20 months old...what do you think?

I'm usually really good about not comparing my twins to each other but sometimes, I just don't know what is the norm, advanced or something to be concerned about. Here's the deal:

Lorien is very independent. She can entertain herself for a good long while. She can identify all the letters of the alphabet (in random order), can count to 13 and identify numbers 1-10 (in random order), knows pretty much all her shapes and colors. However, she still does not point to any of her body parts. If I say where is your nose, she will not do it. She shows no interest although once in a while when she is sitting with me, she will point to my nose, eyes and mouth and identify them by name but that's it. She doesn't respond to her name when I call her but when she is doing something she knows she shouldn't be doing and I say Uh uh Lorien NO! She will immediately respond and stop doing it. She doesn't really identify me as mama or dh as dada or her sister although she can say dada and mama. It's just so strange to me. I know everything happens at it's own pace but it's just hard like I said to know what is the norm or within normal range when one is doing things the other isn't. Arwen knows many letters, counts to 13 (identifies numbers randomly 1-10), knows most of her shapes as well and knows many colors (but less consistently than Lorien) but she identifies EVERYTHING and everyone by name (including her sister). She will call out mama or dada when she sees us or wants us.

I know that Lorien is advanced in some things but the fact that she doesn't do some of the other basic things confuses me. Do you think she is just selective about what she chooses to do or not do at this point? Should I be concerned? Shouldn't she respond to her name? Forget about trying to get her to look at the camera for a second to take her picture. I try calling her name and making silly noises and sounds but she doesn't look. Normal?

 

Oops, just realized I posted this in the wrong forum. How do I move it?

 

mine are just slightly younger than yours and don't know ANY numbers or letters - although if I show them a picture book and ask them "where's the duck" they can point to the picture...DD will say mommy and dada to call us but DS doesn't and its only in the last week or so that if you ask him where his nose is or eyes are that he points to them, and then points to ours...

I think its selective hearing - although I'm having a speech eval for DS on 1/22 as he just doesn't seem to be trying very hard to talk

 

I would not worry so much about what she says or doesn't say. Verbal ability can vary hugely at this age, because some kids take off starting around 18 months (like Amy did), and some don't do it till after they're two (Sarah is apparently on this track).

What you may have cause to be concerned about is the lack of interaction. At least from the things you've said, it sounds like she resists engaging with you. Are there other ways (non-verbal) in which she does interact with you, that you just haven't mentioned? Does she cuddle? Does she like to sit on your lap and be read to? Does she point at things she's interested in, and then look to see if you are paying attention?

I don't want to freak you out, but if she doesn't do anything like that, you may want to see about getting an evaluation. HTH.

 

At 21m, my boys aren't doing many of those 'educational' things.

They won't count to 10, but if I say the numbers and stop and point to them they will say the next (correct) number. While they are fascinated with letters, and recognize some correctly, they don't know many. However, like the numbers if I say the alphabet and stop at a random point, they know the next letter in the 'pattern'.

They are completely clueless with colors, but know all body parts, animals/sounds. They aren't sentence speakers, but are thorough and active communicators using one-two syllable words and lots of signs.

Bottom line: I think the 18-24m range is very tricky because there is such a wide spectrum of 'normal'. Each kid is going to develop at their own pace.

 

QUOTE(Minette @ Dec 28 2007, 03:17 PM) [snapback]549055[/snapback]
What you may have cause to be concerned about is the lack of interaction. At least from the things you've said, it sounds like she resists engaging with you. Are there other ways (non-verbal) in which she does interact with you, that you just haven't mentioned? Does she cuddle? Does she like to sit on your lap and be read to? Does she point at things she's interested in, and then look to see if you are paying attention?


Well, that's the thing. She is very smart with educational type knowledge but with some of the "simple" things I would expect at this point for her to be doing she is not. She does interact with me and dh. She is VERY affectionate with us (and us only though once in a blue moon will attempt to kiss her sister). But she will NOT follow my finger if I'm pointing to something. If I say, Lorien, get the triangle (and she knows what a triangle is), she can not follow my finger to where I"m pointing. We read lots of label type books together (her sitting on my lap) and she can name the objects if I point to them but if I say, where is the apple, she will not point to it. She will just attempt to turn the page and go on like she is not interested in that "game."

