Over 40 words at 17 months

[catgirl1976]

Is that good? Or am I being PFB

DS just seems really good at talking to me. Plus he understands everything you say (eg, could you take you coat and give it to daddy? etc)

If you give him two things he says 'two'. He does animal noises (loads, not just 2 or 3) and loads of other stuff that seems so amazing to me.

But he's my first and I don't know if I am just being totally biased or if he is really clever

[candr]

Mashpot, Ds has a big group of friends his age (19m) and they are all at different stages, some only have 1/2 words, a couple only sign, one doesn't walk and one still has no teeth. Some sleep through, some (mine) don't sleep well, some are clingy and others are scarily confident (and real climbers - mine again) They all have their good and bad points but makes us feel a bit more equal with eachother though there are 2 others who speak as much as my DS which stops me showing off about it which is prob good thing. They all level out eventually but I used to giggle when I had parents from my class telling me their kids were G&T and they were often below average but knew 20 world flags when put in same order as poster at home or could name 50 birds but not identify a single one by sight.

[LazyMonkeyButler]

GirlOutNumbered - that's exactly what DD first said "there it is" .

[Onemole]

Dd1 only said 'mum' at 17 months. Dd1 is now five and has just learned all the letters.

Dd2 spoke in 3-4 word sentences at 11 months, knew all shapes and colours at 14 months and letters and numbers at 16 months.

Ds is 11 months and says 'mum, dad, duck and don't touch'

They are all fine!

[catgirl1976]

My favourite word is 'Mommma'

It makes me burst with happiness :)

[ShowOfHands]

candr, my ds is 19mo too and another mother at toddler group has a dd the same age and she was absolutely amazed at her dd's reading skills. You see, when they were watching one programme on cbeebies and she puts the guide on, her dd knew what came next. She READ it, she can actually READ. Her dh came along last week and muttered 'fgs, she watches Mr Bloody Tumble every day, of course she knows he's on after that twat with the stethoscope. Read my arse". Other mother was v gracious and laughed once her dh had pointed it out. Toddlers have brilliant memories, you just have to capture their imaginations. With ds for example, it's tools. He knows the location of every single tool in the whole house, how exactly to climb to get each one and more impressively, how to time it to climb up the bloody bookcase when mummy isn't flipping looking. "Me won hammer" is the phrase du jour.

[difficultpickle]

Talking early is great. Ds was the same. He is 8 now and hasn't really stopped since he started. He even talks in his sleep. He's not G&T. Everyone goes on about how 'bright' he is but I think that is more because of his advanced vocab than anything else.

[Fudgemallowdelight]

I was a talker rather than a walker. I didn't walk until I was 18 months old but was talking in sentences before then apparently.

[ShowOfHands]

Momma's great catgirl, but does it have the surprise element of a whispered 'uh oh' from the other room?

[PeppermintCreamsSaga]

He sounds lovely, as do you. My DS was a latish talker but very quickly caught up, had a very wide vocabulary by the time he was 2.

My advice would be to read to him every day. Let him watch some quality tv (cbeebies) once in a while, to give your brain a rest, and teach him new things. My DS loved those picture books where everything is labeled. My little chatter box is in reception now. He's bright, but not what I would call G&T. He's summer born and keeping up with the September born who Are in the top set with him.

Relax and enjoy x

[simpson]

DD (now 5) spoke in full sentences at 18 mths, I remember her telling me she did not want a bath as she would be cold when she got out (at 18mths).

But she needed physio to help her walk at 2.

She is now 5 and does not shut the fuck up, literally talks till my ears bleed

[DontSHOUTTTTTT]

You are being very PFB but good for you.

I think it is a really interesting age as different kids have such different abilities.
Two of mine spoke and read very early while the other one spoke and learnt to read at a more typical age. Guess which one is, by far, the most articulate and literate ........... .???

I do think it is good when kids speak early. It is fun and I think they get less frustrated.

[YoniYoniNameLeft]

They are so amazing at this age! They're like little sponges and are a lot more intelligent than we give them credit for. Even the ones that talk later - they're watching and taking it all in. :o

DD1 was talking in sentences early. She could count to 3 by 16 months and count to 10 by 18 months. She knew all of her colours and shapes by 2. She's five now and isn't G&T but I imagine that there are some children who don't do all those things in toddler hood and will be G&T at 5, iyswim.

DD2 is 2.2 and has only, the last couple of months, started speaking I'm sentences. We had a fluke yesterday where she counted to ten for the first time but now she's back to "2,8,9,10" :o.

[AstonishingMouse]

Catgirl, I always think the being able to recognise two thing is cool
Children can recognise two things, and then recognise three things, but for larger numbers they have to be able to actually count. So often they can recognise two and then three when they are really little but then can't count properly to get them from 4 to 10 and onwards until they are quite a bit older.

[YoniYoniNameLeft]

Btw, DD1 talks from the minute she wakes till the minute her eyes close. Literally!

She talks and even when she has nothing to say she'll talk for the sake of talking. I actually told her once that I would give her twenty pence if she could stop talking for two minutes (we were travelling back from holiday late at night, I was shattered and she hadn't stopped chattering since we had stepped on the coach - you know those times when you need two minutes to collect your thoughts). She told me that she loves chatting.

