Is this just normal aging?

[Squashpocket]

DM (74) is displaying some behaviours which I'm finding frankly odd. She doesn't seem like my mother at all anymore, but I don't know whether this is normal aging or should I be worrying about dementia.

She doesn't really bother with holding a two way conversation any more, she will only monologue about what she has done that day and what she is planning for the next day. She will say the same stock stories, observations and phrases over and over. We very rarely get a new piece of information.

She is very unsure of things she used to be fine with - online banking, using a computer, communicating with utility providers. She has to check and double check everything with DH and I before she'll do something like make an online payment or cancel a direct debit.

Her memory doesn't seem terrible, but she does forget words mid sentence. She doesnt retain any new information that she is given if it doesn't relate to her daily routine.

This is the one I find most alarming - She shouts one line of a song over and over. She does this at times when the room would otherwise be silent (e.g. if she has got up to make a cup of tea in the empty kitchen). It feels like it's compulsive and is objectively very odd.

She follows an absolutely rigid routine every day - same breakfast and lunch at the same time every day. Same rotation of 5 dinners in the same order. She gets quite agitated if she thinks she won't be able eat at her allotted time.

I can't figure out if she is just getting on, is naturally self-centered (she has form for this) and a bit deaf or whether she has some form of cognitive decline. Does this sound within the range of normal?

My mum is around the same age and that doesn’t sound normal.

i have noticed increased monologues from both parents. My mum forgets the odd word and is less inhibited than she used to be (likes to be the centre of attention which is embarrassing).

bit no behaviours as extreme as you have described

Absolutely not normal. DH is 73 and behaves exactly as he always has, albeit a bit less tolerant.
I agree it's crucial to get power of attorney in place before it's too late.
We did this for my DM after dad died. She was happy to agree on the grounds that it may never be used unless she became ill. She never did lose capacity and died at age 86.
I would make an appointment with her GP. They won't discuss her medical history with you but you can put your concerns to them and ask if they would see her.

Do you have POA ?

I think whilst dementia might be a possibility, it sounds like signs of loneliness and spending too much time alone. A friend of my parents lived on his own after splitting with his partner and did this same thing in his early 60s - went very rigid with routine, did the monologue thing, odd phrases and singing. It was really concerning for a while. He actually got a dog (which he adores) and this eased a lot of it. It made him get out of the house at least once a day for a walk, he met a few people as well which helped his loneliness, and it gave him something else to think about other than himself which got his mind and memory back up to speed.
I'd get an assessment for dementia etc, but if it's inconclusive it's worth looking at whether she's just spending too much time alone.