Tell me about something your child remembered

[teachma]

So today, dd (nearly 2.5 years old) wanted to hear stories at lunchtime and requested that I choose the books and surprise her. Since we have recently moved to a new home, many of our books are still in various boxes and piles around the house, and I knew dd would appreciate my selecting some that had been out of rotation for a while. Among the books I chose, I included an old favorite, Polar Bear, Polar Bear I can't say exactly how long it had been since I last read it to her, but it had been a verrrry long time. When I began to read, she looked up at me with one of those pensive expressions that seems to say, "How exactly am I going to tell you what I'm thinking right now?" and said, "We did this one before Max's party." You know that blank feeling, like, "What the h*** is she talking about???" First I had to remember who Max is (preschool friend), then I had to remember his party (last December) and finally, to figure out why my reading this book to her before his party would stick in her mind. At last, I recalled that when we arrived at the JCC, the rain was teeming and I wanted to wait until it subsided before leaving the car. So I pulled dd out of her car seat in the back, sat her next to me up front, and read her the few board books we had in the car until the rain let up. It just always interests me that THEY remember and I don't! Share your most recent (or most amazing) memory story! I have one about my son, too, but I'll save it for later.

[psyche]

DS1 is always talking about random memories. A few weeks ago he kept going on and on about some trains he played with. They did this and that and the other thing and it was so much fun. I kept nodding, wondering where he played with these trains. Then he said, "We should really go back to cousin X's house. His trains were so much fun." I was flabbergasted. "Cousin X" is actually my first cousin but only five years older than my son - he lives a twelve hour drive away and our one and only visit to see him was two years ago this Thanksgiving.

DS1 also occasionally talks about a vacation to Las Vegas we took two years ago this month.

[catgirl]

Maybe this isn't so amazing, but last year we spent a weekend in NH. We're going again and we couldn't remember the name of the motel. We asked ds and he immediately told us, and the exact dates we stayed there. I wouldn't think much of this, except that I have students of 10 or 11 who tell me they're going on vacation next week, but have no idea where. :confused:

[USAmma]

Wow that's pretty incredible, especially at her age when long term memory is just forming!

My dd is 5.5. When she was 2.5 two things happened. One is we used to go to play dates with a friend whose daughter had a pink Barbie electric car. The other thing was that I had a red bike trailer that I sold when dd was 2.5 years old because it hurt my knees.

Well we have not seen the friend or the bike trailer since then. A few mos ago she saw a car similar to friend's car at CostCo and she said, "Hey that looks like Jessi's car, except hers was pink." Then last month I got a new bike seat for the back of my bike for dd2 to ride in. 5yo said, "Remember when I used to ride in that thing behind your bike? It was fun. " I was skeptical that she remembered and asked her what it looked like and she said, "It was red and grey and had big bike wheels and windows in it."

[~*SugarMama*~]

DD remembers the name of every bunny that she has had her pic taken with for Easter. Sure, both bunnies were named Caramel but the first time that it happened, she was 2.5....the next time, 3.5. She will still point them out in pictures and remind us which is "Car-mo 1" and which is "Car-mo 2".

When she was 2, we attended a birthday party in which a little girl lost her balloon (she let go of it, it drifted to the ceiling) Everytime that we go somewhere and she sees a balloon on the ceiling, she reminds us that R. lost her balloon at the birthday party and that no one could get it down for her.

Most amazing though....she remembers when she started walking. She will tell us that it was really hot and dark (it was back when the transformer in Niagara blew and we were without power for a good four or five days) and that she walked to come and find me. (which she did) She started walking at 11 months!

[lisac77]

DS's memory truly floors me. Just recently we were in a sign shop that we hadn't been in for at least a year. They have a decorative frog that sits on the desk and it has candy in it, but you can't see the candy from DS's point of view, just the body of the frog. As soon as he walked in, he asked for candy from the frog. How does he remember???

He also remembered DH's family members BY NAME when we visited this last spring. He had last met them at the age of 20 months when we visited the previous year. I was absolutely floored.

My parents take in exchange students every year. I usually don't go to say goodbye when the students leave due to work, but DS goes with my sister. This year I was able to go with them to say goodbye and the drop-off was at a church in Dallas. It was the same church they used the previous year. As soon as we got there, DS asked my mom if he could go play with the ball. Apparently, he remembered that my mom took him to the gym to play the last time they were there (a full year before).

[meemee]

hmm i have noticed interesting things about my dd's memory. she has some where she remembers something from long ago. so at 2 she remembered a particular incident when she was 1 but at 3 she didnt remember that at all. when she was a baby she would cry if someone recited her favourite book - brownbear brownbear in teh wrong order. we went back home to asia twice so far - once when she was 8 months old and once when she was almost 3 1/2 years old. when we are there we are constantly visiting our extended family. this time i would give her an idea of whom we were going to visit. so this time when i told her and described which of my aunts we were going to visit she told me she didnt like their house. they have too high ceilings and too many doors adn windows and their dogs bark is too loud. this was one memory that totally floored me. when she was 8/9 months we only visited this aunt of mine once - only once for a few hours.

for her second birthday her father bought all these balloons -15 to 20 (a bone of contention between my ex and me because i had asked him to buy the balloons and he bought the expensive character ones instead of the regular rubber balloons) and since then near each birthday she talks about lots and lots of balloons and how her dad bought a caillou ballon for her friend (he did go back and buy another one since we were short and he did just get a caillou balloon).

yet the same child cant remember what she did at preschool the same day or what she ate for breakfast.

