what sort of signs do babies give away, that show they are advanced for their age?

[sourgrape]

lol at this thread.

To answer the OP
6mths is fairly early to be speaking. So, yes be proud of your lo.

My DCs were much older (although they are bilingual). I do not think it is a real indication of how they will be later, DD is almost 6yo and is reasonably intelligent (as far as I can tell)

My BIL once told me about his uncle who taught himself to read aged 3yo. His family was so impressed, and thought that they had a nobel prise winner on their hands. Sadly, that was the first and last time that BIL's uncle distinguished himself academically.

a friend of mine has a dd saam age as my dd, and her dd was talking since about 6 months. is 2 now and sshe is definitely g&T.

It tends to be when they are reciting Shakespeare and preparing their dissertation in my experience.

My ds could laugh and smile at 3 weeks. I thought this a bit odd. He was walking at 10 and a half months, could count and knew the alphabet and colours when he was 14 months. I could have six work conversations with him at 14 months. Could read Mr men books at 3. He's a bit bright.

He's 8 now and wants to learn philosophy, atomic theory and nuclear physics. This is a bit odd I think.

The mild piss-taking in this thread hides a genuine and serious thought: namely that all babies are bundles of potentiality.
We don't know what they're going to do in life. We don't know what they're going to be like.
We can love them totally unconditionally, not for what they've achieved or failed to achieve, but just because they're there. Just because they're ours. Let's be grateful for that.
And let's try to keep some of that disinterestedness for our later relationships with our children. Too much indulgence in thoughts of my-son-the-genius can lead a lot of unhappiness later on in life, when children may get the idea that they owe it to their parents to be geniuses, that Mummy will be unhappy if I turn out to be just ordinary.