 

In my experience it takes quite a while for them to master following the imaginary line from someone else's finger to an object.

My boys, who are teenagers, sometimes have to be reminded "look at my finger FIRST if you want to see where I am pointing!" :lol:

My first son did everything early, like you describe. My second son was Not Interested. Finally, at 2.5 I insisted that he learn colors and shapes, because you can't give simple instructions without that knowledge. When he started school, he only knew the letter "A." He caught up very rapidly and was soon at the top of his class. When he was little he was interested in what HE was interested in, and not in what I thought he should learn. He was the complete opposite of his brother.

It sounds to me like yours are doing just fine for their age group, as long as they are interacting with you and showing affection. You might just have one of those stubborn kids who will do what she wants to do, when she wants to do it.

 

As long as she is interacting with you and showing affection, I think it's OK. Sarah definitely also has "selective hearing" and is also very stubborn. Amy seems to delight in performing (answering questions, pointing to things when we ask her to, etc.) and Sarah has just never been into it. She doesn't care what we want her to do!

I also agree that actual pointing seems to be a deceptively high-level skill. Sarah certainly doesn't do it -- she indicates interest by looking at something, sometimes actually reaching for it (even if it's way over her head) and going "eeee! eeeee!" Amy can point to things in books, but I'm not sure she points at actual objects using just one finger.

 

She probably is just fine in the spectrum of where she should be. I know for a while I was concerned about I and his speach, simply because I knew he could, he just did not. But once we focused on it and made him stop letting his brother answer, it got lots better. But, personally i would broach it with the Pedi, simply because, for me, it would be eating a little tiny hole in the back of my head. "is it something?" "Is it nothing?"

I know you are not "supposed" to compare them, but, I made that comment to my pedi once and her response was along the lines of, generally yes, but, on the other hand you have your own little control group. If it is different enough to cause you to question, it never hurts to question.

Good luck.

 

Wow, mine are 19 months old and don't do nearly what yours are doing.
They only have a few words each, none of which are colors or numbers. (However, we are in the process of EI speech evaluation)

I don't think you should worry, but as others have said, you could have them evaluated to ease your mind. Good luck.

 

From what you have described, I think it sounds totoally normal. Mine did not call us by name until they were almost two. I know it is soooo hard not to compare!

 

Sounds like they are fine to me. Mine are around the same age as your two and dont know any numbers or colours and can say basic words like mummy daddy what that etc. It sonly in the last week that they have started to say different words like juice, bird etc.

 

I honestly wouldn't worry either...I think it's a control issue for your daughter when you want her to point to something and she won't do it. It could very well be a development thing too...pick up the...and you're pointing to something...she may not see what you're pointing to. I know my ds and dd when they were two did very different things as far as shapes etc. I was actually surprised my ds didn't know his shapes when he was 2 and yet dd knew them at 2. I just thought all 2 yr olds knew their shapes! However, now that dd is 8 and ds is 5 they are both fine. I think your daughter will catch up and will eventually do what you want. They all develop at different stages and you really can't push! GL! I know it's hard not to worry, but try not to worry! :hug99: Where's that instrution manual when you need it, right? Of course if it really does worry you don't hesitate to talk to their doctor! HTH

 

I have found that signing with my girls has helped their speech tremendously. They just weren't saying hardly any words or interacting with me and I was beginning to get concerned. So I began to teach them some basic signs, such as mommy and daddy and milk just so I could communicate with them, and their speech began to really take off because they began to say the words they were signing. There are a lot of great videos and books out there that teaches that and it may help with interaction. My girls love to sign now and have really taken off with it and now sign quite a bit and it really has helped them learn words and helped them with their speech.

 

She sounds completely normal. She is leaps and bounds above Brandon who has all of 5ish words at most.