[LadyMarmalade]

When he was 12 months old my son and I went to visit a friend in hospital when she had a baby. 18 months later, he was extremely sick ... DH and I made the decision to take him to the ER at 3am. In his delerium he slurred from the back seat of the car "who had a baby and why are we visiting them while the moon is up". We hadn't been to the hospital since the day - just after his first birthday - that we visited my friend and her baby.

[lckrause]

The other day my son, 10, was writing something and said "When I was a baby I used to have trouble staying on the line and my letters would go up this way, remember?" He hasn't written like that since he turned 3, and all his old workbooks and stuff have been stored away for at least 6 years due to a move.

[Profmom]

When my son (now 13) had just turned two we were packing up to move from Michigan to Maryland. I was getting the rental breast pump packed up to return to the lactation consultant - I hadn't used it since ds was 10 months old and it had been on a shelf in our closet. He looked at it and said: that machine goes ruhr ruhr, milk comes out! I couldn't believe he remembered it. That was the most amazing thing to hear! Now he can't remember which homework assignments are due when, but that is another story!

[teachma]

DS's memory truly floors me. Just recently we were in a sign shop that we hadn't been in for at least a year. They have a decorative frog that sits on the desk and it has candy in it, but you can't see the candy from DS's point of view, just the body of the frog. As soon as he walked in, he asked for candy from the frog. How does he remember???


Both my kids have this unusual ability to make associations with places and objects. or places and events. That's exactly how I think of it, as associations. If we go somplace once and have juice (which is an uncommon drink for my children), but then we return a year later, they will ask, "Are we going to have juice?"

[teachma]

The other day my son, 10, was writing something and said "When I was a baby I used to have trouble staying on the line and my letters would go up this way, remember?" He hasn't written like that since he turned 3, and all his old workbooks and stuff have been stored away for at least 6 years due to a move.

Was it frustrating to him that his letters went "up" rather than sitting on the line? If so, definitely memorable!

[lckrause]

Was it frustrating to him that his letters went "up" rather than sitting on the line? If so, definitely memorable!

Yes, that is exactly what he said, that it used to frustrate him! So funny you should say that.

[teachma]

Here's another weird memory thing dd had going on for six months or so when she was a year-ish old. Once, our old next door neighbor had a playdate, a girl named Emily. On our way out of our house, we saw the neighbor and friend playing in their front yard. As we were getting in the car, dd heard a sneeze and asked, "What's that noise?" I said, "I think Caroline's friend Emily sneezed." Well, EVERY TIME dd heard the name Emily (pertaining to various Emilys we know) she used to say, "Emily achoo. In the grass." It was so predictable. But is it "normal" at all for kids to get sooo hung up on a particular, meaningless detail of life? Sometimes I wonder...

[Rigama]

When ds was little we lived in a apt that had a pool. One day, when he was about 17 months old, I was carrying him down the steps that led to the pool area. I lost my footing and fell, but kept him held up. A man was walking by and he said "Are you okay, Ma'am?"

Fast forward to sometime after ds's 3rd birthday. He says something along the lines of "Hey mom, remember that time you fell down the steps and the man called you mom?" Being totally perplexed I told him no. He said "You remember! We were going down the steps by the swimming pool at our old apartment and you fell down and the guy said "Are you okay, Mom.":dropjaw

[loraxc]

If we go somplace once and have juice (which is an uncommon drink for my children), but then we return a year later, they will ask, "Are we going to have juice?"

Oh, holy heck, yes. My DD (2.5) has a mind like a steel trap for these sorts of details.

"Emily achoo. In the grass." It was so predictable. But is it "normal" at all for kids to get sooo hung up on a particular, meaningless detail of life? Sometimes I wonder...

This is EXACTLY something she would do. I'm trying to think of an example--but yes. It does seem a bit odd at times...

Frequently I have to ask my husband, "Do YOU remember us doing xyz at abc? Does that sound familiar?" And he'll hem and haw..."OH--wait. Yes, one time last fall I did take her for bagels there."

Recently she has startled us by clearly recalling events from early last summer, when she was about 16 months old. She brought up the inflatable fish pool we had for about 3 weeks till it sprung a leak (at which point we threw it away). "Remember the other pool, the blue one with the fishes on it?" She also told us about a visit we made once to an out-of-the-way public pool last summer. ("There was a purple ball and a yellow ball, and Dada threw them in the net." Ohhh yeah--there WAS a pool basketball set.) What fascinates me about this is that although she was speaking in short sentences at 16 months, she would not have been capable of that sentence. ??

