AIBU to wonder if my 27 month old is ahead?

It’s the absolute best!! I love asking her questions about her day after nursery, or questions about what she would do if she was Cinderella - what would she wear to the ball? Her answers always surprise me, she comes up with a new word or concept every day! Blows my mind.

I can’t believe he can hit the ball over the net to you with accuracy!! That is definitely impressive - I think tennis lessons would be fantastic. We have a tennis tots weekend class near us that was quite fun.

I don’t really think it means anything to be honest if they are ‘advanced’ at 2. As many catch up at 3/4/5 or take over.
Einstein didn’t speak until he was 4…

He sounds much better company than a lot of adults I know.

He sounds a little ‘advanced’ but the thing is they all develop at different rates so a lot of this will might just even out. Apparently I was speaking full sentences before two and learned to read by myself before school, there’s nothing ‘advanced’ about me now 😆

Ditto my son was obsessed with kicking balls from the time he could toddle, and his motor skills and coordination were ‘advanced’ compared to other kids in his nursery. He could also hit a ball with a cricket bat at your son’s age - several years later the other kids have all caught up!

There's a big difference in speech development particularly at 24 months, 30 months and 36 months. It's helpful to know where the child is.

Sounds like he's slightly behind where he should be to me. I'm sure he'll catch up though

My dd is 26 months and speaks in full sentences with correct pronouns and tenses and humour… but I do personally think she’s pretty bright in that area! She can count to 12 and knows how old she is. She can’t catch a ball - we’re working on it and it’s hilarious seeing her try, she loves it. She’s never been at all advanced physically tbh, communication has always been her strong suit.

I also wondered if I ought to do more to support / push her, but tbh just reading a lot and talking and pointing things out and giving lots of information is enough… he’ll learn what he wants from that as he wants to! He sounds lovely 🥰

That sounds fine. Honestly, never gave any of this any consideration. If he’s walking and talking and exploring the world and playing and starting to interact with other children and eating proper food and moving in the direction of being toilet trained, that’s where he should be at this age.

He's 2 not 27 months wtf

I have no idea - my kids are in their 20s now. Both seemed bright enough at that age. I did nothing special. Read to them both every night. Encouraged their curiosity. Now they are grown and my son is engaging, charming but not at all academic. My daughter is not as charming but very academic (all A* student). Both are interesting to talk to and have great personalities.
If one was a genius I still wouldn’t have done anything different.

I would be teaching him to hold pencils and colour. Or stubby crayons. I’d read poetry and more complex stories. Sitting to complete a task is a big challenge for lots of boys. I’d get him to dress and undress himself. Get him to follow more complex instructions and play simple counting games. All fun bases things. Get him going with fine motor skills and get him to nursery to expand imaginative play.

Ha! One of my children is all grown up now, the other is not much older than your DS.

The all grown up one is all set to do very well in exams this summer.

I think your DS sounds advanced. Mainly because I've known children to often be particularly masterful at one standout aspect, but not usually multiple. My older DC was particularly good at language - like your DS - freakishly early talking in sentences, phonics and reading really clicked. It tracked all the way through school. But fine motor skills were always hard, maths never really clicked in the same way.

My friend's DC rode a bike really really early, but struggled with reading.

My younger DC was much later with talking, but is extremely good at drawing and writing, very precise with fine motor skills. Much less physically confident and capable than DC1 was.

I think your DC sounds ahead in lots of aspects, which is more unusual than having one standout area.

I also think people forget exactly what age children do things. I definitely have with my older child.

I think often we just need to get out of children's way for them to succeed. It sounds like your DS has been doing just fine with whatever you've been doing up until now, so I wouldn't actively change anything, just grow what you're doing reactively alongside him.

Sounds like he is doing really well and definitely beyond average for his age. But probably not gifted.

Ahhh he sounds lovely OP! But don’t worry, he’s still so little. Let him carry on what he loves doing (making you both laugh!) and I’d wait until he has been in school for a year or two if you want to explore this further.

The thing that stands out for me is hitting a ball with a racquet. The majority of children struggle with this in Reception and Year 1 unless they have had tennis/cricket/similar lessons.

Catching the ball two handed is great but not outside the realm of normal.

Speech at this age is so dramatically divergent in ability between children. It sounds like you have had the two ends of the spectrum of it with your two children! We were at a second birthday party the other week. The birthday boy was grunting in monosyllables and another child from his NCT group was narrating the entire event.

He is ahead, for some reason some people don't like to admit that about other people's children.
I don't think you need to worry about stretching him though, just play with him. If you enjoy planning activities a quick Google search will give ideas. I'd look at activities for 3-4 rather than 2 because his development does sound like it's more in that range.

i would say that’s advanced, yes. But you don’t need to do anything you’re not doing already. Lots of chatting. Lots of reading to him. I hate the idea of “stretching” children-they can end up out of shape!

After reading this thread I am mildly concerned my children might be idiots.

I'd say he's at the top end of the normal range i.e he's speaking better than lots of two year olds, but not to a level that's unheard of/needs intervention.

In terms of what you can do for him, monitor what he's interested in/What's he's working on and find ways to extend his play. For example if he's interested in balls and catching/throwing etc. do this with him. Get him to stand further away each time he makes a successful catch, get him to throw a ball at something (knocking down skittles), get him to throw a ball through a hoop/into a box etc. Just look for ways to support his interests, scaffold him to reach the next level.