Baby ahead with milestones?

[TeddysMother]

Hi,

I'm just curious if this is normal for babies!

So my baby is 10 weeks old now and everyone says how calm and curious he is which he has been like since he was around 2 weeks old. He's liked to be in an upright position since then so he can watch the world!

Here's some milestones to note:

Smiling - this became consistent around week 3/4 and now he smiles all the time especially when he sees and hears myself and others he spends a lot of time with. His smiles have involved his hands coming up to his face like Gromit wanting cheese for a couple of weeks now too. Honestly it's heart melting!

Cooing - this also started around week 4. He is now mimicking sounds - this started around week nine. For instance, if I say hello to him in a sweet melodic manner he copies the sounds back like he is saying "hello" without pronouncing the letters. Honestly crazy. He also waits for his turn to talk and has for a couple of weeks now so it's like we sit and have a conversation

Head - he's been lifting his head from week one. Now at 10 weeks I can literally hold him on my hip and his head is comfortably up. If in a seated position, he likes to hold himself up with his hands around my fingers - his whole body weight behind it and no support at all but his own strength

Legs - he's been kicking away since he was inside me but he's now trying to bear weight on them and pushing his body weight up with them. He's been belly "swimming" for a few weeks now, he hasn't figured out how to put his elbows under himself yet but I think he'll be off when he does 😂

Rolling - he started rolling belly to back at week 8 as long as I tucked one of his arms under first. I caught him turned around and flipped back to belly in his cot the other morning! I don't know how he even managed that

Visual - he's been tracking with his eyes since about week 4. Now he actively looks and follows sounds and movement. He's a nightmare to feed if something is distracting him

I honestly feel like I missed out on having a newborn baby as he's been so adamant on doing things so early. He didn't want to nap and I couldn't just craddle him as he always wanted to be sat up socialising or watching

None of the above milestones are one offs, they're things he does regularly - if not constantly!

I don't know if this is normal or what this could mean for the rest of his development? First time mum here sorry!

Thank you in advance to anyone who has read this far.

Thank you

I had two of these (except for rolling, my first was not interested in rolling, she wanted to walk, thank you very much!). My first, I started getting the 'she's so alert' comments from the midwives and HV around day 3, and it wasn't until I got out to a few baby groups that I realised quite how un-sleepy she was compared to the average! They were also both low sleep needs and needed quite a lot of stimulation, or they most definitely got bored – pretty easy out and about with lots to see, new people, etc., but they were definitely over watching me potter around the kitchen at home at a young age unless I sang/chatted/etc.!

They are now 3.5 and just turned 6, and at the moment they are good all-rounders – bright, reasonably artistic, reasonably sporty, etc. – rather than showing an early standout talent (or interest) in one or two areas. No indications of neurodivergence at this stage, although of course they are still young.

Yes, my son was like this.

He continued to be early with all his physical milestones, but part of it is that when they're little they a) are reliant on your support, just like a little monkey and b) they're lighter, so if they're more mobile it's easier than it is later.

It's worth adding that they often show regression with these early flashes of skills - my son actually hardly babbled much later because he was too busy off trying to climb on a chair to pay attention to me.

Sounds like my baby, very alert and strong, low sleep needs, always got comments and still does now at 9 months. I think it's very normal, as shown by other comments, lots of babies are like this x