She also can rediscover a book we had out from the library one time months ago, pick it up, and recite it.

[jkpmomtoboys]

So I told my ds that I told some mommies the story of something he remembered...a few days later, he asks me to please take the story down because he doesn't want stories about him online and he's pretty embarassed I shared it and he really doesn't want stories about him shared with anyone other than his family...:lol Though I do have to respect that, so I'm writing this instead of the cute story....sigh....

[eilonwy]

My kids do things like this as well, but because they're so young they don't have a huge, multi-year timeline to go back on. :lol So, BeanBean will say, "Remember that time that you got lost and we found that Turkey Hill with the lower gas prices?" but that only happened a year and a half ago. :lol

My niece BizzyBug has the scariest memory for things, and she remembers them exactly as she hears/sees them. I can say something like "Patella is another word for kneecap," and then two years later ask her "Where is your patella?" and she'll say, "Patella is another word for kneecap," and point to her knee. I just asked her last week where her cochlea was, and she said, "My cochlea is in my ear," just like she did when I first mentioned it to her about 2.5 years ago. :lol

[LynnS6]

When our son was about 20 months, we were visiting my parents, and they were doing construction on a site near the highway - he was highly interested in the trucks. We drove by it two or three times tops.

A year later we were there again (they live a long ways away and so we only go when we can fly), and he looked at the now completed construction and said "The trucks are gone." :dizzy:

Just last week, he said to me "Remember when I was 3 and we went on vacation and we saw those big faces in the mountain?" Well, he wasn't 3, he was 2!! That was 3 years ago. It made a big impression on him because it scared the pants off him, I'm afraid.

[teachma]

My niece BizzyBug has the scariest memory for things, and she remembers them exactly as she hears/sees them. I can say something like "Patella is another word for kneecap," and then two years later ask her "Where is your patella?" and she'll say, "Patella is another word for kneecap," and point to her knee. I just asked her last week where her cochlea was, and she said, "My cochlea is in my ear," just like she did when I first mentioned it to her about 2.5 years ago. :lol

THIS is my son (6 yo). If something comes up in conversation, he will interject the facts/information exactly as he heard them, regardless of how long ago. That's one aspect of him which originally had me wondering about Aspergers, actually. And he'd recite whole books (like, "real" books with 20-30 pages of small print) long after last hearing them. One of my craziest memories is of ds at Chanukah, age 3.3, reciting Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins verbatim after having heard it last one full year ago. He knew which part of the story to say with each picture I showed him. Completely mind-boggling.

[teachma]

By the way, look...we're using words like "freaky" and "scary" to describe our gifted children's memories. Remember that recent thread which included discussions about the language we use? Not judging, just pointing it out.

[teachma]

Yes, that is exactly what he said, that it used to frustrate him! So funny you should say that.

I know all about those perfectionists!

[teachma]

Oh, holy heck, yes. My DD (2.5) has a mind like a steel trap for these sorts of details.



This is EXACTLY something she would do. I'm trying to think of an example--but yes. It does seem a bit odd at times...


From other posts over time, I have realized your daughter and mine (similar in age) seem alike in lots of ways. Yours may be more intense than mine, but isn't she a first/only child? My first is waaaay intense, but dd is mellow. Otherwise, my two have many traits in common. It's so nice to "encounter" someone who can relate.

[jkpmomtoboys]

By the way, look...we're using words like "freaky" and "scary" to describe our gifted children's memories. Remember that recent thread which included discussions about the language we use? Not judging, just pointing it out.

To be fair, in case you're referring to my post, someone else referred to his sense of recall as "freaky", not me. We never use those types of words around him...

Just to clarify. ;)

[teachma]

To be fair, in case you're referring to my post, someone else referred to his sense of recall as "freaky", not me. We never use those types of words around him...

Just to clarify. ;)

And you even wrote that in your post! I missed it...the "offending" word (really it doesn't offend me too much if taken a certain way) popped right out at me.

[jkpmomtoboys]

And you even wrote that in your post! I missed it...the "offending" word (really it doesn't offend me too much if taken a certain way) popped right out at me.

Totally understand! No harm, no foul. :thumb

[loraxc]

If something comes up in conversation, he will interject the facts/information exactly as he heard them, regardless of how long ago. That's one aspect of him which originally had me wondering about Aspergers, actually. And he'd recite whole books (like, "real" books with 20-30 pages of small print) long after last hearing them.

Yes, teachma, this is exactly like DD!--and as I think you may know, we've wondered about Asperger's too. The talent is almost like having perfect pitch or something. She memorizes books that she really can't possibly understand very well. At least, I'm pretty sure she can't. This is a passage from a book she memorized a couple months ago, when she was maybe 26 months:

"Because the world is hostile, all creatures need protection. They need to hide so thoroughly that they defy detection. So some of them use camouflage to fade away with ease, from predators who like to dine upon these predatees. But predators to dine must eat, so also fade and are discreet, and then their prey, on which they sup, can't see who's going to eat them up."

