Is it just me? Is the timeline messed up?

What we have here is a case of Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome, which sadly, affects many daytime television children. I love your question, by the way! I enjoy this topic very much! Aside from the younger generation in Salem, I think the funniest one is from the young generation of the '80s. In all actuality, Hope should be 33 years old. She was born on the show in 1974, and was aged in 1980 when she was supposed to be only 6 years old, she became a teenager. I don't know if she was the first one to have been aged on Days (my guess is no), but she is the first one that I know of. Soap Operas do have a habit of doing this to bring fresh storyline. So, instead of brining on new characters who we have no prior knowledge of, we are treated to super-aging for the ones who are the children of already known and loved characters. I suppose it is so we can relate to them better than someone new. Belle, Shawn, Brady, and Phillip were aged in 1999 to make some really great storylines. Brady was actually around 3 or 4 years younger than Shawn, yet when he was reintroduced, he magically became 3 or so years OLDER. This difference was most assuredly in place so that Belle and Shawn would be "closer" in age to make for better storyline. Carrie, Sami, and Eric (who wasn't present on the show, but since he and Sami are twins, it was a given), were aged around 1992 or so. Of course, I'm sure you remember that they had done this to make the storyline of Belle's birth more interesting, having Sami to kidnap her, and turn into a troubled teen. It also made way for better storyline with Kate and Lucas entering the show. Then, of course, they had to bring up another set of the kids and age them to have more interesting storylines, hence Abbie and Chelsea. Max was aged also, but not quite as much. I'm sure we'll be seeing Will aged more soon, though that would be hard to explain. I mean, we all know that Sami was a teen mom when Will was born, but when or if they age him further, that will make Sami have to be in her 40's or late 30's at the very least. And if Will gets aged, he will have to have someone to be "buddies" with. Another character will most likely get aged too, since they seem to age the kids in twos or more. Funny enough, Will and Phillip are supposed to be the same age, so Will is actually closer to what his real on show age is supposed to be than some of the others. I predict that in about 5 years or so, we will see Theo, Ciara, Claire, and possibly Phillip and Mimi's yet unborn baby will be aged to be teenagers, and they will all magically become the same age, carrying on the Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome concept.

that is typical thing for kids on Days, they seem to jump years in only a few days LOL i got use to it years ago LOL .

Like everyone else said - it happens ALL the time. My all-time favorite though, was with Belle. John and Marlena had just come back from their honeymoon I think and Belle went from 3 to 12 in a matter of weeks. Marlena's first response to Belle was "My how you've grown!" I'll never forget that!!! Just like now, with the new Stephanie... Everyone comments on how she's "changed" so much!!

You are right it is all messed up. This happens on all the soaps though. They advance their ages so they can give them good storylines. Even when Bo and Billi had Chelsea (aka Georgia) she should only be around 10 or so but now she is 20. That's soaps for you.