How old is he?!?

So Tommy is 21 months old, and the size of a 2-3 year old. He's always been a bit big for his age. He was 7lbs 3oz when he was born 3 weeks early - I can't imagine what would have happened if I went full term. He only stayed in newborn sizes for a few weeks, and he was at least 1 month ahead of the baby sizes as he grew. He's been in 2T clothes since he turned 18 months, but I think his growth has finally stalled out for a little while - thank goodness!

Tommy's daycare is divided into 3 buildings. The infant building holds babies up to 2 year olds. It's divided into 3 rooms. The infants, the crawlers, and the toddlers. Tommy kind of skipped the middle room. He was in the toddler room for about 6 months, but at 18 months he was promoted to the next building because he was too big for the kids his age, plus he was getting bored with the baby toys. When 2 of his friends were promoted this past August to the 2-3 year old class, Tommy went with them. So since he was 18 months he's been in "preschool" with 2-3 year olds, and sometimes with the 4-5 year olds.

Because of this Tommy is doing things I never thought he would at this age. He knows his colors, he knows the numbers 0-9, and he knows 75% of his letters. He loves animals, and knows the sounds for about 20 of them. He can do puzzles that are supposed to be for 2-3 and up, and he loves to find the moon and stars in the sky. I'd like to take some of the credit for his love for learning, and we do a lot of colors, letters, numbers, and reading here at home, but most of it is due to his wonderful teacher, Jennifer.

I say all of this to explain why people are so surprised to find out how old (or young) he is. When we're out shopping, at church, or at the doctor people always think he is older than he is. My grandmother is afraid this will be a problem in the future - she thinks he will be too advanced to relate to his peers. I'm not so concerned. I think he is happy, well adjusted little boy who just happens to be a little ahead of schedule. Since he loves his class and he loves what he's doing, I think he's just fine. He may be a little big for his age, he may be learning and understanding things that are normal for kids 1-2 years older than him, but he still loves horseyback rides, bubbles, and spinning around till he falls down. I don't think I have to worry about him doing advanced algebra or building rockets anytime soon - although the fact that he has figured out how to open and close the baby gate on his own does worry me :)