That's one page of a 20-some odd page book, all of which she can recite, albeit with two-year-old consonants and odd phrasing. I can't really believe she follows that syntax and understands all those words. (Although it's clear there's at least some comprehension.) I notice, too, that she knows exactly when to turn the page, and we get taken to task if we so much as forget an "s" or an "-ed" on a word when we read.

[eilonwy]

By the way, look...we're using words like "freaky" and "scary" to describe our gifted children's memories. Remember that recent thread which included discussions about the language we use? Not judging, just pointing it out.

:lol Yes, I do use such words sometimes. BizzyBug's memory is really out there to me, even though I myself can remember things from when I was 18 months old. :yikes: I'm not even sure what other words I could use, because it's just plain disturbing. I love her to bits, and I've worked very hard to ensure that my children and my older niece know that the word "freak" is a term of endearment from me (see my sig), but with BizzyBug... well, I have no idea. :guilty She's still very sketchy on social cues and such. She knows that I hug her and kiss her freckle (because the freckle is on her cheek, I tell her it's there so that I know where to put the kisses :love) because I love her dearly, and I call her my sugar muffin and carry her when I can (she's heavy!) but I have no idea whether or not she understands that she is, in fact, neurologically atypical. :shrug Hm. Maybe I'll ask her today. :o

[majikfaerie]

My 3yo dd remembers stuff that astounds me all the time. Sometimes she out of the blue starts talking about a person or place from when she was 12 mo, but a week ago she floored me when we were looking at some photos of when I was pregnant, and she said "mama, you know when I was in your belly and then I came out of your yoni and then Uncle Denny was there?" (she hasn't even SEEN her uncle Denny in over a year, and he was at the birth)

Sometimes she starts talking about when she was born, she's done it enough to convince me that she remembers it. She once said "mama, you know before I was a baby in your belly, I was a fairy."

[teachma]

because it's just plain disturbing

See, I sometimes get to feeing this way about ds too. I think it's more "disturbing" for me, because about 75% (or more) of the time, he seems so regular in terms of behavior and interactions with others, but there's this "differentness" the other part of the time. If I had a neurologically atypical child, I might understand it more, but the "professionals" who've worked with him have never so much as suggested it. So it's a little freaky that he's not.

Sorry for all the use of quotation marks. It looks weird, I realize now.

[Henry's_Mamma]

The first "clue" to what is seemingly unfolding in ds was his memory. The fall he turned 1 we went to the park fairly frequently (he was about 10 months old). There were often older kids/young men playing basketball at the adjacent courts. One of the few words Henry could say clearly at that point was ball, and he would point and get very excited. Due to some inclement weather, we didn't go to the park for about 2 months (so right around the time he turned 1). When we got there, he started pointing enthusiastically at the basketball courts and saying "ball ball." There wasn't anyone playing basketball that day. It took me a few minutes to realize that he remembered people playing basketball the last time we were there.

He's also like loraxc and teachma's kids in terms of associating places and items/activities that he's only experienced once a long time ago. There are stores he's been in one time that he remembers getting a certain item or a certain treat. Heck, I can't drive by some places without him reminding me of the blue lollipop :bag: he had there a year ago.

His memory astounds and amazes me.

[Roar]

I remember being surprised (or would that be freaked out) by memories my son expressed when he was little and then it occurred to me...is that just because we expect too little of kids. I mean really we remember stuff from two or three years ago - why wouldn't they?

[mata]

my oldest daughter remembers many things from her infanthood-the farthest back being when dh would give me a break and soothe her by putting her in the sling and singing lullabyes to her in the kitchen. She says she remembers wanting to be with me and her crying about it, and she has hated lullabyes ever since.

My first memory was when I was hospitalized with whooping cough. I remember lying on my back in the crib and there being a string hanging from the ceiling. I somehow reached and pulled it-the light went out and I freaked! My mother said I was around 18 months old at the time.

[marieandchris]

My son met his best friend when he was 1 year old...not even walking yet. His friend, Sylvan, is a full year older. Soon after they (and the mamas) met, we went to a garden (Morris Arboretum (http://www.business-services.upenn.edu/arboretum/gardenrailway2.html)) that has an incredible toy train exhibit: tracks, fancy houses, huge bridges, etc. all in a garden. I remember him still not being able to walk, holding onto the railing edge trying to keep up with Sylvan, who was running around and being very excited about the train.

Flash forward almost 1.5 years. We are in a local train going to the city. He sees an advertisement for the garden train at the Morris Arboretum...a poster. Eli points to it and tells me that he went there with Sylvan. We only went once! He's never been back.

I was, needless to say, stunned.

Marie

[eilonwy]

I remember being surprised (or would that be freaked out) by memories my son expressed when he was little and then it occurred to me...is that just because we expect too little of kids. I mean really we remember stuff from two or three years ago - why wouldn't they?

