Could not care less, am I nuts?

[pstone]

Okay....

My little one year old seems to care less if I am even around.

Ie. I let him play in his room for 45 minutes this morning and not once did he check to see if I was even about....

Why oh why?

Is anything about that normal?

Shows a long attention span. IMo its a good thing.

[DCJenn]

He knows you're there- trust me. But that's great that he'll play by himself that long. That's what I count on for my sanity breaks throughout the day. Mom gets to shower and check her email, Nikolai gets to play with his books and toys.

everyone wins, including dad, who has a significantly less stinky wife.

Jenn

[PrincessFiona]

Your little boy is growing up Seriously, Peter....that's good news. It shows that he is secure and is developing...normally!

kris

[HeartRN]

Yeah, I'm lucky if my two year old will do much around here without her #1 playmate. However, at daycare, I have watched her play alone for long periods!!! Go figure...another reason to feel guilty about not being at home all the time, I suppose--either that, or I'm just way too much fun!

[pstone]

Hmm...okay well....what about talking....

12 months and 2 days old and not really saying any words....babbles sure, makes noise sure, grunts, moans, squeals, but no words...

any thoughts there?

[PrincessFiona]

Amanda barely said a word until she was two....then...one morning she came and sat on my bed and was talking in whole sentences...since then, we haven't been able to get her to shut up....they're all different. I say...no worries.

kris

[mommax3]

Peter,

If he will play by himself for that long, it is a GIFT!!! It also shows he is very secure emotionally, which is a tribute to the care you have given him.

About the talking.....I have to ditto what Kris said about her daughter....that was my oldest son exactly. They ARE all different. It would be early for him to be doing much talking now, anyway.

You are doing a good job!

Sally

[SueC]

Sounds like a little slice of heaven..my youngest one (sick as he is) must be in physical contact with me at all times, even in his sleep.

[twinsmom]

Peter -
With the talking issue - don't worry - he'll get it. With out twins, our daughter was talking up a storm and our son would do the 'grunt once for yes, two for no' type of communication for the longest time, until one day, he woke up and started having FULL conversations. We were pretty dumbfounded at the time. Since then we have learned that he is an 'observational' learner - he will sit in the background, seemingly not paying attention to anything, and then suddenly decides that he can do whatever activity it is and just does it on his own. The talking will come... believe me, it WILL come!!

Jen B.

[pstone]

So really, even as you all try to make me less worried, my 1 year old is not even saying mama or dada. Everything I read says he should be. I would run to get his hearing checked, but I know he can here. He listens, and when he wants will follow commands, or find a particular toy.

He babbles, and says, "mama" but not in context.

I am going nuts, thinking I am screwing my kid up while the mom is away playing doctor.

[mommax3]

SERIOUSLY, Peter.....don't worry. I think boys tend to lag behind girls in talking, anyway, and 12 months is early to be doing much talking at all, boy or girl. Like I said, my oldest was two and didn't say much at all, and I was getting concerned....then we moved to San Antonio for residency and he started talking paragraphs and we were somehow (?) having hour long conversations. My mom said I was the same way. Neither of us (my son/me) are slouches in the talking department now!

You are not screwing him up. If you are sure he is hearing things, you just have to wait until he has something to say!

Sally

[SueC]

Peter,
I totally missed the talking issue, but my 18 month old wasn't saying mama and dada at 12 months either! Boys are slower to talk, and now at 18 months, he is talking quite a bit more, but still not a ton. He does finally say mama and dada, car, cool, shoe, juice, choo-choo, and a few other random words. Not the most functional communication, but communication none the less. I'll have to read back in this thread to see if you mentioned his receptive language, but if that seems to be developing, I wouldn't worry just yet. Mitchell does understand when I ask him to go get his shoes or whatever, so I think the rest will come in time. I'm sure you know about parallel talk, so I won't go on ad nauseum about that, but as long as you're talking and ID'ing things for him, then he'll start forming the words sooner or later.

[DCJenn]

Rick has to keep reminding me that Nikolai not only had to learn an entirely new language, but, he's male.

So, thanks for peeling me off the ceiling once again.

God, I love this place.

Jenn

PS- sorry to hijack Peter

[Cumberland]

We did baby signs and it rocks, totally. DD signs for drink, eat, potty, thank you, please, i'm sorry, fish, chicken, all done, more, swimming.....a few more i cant think of. It has cut down whining and poor communication majorly. She picked them up in just a few days when she was around 14 months.