[catgirl1976]

Thank you all for being so lovely and excusing my PFB moment :)

I have decided he is G&T: "Gorgeous and Talkative"

[DeWe]

He can be G&T for that

But not as pfb as the person I met in toddler group who was raging about her HV. At the 2 year check they asked if pfb said 50 words and she answered "He says 119, I think he must be a genius!" and the HV looked at her Apparently the HV didn't know genius when she saw it. She was going to complain to her GP.
He apparently could read the word "park" at 3 years, which also made him a genius, because whenever they drove past his favourite park he said "park" and he couldn't see the playground from the road, just the sign that said "park" so he was obviously reading it.

[catgirl1976]

That's brilliant DeWe

I'm glad I'm not that bad yet :)

[marriedinwhiteagain]

DS was an absolute sponge - at 18 months he started saying "you wanker" at random moments in front of people like his grannie. We thought for a while he might have tourettes. The we realised he said it every time he heard a car horn and linked it back to his father who, every time he hit the hooter, said "you wanker" .

DD didn't talk as much but she is much better at numbers .

Enjoy him Catgirl.

[gfrnn]

DS was an early talker. He was very interested in cars, lorries etc. Every time the bin men came round he'd insist on going onto the balcony and shouting "big truck, big truck"

Except, at around 12 months, he couldn't quite pull off the "TR" and it came out sounding like "F".

Not sure who laughed more - the bin men or us.

[Pearlington]

For what it's worth, and ignoring the unpleasant poster who was sarcastic about advanced babies earlier, my DD spoke over 700 words at that age, spoke in complex sentences, could read all the letters and numbers and decode simple words, counted to 50, knew the Latin names of many plants, had started drawing faces (had proper pincer grip from 14m). No we didn't hothouse or push (I was actually pretty scared by it all rather than proud: I think most parents of kids who do things super early get freaked out - she suddenly started pointing out and naming letters at 11 months and I actually remember my stomach turning). She may well be gifted - she's six now and her reading age is adult - but it all brings enormous challenges and I wouldn't wish for it to be honest. It sounds like your child is doing really well, so encourage him and enjoy it!

[cory]

To be fair, being able to say the flower name in Latin rather than in English doesn't actually denote greater cleverness: a baby won't know that this is Latin and that it's supposed to be more difficult (any more than a Roman baby would have done ); to her they are just sounds. A Welsh baby isn't cleverer because he says words in Welsh and not in English.

But 700 words is certainly pretty impressive. And letters at 11 months- again pretty impressive.

[Pearlington]

Lol. My point about Latin names is not what language they are but that they tend to be long and hard to say and applying these complex words correctly to different species of plant was pretty surprising to us when her peers were still just about saying flower, let alone knowing which one is a hydrangea or a rhododendron or being able to say those words. There's a hell of a lot of complex processing involved in forming those words, telling the difference between the two plants, let alone 20 plants and matching the correct name.

Trust me if I listed all the stuff she knew and discussed at that age you wouldn't think she was normal. When your child does freaky stuff all the time it does add up. I just used that as an example because it's easy to explain briefly.

I personally didn't find any of it impressive. I found it upsetting and scary. I don't think anyone should want their kids to be too different because it doesn't make for an easy ride or a happy life. I was constantly embarrassed at toddler groups and around other parents. Ppl were so freaked out by her. Pointing out a hellebores in a friend's garden didn't make that easier, nor correcting ppl that the dinosaur they were pointing too wasn't just "dinosaur" but a parasaurolophus (perfectly pronounced). Or being able to say and explain onomatopoeia. Yes she got the information from somewhere but a 17 month old doesn't normally retain or know how to apply that kind of stuff.

[FaddyPeony]

OP he sounds just gorgeous and very like my dd who is not quite 17months. She's a chatty little moo and an awful lot of fun. I am trying to not be too pfb about her but she is really very lovely. Like a pp said, though, my DH is less able to control himself - I think he has his work colleagues bored stupid about her!

Pearlington your DD sounds truly extraordinary - I am sure you hear that all the time. I have honestly never heard anything quite like what you're describing. Have you come into contact with other children like your DD? I'd absolutely believe that it's a worry for a parent and not necessarily constant opportunities for secret pfb gloating. My sister is gifted but it's so very hard on little ones to deal with all that knowledge.

[jojane]

I have 3 children who are all so totally different it's unbelievable!!
They were all very very early walkers (9.5-10 months) but ds1 didn't utter a word until 2 and 3 months whereas dd was talking and having complete adult conversations at 18 months (and she still doesn't stop talking now at 4!) ds2 is somewhere in the middle. Ds1 has a reading age of 14+ yet still can't put his socks on! I agree with a previous poster who said they wish thier child was a bit more "normal" ( for lack of a better word, it makes it sound like saying he's abnormal which isn't nice). Yes ds1 Can talk to you about space and nebulas and subspecies of animals and the romans and chemistry and scientific names for everything and what ever other subject is his favourite this week but he struggles socially etc.