I wouldn't be surprised at all, except that the more people I speak with, the more I realize how atypical it is to have a long memory, particularly a) as a small child and b) as an older child/adult with memories that are clear & consistant before age 4 or 5 (or even older). I had an ex-boyfriend who was very smart, an engineer, even, and he couldn't remember much about his life before he was seven years old, damn near eight. My husband has vague, disconnected memories of his life before he was five; it was only toward the middle of kindergarten that things started to get clear for him.

As I said before, my clear & consistant memories go back to 18 months; I've been told that this is "bull:censored," "impossible," that I'm making it up, or that I'm not really remembering the events but stories that my mom has told about them. (The sad thing about that is that my memories are *more* clear than my mother's of that time, for loads of reasons. :lol) Apparently, it's impossible to remember things from before you started speaking, or before you started reading, or before you started school or before your seventh birthday, depending on who you ask. :shrug

I remember the day that I became self aware, and I have a clear timeline after that. :shrug The association thing... well, that's something that I've always done, literally as far back as I can remember, because that's the way I "was taught" to remember new things. So, when we drive past the laundromat and Bean says, "Mamma, remember I went to that laundromat with daddy, and I helped him?" or we pass the garage where Mike had the van inspected and Bean says, "That's Soandso's, remember how I pulled the wagon all the way home with BooBah inside?" it seems perfectly reasonable to me. It's the memories with no obvious association that kind of make me :bigeyes. :lol Then again, I should know better; I associate things with weather. :wink :lol

[JayGee]

DS (4 1/2) has always had a remarkable memory. When he was 16 months old, we went to NH to visit my parents. Just before the turn to their house, there is a big cemetery that overlooks a bay and he would call out, "water" (or some approximation of water!) every time we drove by. The next time we visited, about 18 months later, it was summer and the leaves covered up the bay. We couldn't figure out why he kept calling out, "Water!" every time we passed the cemetery, until my Mom asked him and he said, "There's water behind the trees!"

He remembers the room number from the hotel we stayed in last spring. He remembers when he got almost every single matchbox car in his 200+ car collection. He can tell me what roads we took to drive from Illinois to Georgia last year because he followed the map in the backseat the entire way.

We suspect a photographic memory, to be honest.

[OTMomma]

At 18 months my dd told me about remembering being in utero! She was sitting on my lap and I told her "You used to be in mommy's tummy" and she said "I was naked. I peed in there" and then she Laughed! It was one of those moments as a parent where you think "Ok, my kid isn't 'normal'" She doesn't have that memory anymore though at 4. However she does remember things from well over a year ago very clearly, which amazes me for a child her age.

[teachma]

At 18 months my dd told me about remembering being in utero!


This reminds me of the time my son, then about 4, claimed to remember a prior life! Sort of. We were at a friend's house, and the little girl had a Red Riding Hood book. Ds picked it up and said, "I used to have this book." I looked at it and said, "No, I don't think we've ever had that one." He insisted he had. I asked, "When did you have a book like this?" He responded, "A long time ago. When I used to be a girl." :bigeyes

[eilonwy]

This reminds me of the time my son, then about 4, claimed to remember a prior life! Sort of. We were at a friend's house, and the little girl had a Red Riding Hood book. Ds picked it up and said, "I used to have this book." I looked at it and said, "No, I don't think we've ever had that one." He insisted he had. I asked, "When did you have a book like this?" He responded, "A long time ago. When I used to be a girl." :bigeyes

:bigeyes: BeanBean used to talk about the NICU, and freak out whenever he saw someone wearing scrubs. :guilty I didn't really believe that he remembered :bag: until he talked about getting hurt and seeing a lady with long brown hair and a pink shirt. One of the nurses went to give him an antibiotic and his IV infiltrated. :bawl I've never heard him scream like that since... thank god. :guilty

[Destinye]

DD has a great memory, but today she was playing with my check book and calculator and I have not counted to her past 20, and she was saying its 34, 69, 74, and on and on then she said no its not its 994-7899 which is my cell phone number and have never taught her that at all. Big ears though!

In the spring we went to see DH who was working out of town in our travel trailer, a month later we went again and after 320 miles drove by where the trailer had been parked, as we drove by she yelled, I want to see Daddy in the trailer. I had not said anything to her. She remembers where she got all her toys and will mention it when we drive up, even if its been a long time since we have moved around a lot lately.

I think DD also remembers being in utero she told me it was very dark, but its hard to say for sure

[HipGal]

I saw the topic and was all ready to post, but now I think my story is nothing compared to all of these amazing tales! Wow!

:dropjaw

[lckrause]

I saw the topic and was all ready to post, but now I think my story is nothing compared to all of these amazing tales! Wow!


Hey, you can't just post and say that! I wanna hear your story. :lol

[JayGee]

I think DD also remembers being in utero she told me it was very dark, but its hard to say for sure

Just yesterday, DS said to me that he was in my tummy with his two sisters, but couldn't see them because it was so dark :lol!!!!!

