway, at around 8mo, she crawled to the TV stand and tried opening the door. I told her a firm, "No." DD cried. She tried it again. "No." Cried some more. Later, she'd go over to the door, put her hand up as if she was going to grab the doorknob, stop her hand halfway to its destination, and then cry without me saying a word. I almost started laughing at the sight of it; I guess I've become immune to bouts of crying and fit-throwing since DD3 could be crowned Best Drama Queen ever.

She'd have a fight on her hands for that title! My DS4 has a couple of years' experience on her, and he's quite the scene-maker!

That was another oddity! He wasn�t chubby- just surprisingly heavy. We used to comment that lifting him felt like lifting a bag of cement.

He always looked older too. I remember returning from a week long business trip with a coworker. My family met us in the baggage area. My coworker commented that he would never believe that DS was only 6 months old had he not seen me extremely pregnant a half year prior. After being away for a few days, it did seem apparent to me (for the first time) that he easily looked 18 months.

It certainly wasn't early physical ability. My twice-exceptional son was nothing like my former cheerleader daughter who walked and crawled early or like his cousins who get a lot of attention for their sports ability in our small town or even his dad who played football in the army and at age 59 is still very physically fit. My son couldn't draw or color in the lines or manipulate puzzle pieces very well and he refused to do these things out of frustration. As a baby he seemed floppy and he lacked the strength and stamina to do things the average baby could do physically. At 12 months he could not crawl or pull himself up or even stand for very long while holding on to something. The physical therapist who tested him at 12 months told us he was at the 6 month old level for physical skills.

What he could do well, even from the time he was a few months old, was communicate what he wanted. At 12 months his receptive and expressive language skills were 6 months ahead according to the speech language pathologist who tested him. So six months ahead in one thing and six months delayed in another. I remember thinking if we averaged those scores he was a normal 12 month old.

At 12 months and even months before that he was interested in everything around him and demanded to know "is dat" all day long. He couldn't move well by himself but he wanted me to carry him through the house so he could ask me what is dat about everything--even the spice rack with individual spices. He would point to one and I had to read it. He laughed every time I read "Tarragon" and I think he found it funny because his sister's name is Tara and he heard "Tara gone." He was recognizing individual letters and had favorites and would get really excited when he saw the letters A, B, P or Z on signs or anywhere. He loved books, especially alphabet books and he counted with the Teletubbies. My daughter, who read at 4, was never that interested in books. She liked books but she did not love them. I had never before seen a baby get so excited over books. Because it made him so happy and excited to learn things it was fun to show him new things.

So I guess I would have to say the insatiable curiosity and communication skills made him seem different.

I thought everything DD5 (turns 5 in May) did was perfectly normal. She was my first and I was quite clueless about milestones, etc. I expected her to know and do "stuff", because she did , KWIM? I recall the nurses commenting shortly after she was born that she struck them as a quietly, intense child and one nurse laughed that it was apparent that DD was taking "mental notes" and I was going to spend the next 18 years on my toes - Boo was 2 days old. Still I thought nothing of it. I figured they were just being polite to the new mom.

A few weeks later, (I have this dated as early/mid July in Boo's blog, but I am notorious for sticking a post-it on my computer with just a month), I had a home visit from a Parents as Teachers educator and after observing Boo for about15 mins., she turned to me and said, "I've been a child development specialist and a teacher for nearly 15 years and I have never seen a child so young do *that*!" Boo had been on her stomach on a Boppy pillow and had dropped a toy out of reach in front of her; so she pushed herself forward off the pillow, practically landing on her face. Her legs were on the pillow now and her upper body down (plank style). She then rolled herself over twice. Now fully off the pillow and back onto her stomach and where she could see around the pillow to the toy, still unfortunately out of her reach. She then pushed up with her arms and did a sort of turn. So she was looking directly at the toy. Again, onto her arms this time a mini push forward and then another, both times landing on her face and I was certain she'd hurt herself and cry. Again not a peep, only silent determination. She got up again, arms fully extend resting on her hands (cobra style) and struck! This time she reached the toy, snatched it up and let out giant giggle!

Again, no big deal...right? All kids under 3 months do stuff like that!

Thus far, the nurses were spot on!

DS3 was a sleepy baby when born. He was a little "early" born on exactly what the doctors consider full-term 37w1d and was jaundiced. Three weeks later at what would have been the 40 week mark, if he had stayed cooking, he "woke up" with a ferocious intensity and an exacting nature that he *still* has to this day. He has abundant energy a strong sense of justice. His loud intesity made me think he was "different", I thought it was because his sister had this quiet, determination about her and he was so very loud. Now I know better.

mizzou, I love your story about your DD and the professional. That reminded me of my story #2:

1. When we got DD home from the hospital, my mother saw DD scream and cry until I silently entered the room, then DD stopped crying and tracked me intently until I came to her. My mother said, "She recognizes you!" and made a big deal out of that.

2. I attended a meeting at a local children's organization with three child development experts. I brought DD then 10 mos. and was very happy the conference room was lined with kiddie toys. Our meeting lasted an hour and 15 minutes - DD played independently with toys the whole time. The professionals said, "How old is she?" and then, "We've never seen that."

3. DD said 50 words at 18 mos. and 500+ three months later.

I was actually in GT denial for a long time. I started to question things when he was closer to 4 years old.

My oldest son had a gross motor delay so we actually thought he was at the opposite end of the IQ pool. I do have a picture of him at around 9 months barely sitting up in a boppy pillow holding 3 stacking cups. He had great fine motor control in comparison to his lack of gross motor skill.

Around that time he also was saying many words and signing many more. I have his first "real" words recorded as "Tickle, Tickle" while trying to tickle my arms at nine months. My son also loved playing with quarters before his first birthday--he never even tried to eat one. He liked to hold them and line them up. Looking back I'm sure everyone thought I was crazy for letting him play with quarters.

Before I had my first child, I was told about occasional "quiet alert" periods in newborns, and that they would be distinct from other behaviors. I never noticed a occasional alertness in my firstborn; he was always alert when he was awake. As for the quiet part, well...that didn't happen so often.

My second one was born 3 1/2 weeks early, and boy, could he eat. By one month, he was at the 50th height and weight percentiles for month-old babies who'd been born at term. He was a very happy baby, and kicked his legs well before he could smile to show us he was happy.

My daughter was fussy. She had to fuss for 90 minutes every evening, starting around 7 or 8. It was summertime, and I'd wrap her in a little blankie and take her for a walk. She'd calm down and soak up what was going on, but as soon as we got home, the fussing would resume until she'd got her 90 minutes in. My mom told me that all my sisters and I were the same way!

Val

My DD4 was like this, only a few months later than yours. Unlike with the boys, we couldn't tell when she starting saying sentences --- chunks of speech just started coming out of her three or so months after she turned one. She could say two or three words understandably, then garbled stuff, then two or three more understandable words, etc. It was all continuous. We figured that she knew what she was saying, even if we didn't!

My first thing that impressed me with ds was the lack of sleep starting around 3 months. And his eyes. He just had these huge saucer eyes which never closed (hardly ever, anyway).
Every baby picture we have is of him completely lazer-beaming everything...a crafty friend of ours took some rolls of film just of ds and she ended up making a t-shirt for Dh that was all the pictures pretty small like on a proof sheet - they were stacked 3 frames tall and each one was about 1" wide across Dh' chest. Basically it was just like white rectangles with eyes and more eyes. He was intense, still is.