This little girl is scaring me! :)

[Annette_C]

Sabrina is 16 mos old now but she has been doing things that just amaze me!
Let me emphasize that I'm not imagining this, nor trying to make my kid look better than anyone else's! I LOVE all the babies on this board and share your joys and sorrows to the fullest!
Having gotten that off my chest, here it goes...
We went to her 15 mos. checkup last week and even her ped was amazed by our little girl. To name a few things:
She speaks in sentences; counts to ten; names all the animals in the Baby Einstein videos and knows their sounds; repeats every word we say and then uses it appropriately; understands two languages (English and Italian).
When she wakes up in the morning (we co-sleep), she calls her dad or me to get up and says, " Dady, Momy, up! Elmo; big bahbah". Translated it means, "Dad, Mom, get your butt out of bed because I want to go watch Elmo and have my big bottle of milk!"
Yesterday, at the library program we go to, she was singing and dancing to the songs we had only done one time before (previous week!). She also learned the word "pumpkin" (we did a project with it) which she pronounces perfectly!
The icing on the cake was today when I took her to a local grocery store that has a petting farm outsdide (and singing and dancing puppets inside!). We were looking at her favorite animals first (cows, ducks, sheep, chickens) but when we got to the turkeys, I explained to her what it was and that it went "Gobble, Gobble, Gobble". I only did it once.
We went inside, got our shopping done and came home.
When her dad and older sister and brother got home and asked how her day was, she replied "towkey....gobble,gobble,gobble"!
I was speechless!!!!:)
Is this normal?!? I haven't been around babies for so long that I don't know what's normal and what's advanced! But if even her ped was impressed, I guess she's something else!
Thanks for letting me share and I apologize for the "mommy boast" moment!:)
Annette
SAHM to Sabrina 6/24/02

[deborah_r]

I don't know if it's "normal", but thanks for sharing the great new things Sabrina is doing. I love the Elmo and bottle thing!

Your post has me longing and wondering what things my little guy will be doing in the future!! Usually I am just scared of what he might do in the future!

[jojo2324]

LOL, maybe you don't have as much time to save for college as you thought?? Though with her smarts, she'll be fighting off the scholarship offers! :)

You know, she gets it from somewhere...:D

[etwahl]

well annette, if i'm not mistaken, all your children are brilliant!! obviously little sabrina is too :) it does seem you "build 'em good"!!! she sounds so adorable, boast away!

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[bluej]

I would say that's amazing! Of course I'm predicting a bit into the future here and I could be totally wrong, but it sounds like she loves (even craves) to learn new things and will be one of those kids who truly enjoys school! And btw, I don't think it's normal for a 16 mos old to talk in complete sentences, so I would say she's very advanced! Way to go Annette! Come on, you have to give credit where it's due right? She has to get those smarts from somewhere! And NEVER apologize for a mommy boast! I can't wait to hear about all of her developments over the next year, yea!

[Rachels]

How cute! Abigail is incredibly verbal like that, too. I do think the extent of their talking is pretty early. My mom said my sister and I were both really early talkers, too. Maybe it's genetic?

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[egoldber]

Annette, how cute!!! Please don't feel like you can't boast here!

And there is such a wide range of normal for language acquisition. There is a little girl in my playgroup (megsmom where are you????) who at 14 months was talking in complete sentences ("Mommy, watch a movie now?"), counting to 10 in English and Spanish, and could recognize the letters of the alphabet! We were all astounded! But they all catch up!

And now that my little DD is starting to catch up in language, it astounds me! I had been so worried that when she "caught up" verbally, she would be behind in other ways. But silly me! She is now starting to express all the same thoughts and ideas as all her little peers. Just up to now, all those little ideas were stuck inside her head! :) :)

[twins r fun]

Wow Annete! She does sound amazing and you have every right to brag about her! At Jacob and Caleb's 15 month appointment they had 2 words between them-and very rarely used them! I think all kids have one area that they really excel at. For us it is sports/physical, Sabrina's is definitely verbal and intellectual. Keep us updated on your little smartie!

[stillplayswithbarbies]

That's so cute about the turkey. :) Sabrina is definitely advanced and you have every right to be proud.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[mamahill]

Brag away! I know how worried you were about possible developmental issues since you conceived at a "later" ;) age. Not only is she smart for a child her age - she's a GENIUS. But seriously, with a big sister like Bridget, would you have expected anything less? Hip hip hooray for you and little Boo!

[lukkykatt]

Yowza! She is scaring me too! :) I would be bragging all day long if I was you!

DS is also 16 months old, and his talents seem to lie in tearing my house apart, and seeing what is the highest possible surface in our house that he is able to climb (so far, it is the dining room table, where he pushes the chandelier).

I'd start looking for an agent for your little smartie! Good job, mom!

[nathansmom]

Annette-
I love the stories about Sabrina. Please don't feel like your bragging. She does sound very advanced. Maybe she'll graduate from Havard at age 13. I can't wait to hear more about her.

[22tango]

That's AWESOME!!! I'm very impressed...and anticipating when Karenna can speak like that! At 13.5 months, she knows and says about 25 words. She just learned "pumpkin" today at the pumpkin farm and started repeating it like crazy. I've heard that by 18 months they learn 10 new words a day (one new one every 1.5 hours!!!) So Sabrina is certainly advanced -- enjoy the beauty and miracle of it!! :)

[Annette_C]

Thank you all for your kind words and for sharing in our pride.:)
It's funny because my two older kids were so different from each other as babies (boy, talked early; girl, talked at 2) but they are both successful in their careers now.
Sabrina seems to desplay signs of a future scholar because she loves books; she has a great attention span (you can almost see her little wheels turning in her head as she studies people/things); likes to build and rearrange things; and she's a quick learner.
I would love to take the credit for the success of my kids but I just consider myself very blessed!
Ok....maybe the fact that I LOVED school and LOVED to learn as a child, influenced my parenting skills a bit!;)
I guess, also, the fact that I scored a 145 on an IQ test (when I came to the US, they were trying to evaluate me even though I didn't fully know the English language yet) doesn't hurt either! LOL:)
Thanks again everyone! I love you all!!
Annette
SAHM to Sabrina 6/24/02

[sweetbasil]

Adorable, smart, and sweet...look out, Annette- Sabrina's gonna be a handful when she hits her teens. Hope your DH is ready to fight those boys off with a stick! What a little doll. I'm so happy for you all! And what a year full of proud mommy moments for you, sweetie!

Big hugs,