[eilonwy]

Okay, this was a little different. This weekend, we went up to Mike's father's cabin in the mountains. BeanBean asked if he could touch the worms again, like he did on our first trip up there-- when he was nine months old. :dizzy: As if there wasn't enough dirt to play in. :lol

[SillyMommy]

When DS was about 18 months old he was hospitalized for dehydration from Rotavirus. When he was 2 we went back to that same hospital because my sister had a baby and he told me all about when he was there and got stuck with a needle and remembered the long hall we walked down. I was shocked!!

He's constantly remembering things that amaze me.

[Transitions]

we moved to the usa 2 months ago and went to my sisters house for the first time ever to go swimming. two weeks later, we rode by the road that turns off at my sisters and my 2 year old says *swimming momma*. couldnt believe he remember that!

[LynnS6]

Another location one. We drove to the coast this weekend on a road that we hardly ever take, and hadn't been on for over a year. About 1/3 of the way there, ds (5) piped up, "Is there a tunnel on this road? I think there might be one, or maybe 2."

Not 2 miles later, yes, there was the tunnel. And yes, there was a second tunnel, though not technically on that road but on Hwy 101 heading south (which we haven't gone through in 2 years!). It's basically trees and more trees all the way there -- how the heck does he remember that? (It's clearly visiually triggered.)

[kimbernet]

Before my son could talk (around a 15 months I think), he would point and cry if we drove past the road that took us to the park. He also knew where we should turn to go to the bookstore to play trains and would cry if we didn't. He's always loved to ride in the car so about once a month we'll go for a drive and look at houses (one of his favorite activities). Now that he can talk (he'll be 3 next month), he tells me which way to turn and has truly turned into a back seat driver. :lol He knows where to turn to go to all of his favorite neighborhoods - mainly the ones with new construction so he can explore the open/unfinished homes. As a side note, I've had 3 flat tires in the past year from nails!

Kim

[crunchymama2two]

I'm driving along a rural road I've only driven 1 other time before, to a park an hour away from home, and my 3 year old DS says, "that is the road you take to the farm with the miniature animals" as we pass by the intersection. Indeed it was a road that lead to a farm with miniature animals. A farm we visited once when he was only 19 months old! OMG

[SunRayeMomi]

to the original post:

When Raye was an infant I would sing a made up song to her -- it went:

"I love the baby
And the baby loves me
I L-O-V-E the baby!"

When she was 18 months we moved out of my dad's house and into an apartment, and gradually I stopped singing the "baby" song to her.

When she was three we moved into our very own house. It was at that time probably a whole two years since the last time I sang the "baby" song to her. As she was unpacking her toys in her brand new room, she started to sing it word for word. Then she exclaimed "Hey mom, I spelled LOVE!!" :lol

[teachma]

:wave Hi Sara. I haven't seen you around in a while. Hope you are doing well these days.

[Terabith]

Well, the other day I asked my 2.5 yr old dd said, "I used to be in your tummy." I said, "Yeah, you did. Do you remember it?" She said, "Yes, it was very dark and then you pulled me out of your bottom (I had a vacuum extraction) and then the doctor hurt me on my foot and my head and I was scared." (She was in the NICU and due to some severe tearing/ sewing, I did not see her for several hours; she had numerous blood tests and iv's in her feet and in her head.) So I asked my 15 month old, "Do you remember being in Mommy's tummy?" She said, "Swim swim swim," and pointed to my crotch! And we haven't ever talked to my older dd about her birth or shown her pictures. I guess I've always known she remembered; the reason I've never shown her pictures is because I have always suspected she remembered and that the bad dreams she's always had have been from the NICU. :dizzy:

[jkpmomtoboys]

That reminds me of something--at his 4 year well check, the dr. asked ds1 to draw a picture of a person. Instead he drew a bunch of squiggly lines, etc... I was concerned to say the least and said, Jonathan honey--what's that? And he said, those are the waves I heard when I was in your tummy...
:jaw

OK I am definitely not going to tell him I talked about him AGAIN. ;)

[cdahlgrd]

my oldest spent his first week in the NICU. It took us 3 years of desensitizing before we could put a bandaid on him witout him screaming!!

He also remembers everything. Just recently he saw a Christmas ornament. He said "that was the one we made with Gpa and Gma at our apartment. .. . " We made those 3 years ago.. . he was barely 2.

[teachma]

my oldest spent his first week in the NICU. It took us 3 years of desensitizing before we could put a bandaid on him witout him screaming!!


See, and I've always maintained that my ds is so sensitive and has a hard time in life because he just can't seem to "let anything go." It's got to be that amazing memory; if he retains all the negative experiences he has ever had and can remember them as if they were just yesterday, that makes everyday life more painful because there are just too many associations, I guess.

[eilonwy]

See, and I've always maintained that my ds is so sensitive and has a hard time in life because he just can't seem to "let anything go." It's got to be that amazing memory; if he retains all the negative experiences he has ever had and can remember them as if they were just yesterday, that makes everyday life more painful because there are just too many associations, I guess.

