Is my baby gifted?

[Daddynotmummy84]

Hi all. First time poster, long time lurker.
With this being my first child, and the current issues making it difficult to compare my son to other babies development, I thought I'd ask for opinions here. A little of where my boy is at. He's 17 months, almoat outgrowing his 18-24 month clothes (bloody expensive). He can speak around 80 spoken words and 40ish in sign language. He's able to stack things really well (his best so far was 14 blocks). When it comes to puzzles etc he does the shapes in the slots really easy, same with the animal pizzles etc. Also, he only has to see you do something once, occasionally twice, and he can do it himself (within limits obviously). To this extent he now has to have his own tool kit and power drill out when I do DIY to do his own little project. He feeds himsel, helpa with food preparation, loads and unloads the washer and drier, even walks around picking up bits of rubbish to put in the bin or pulls the vaccum out and uses it (it's always on, the plug is behind a secure lock so he can't get to it. What I want to know, is this normal for a kid his age?
Oh, I feel I should mention he was crawling at 4 months, walking at 7 and a half months. At 9 months he wasn't speaking, other than the odd word, but could make 3 worded sentences with sign language.

@SiaPR

You never know how they are going to turn out. My daughter is an architect, designing a new wing on the Tate. She used to eat the wood on her desk. I always thought she was slow. -No, she's a genius.

awesome!

i know a massively intelligent adult, who only spoke 2 words at the age of 3, and i know someone who read at the age of 2 who is average

we all learn at different rates, and at different times - its not a race

Im gifted but at the age of 3 I used to dig holes in the plant borders and sit in it whilst eating soil. I frequently bumped into things and was a dopey child. Stop comparing just get on with things

Why does it matter if he's "gifted" or not at this age? None of the things in your OP are a reliable predictor of future intelligence/abilities. They're just normal things toddlers do and some do them earlier/later than others.
Unless it's causing problems or a child is very delayed then don't give it any further thought. He sounds great!

Sounds similar to my son at that age. He's almost sixteen now with severe autism and learning difficulties and is still around the same level as that developmentally .
Everyone thinks their kids gifted but you don't know what's around the corner so maybe don't label him just yet 🙄.

You must live in Lake Woebegone, Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.

We thought my daughter was gifted too. Went off to grammar school with lots of other gifted girls.

Found drugs and alcohol and boys and got brought home by the police and had an STI by 16.

She can't load a dishwasher and burnt a hole in the last piece of clothing she tried to iron.

She's going to uni in September. Got offered an unconditional place and an outstanding potential award.

She said to me yesterday I can't believe I'm the only person in the whole world with my phone number. Genius.

👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

What kind of vacuum cleaner do you have?

I ask because there's no way a 17 month old could handle ours and if there's one small and light enough out there that they could, I want one!

I really don't know why so many posters on here are being so unkind.

In all honest moments, I thought the OP was posting a joke thread.

@MissConductUS

You must live in Lake Woebegone, Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.

Is Michael Gove the mayor there?

I think there is a tendency to read a baby's actions with the significance those actions would have if they were performed by an adult (or a teenager!)

To a baby, in terms of skill, shoving clothes into a washing machine and pulling them out is no different from shoving bricks into a toy box and pulling them out. He will enjoy imitating an adult and he will enjoy the pleasure you take in his achievement. But he has no conception of the whole world of association an adult will have around laundry- helping to take care of the family, showing independence bla bla bla.

Equally ,a baby who recites one-two-three-four-five or a-b-c-d (recent threads on MN) isn't displaying a deeper understanding of mathematics or reading than if he was reciting fee-foo-fi-fum. It shows a willingness to imitate a parent, an ability to form and remember sounds, all good things, but the actual understanding comes later.

Your son sounds adorable, OP.

Enjoy his toddler years, watching them develop into their own little personas is wonderful.

He may well be academically gifted, time will tell. I thought my first born was an absolute genius, then his little brother easily matched him in terms of ability. Two genius children in the same family? Unlikely

@MittensTheSerpent out of interest, what would be a "non-priggish" answer to the question, for a 5 year old who doesn't (at least that day) want to be a builder?

Oh, come on.

By 'helping with food preparation' I'm assuming you mean passing you the cheese or whatever, not assembling a moussaka, stacking skills or no stacking skills.

By 'loading and unloading the washer' I'm assuming you mean helping you put things in/out of the drum, not sorting out delicates and pre-treating stains.

And if you're letting a 17 month old use a real vacuum cleaner you're crazy, gifted child or not.

Just, come on.

Not sure this is real as OP has ,disappeared but just incase I thought my second born was advanced crawling,at 5 months, walking at 10 months. When she got older loved puzzles and maths and could problem solve. She turned 6 and it all stopped. She is 11 nearly 12 and is autistic. Emotionally and socially she's around 8. Education wise she is on target with English, history and geography but struggling with everything else.
Enjoy your son but at 17 months you have no idea if he's gifted or not.

Wow, sounds amazing 🤣 Don’t mention this musing to anyone in real life. It sounds knobbish

My child didn’t speak until he was three, but defeated the Pokemon league before his seventh birthday.

Gifted, perhaps, but we shall see how he tops catching Mewtwo over the next year before we call it.

No kid walks at 7 months

You had me until 'crawling at 4 months'. Is that anywhere near possible?

@MittensTheSerpent - how is a child stating they don't want to be Bob The Builder 'priggish'? Should they be seen & not heard? Blithely agree with whatever The Grown Up says? I used to tell people I wanted to be a palaeontologist. You have hated me.

@iklboo One of mine said the same at about that age!

Where’s the OP gone? Out giving DS a driving lesson?

Where’s the OP gone? Out giving DS a driving lesson?

She's supervising him during his Mandarin lesson on zoom.

Oxford interview maybe?

You had me until 'crawling at 4 months'. Is that anywhere near possible?

My friends little girl could crawl a bit at 4m, she was huge though when she was born 10 or 11lb, so always did the physical stuff early.

Sounds like a unreal piss take post