Watch as South Shields 'genius' baby says first word at just 10 WEEKS OLD

Rome Carr was born on March 29, just a week after the UK went into lockdown

His parents, Vanessa Hutchinson, 31 and Nathan Carr, 25, of Cranford Street, South Shields believe he could be a ‘genius’ after he stunned them by saying his first word at 10-weeks-old.

The couple managed to capture the moment on video as Rome said the word 'hello’ last week.

Vanessa who works in a call centre when she's not on maternity leave has been at home alone with her first-born son while the county has been in lockdown due to the coronavirus crisis, while Nathan a porter for a delivery firm is a key worker.

“I’ve been spending a lot of time alone with him so I’ve just been talking to him constantly,” she said.

“At first he was just saying the vowels, so we were encouraging him and one day he just started saying the full word.

“I thought is this normal? I’ve read that most kids say their first words at about one, so I genuinely think he could be a genius.”

Rome hasn’t been able to meet many of his wider family members yet due to the lockdown restrictions, and Vanessa says they were initially sceptical when she told them the news.

“The hardest thing is not being able to have any of our family visit him or to help out, but we have had more time together just me and him," she said.

“When we were telling people they didn’t believe us at first, they said there’s no way a baby would be able to speak at that age, but we have managed to catch it on camera.”

He may just a few weeks old, but Vanessa has high hopes for Rome.

“He’s really advanced, he’s exceeding all his milestones,” she added.

“I have even been looking into schools for gifted children – I can definitely see him being a doctor.”

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