I can't speak for your son, but I know that this is a problem that I have. I make these associations that strike other people as bizarre or impossible, and I can't let go of them, negative or positive. I remember the way that the weather was on the day my mother kidnapped us, and every time the weather feels like that, I feel like I should be sneaking off somewhere early in the morning, and on the move. When I was six years old, I went out with my family and another family to a restaurant, movie, and another restaurant. I was sick that day, and missed one dose of medicine before my fever went back up and my head began to throb and my stomach to churn; from that day forth, I couldn't set foot in either of those restaurants (and would actually mentally block them out when I saw them, because I got sick at the sight of their logos). I didn't visit that movie theater for nearly 20 years; when I did, it was with two friends and we saw "The Matrix," and as soon as we pulled into the driveway my head began to throb and I had to take some medicine. When I try to explain this to people, they look at me like I've lost it. Mike wants to know why I can remember a restaurant I was sick in when I was six, why I can remember every place (that wasn't home) where I've thrown up since I was two years old, but I can't remember how to drive to the WIC office every month. :shake

Those associations and connections allow me to store and retrieve information very quickly; in most situations it's really a good thing, but when it comes to others... :shake

[teachma]

Mike wants to know why I can remember a restaurant I was sick in when I was six, why I can remember every place (that wasn't home) where I've thrown up since I was two years old, but I can't remember how to drive to the WIC office every month. :shake
Yep...must be just like why ds can't remember he was born on the 26th.

[Roar]

eilonwy,
I think what you are describing is quite normal though you may have it to a greater degree than some. If you think about it as animals we were programmed pretty strongly to avoid danger and not to be eaten. It is a protective mechanism to avoid being hurt. What becomes problematic and anxiety problem is when a person tends to always react to these sensations as though they are real alarms when in fact the body is really just acting on a memory.

Oh and if makes you feel better...I know I can't be in the same room with the smell of peppermint even though it has been thirty years since I threw up after eating too many peppermints.

[jrayn]

Hypatia is 20 months old, she is always remembering things that sometimes I have a hard time remembering, today she was digging in my junk drawer and took out a picture frame, it didn't have a picture in it, she says, "where grandpa mark?"
well, it has to have been when she was at the most 10 months old, when it was in a different drawer, she took it out and was harassing it too much so I removed the picture to save it from her and have since moved the frame to the junk drawer. The fact that she remembered it was grandpa mark is impressive enough since she sees him 2 times a year, once in summer and once in winter.
She also remembers locations where she sees insects and lizards particularly inside the house. She always points above our large window and says "lizard there" I am like, "honey that was like 6 months ago!"

[wombatclay]

DD is 17 months and earlier this week she had a mini-meltdown when I didn't recall her "pretending to drive the car like daddy does" (I think she thought I didn't believe her...but honestly she was speaking clearly, I just didn't have a memory to match what she was insiting on, and she kept saying it was "pretend driving")...I thought maybe she had been pretending in her car seat and I just hadn't noticed.

I mentioned this to my mom (who watches dd during the day) and she said no, that a few days after her first birthday my mom had taken dd to the store and let her sit in one of the "big kid" shopping carts (where the child seat portion looks like a car, with a steering wheel) and that the whole time dd kept saying "dada drive!" and laughing her head off. DD hasn't sat in one of these since then. It really is interesting what sticks in their memories!

edited to add...once I knew what dd had been talking about I made sure to visit the grocery store with the "car carts" so she could "drive" one again. And she had a total blast. Probably a good thing we were there late at night (it's a 24 hour store) since she was screaming with laughter the whole time. :)

[eilonwy]

Oh, my kids *love* the car carts (they're fantastic, especially if you want to keep track of more than one child). My favorites are the ones at Home Depot (huge, the kids are way off the ground) and one of the Giant Foodstores I've visited (which has four-seat carts, instead of the smaller three-seat ones). The kids can't get enough of them! :lol

[sophmama]

My dd remembers EVERYTHING. When she was 18 months old she would tell us every day where each garment of clothing she wore came from (and she has 14 aunts and uncles and 4 grandparents, 3 GG's, plus friends who give hand-me downs). She has always known where each of her books and toys came from. She began memorizing books around 20 months too. She knew quite a few cover to cover and would 'read' them outloud turning the pages at the right times. She still tells me about our trip to California when she was 16 months old (she's almost 3). She is just a memorizer in general - it's her strong suit. At 18 months she would talk about things that happened when she was 9-12 months old. I don't think she still remembers that stuff though.

I remember back to age 18 months though - so I'm not flabbergasted that she remembers this stuff.

[teachma]

This is pretty funny...for the last few days, ds has been coming home from first grade and reciting his classroom lessons verbatim. When he explains things from school, he is using the vocabulary and intonation of a reserved 55 year old woman and cracking us up! Here's an example: The teacher must be teaching them to feel the type of air that comes out of their mouths when they form certain sounds. Today, ds told us about f. "If you hold your hand an inch or so away from your mouth and make the fffff sound, it will feel like a steady stream of cool air. And you should feel the slight pressure of your lower teeth on the inside of your bottom lip. Try it, mom." It's blatantly obvious his teacher said these exact words to him in class today! I would certainly expect him to remember what he learned in school today, but not necessarily word for word. I've always wondered...I have heard of photographic memory, but is there such a thing as an audiographic memory? He's always been like this.

[eilonwy]

I've always wondered...I have heard of photographic memory, but is there such a thing as an audiographic memory? He's always been like this.

Absolutely. Eidetic memory need not be visual. ;)

[loraxc]

teachma, I always like your posts about your DS because he sounds so much like my DD. ;) I can so imagine her doing that. Audiographic memory, indeed.

[teachma]

teachma, I always like your posts about your DS because he sounds so much like my DD. ;) I can so imagine her doing that. Audiographic memory, indeed.

Yeah, it gets funny. The more experiences they have independent of you, the harder it is to figure out when they're using their own words versus co-oopting complete monologues from another person! At this point, though, I'm thinking, "What an incredible gift...he'll NEVER forget anything he learns!" and I truly believe that to be true. Helps that he's a very interested learner, and always listening.

eilonwy, off to research eidetic memory. Wouldn't be surprised to learn it's a trait of people on the autistic spectrum....It's largely the weird memory stuff that made me question a similar diagnosis for ds at a young age.

[loraxc]

The more experiences they have independent of you, the harder it is to figure out when they're using their own words versus co-oopting complete monologues from another person!

This is something we've been talking about because it looks like DD will be going to preschool soon. I know we are going to spend a lot of time wondering, "Did she hear someone say that at school or did that come from her?" (I'm also hoping that the kids at preschool are not too into, say, violent play, namecalling, or swearing, because I know all of that will come home with her verbatim...)

DD has recently been interrogating us about cigarettes and smoking. Of course, we feel this strong urge to lecture her on how smoking is bad for you and how she should never do it...but we dare not give her this lecture, because we KNOW that she will re-deliver it to anyone she sees smoking. :lol (E.g...."You're smoking a cigawet. Cigawets are very, very bad for your body. Dey will make you sick and your yungs will be all black and you will cough a yot. Dat's why you should never, NEVER smoke cigawets.") So all our answers have been strictly fact-based.

[dooldad]

My father was in town to visit and he rented a white ford taurus, he was in town for a long weekend. My ds was in the car a few times. About a week after my father left we went to the bank. My ds son (25mo) points to a car a few parking places over and says "gpa Bob", I couldn't believe it, another white ford taurus. I was pretty surprised he noticed the difference, not a particularly obvious car or color. I don't think my wife could have told me what car they had.

When I told my father and he told his friends, they all laughed, "another car guy in the family."

What an exciting age, I'm always amazed at what he remembers.

[kids are grown now]

Although not exactly what you are talking about, my now grown son had an incredible memory. I remember we were reading a comic together silently and I would be maybe on the first or 2nd panel and he would be done..I would say I don't believe you read that that quickly. I would hide book and ask him what it said. He would tell me word for word..then I started going back..what did it say 5 pages ago..again word for word or if I said first panel from several pages ago, he would tell me word for word what the page had said. I just found this incredible. His IQ -low 150's

My younger son remembers breastfeeding (he's 26), but I nursed him extendedly, but he used to tell me when he was little that he remember how it was before he was born (in utero). Is this possible? His IQ 167

[captain optimism]

I don't know if my son belongs in this forum, and I'm kind of hesitant to post here. But he does have an extraordinary memory for stories. It's associative memory, not word-by-word memorization, though he can do the latter, too. It's why, when he got to make a rubberband guitar in preschool, he told the teacher "this is an acoustic guitar." (Though that memory wasn't a very old one, as we had read the book about guitars within six weeks of his saying that.) But he also remembers characters and bits of narrative from books that we read long ago--words in Japanese from a book about Japan, facts about cows, little things like that.

Perhaps it's not an unusual or difficult to cope with intellectual gift, but it is a neat thing and it does surprise me.

[Lyci]

DS just turned three a couple weeks ago. Don't ever tell ds your phone number if you don't want a phone call. He easily memories phone numbers and pin numbers (gulp). Also can recall detailed information about trips we took, like the names of the little girls he played with on a cruise a year ago or watching snow fall at our old house almost two years ago. (and the sign for snow that he stopped doing around the time we moved and he could say snow).

We find it thrilling. But we are also careful in conversations. He can repeat what we said, in detail and will when he sees the person. We just have to say nice things all the time in front of him about others. :)

[briansmama]

Yesterday, I put on a pair of maternity pants for the first time and my ds (3 years old) said, "Those look like Aunt CC's pants."

My sister (Aunt CC) was the one who passed on the green maternity pants to me. She hasn't worn them in 8 months, when she was last pregnant, and I never remembered seeing her in them. This is both our second pregnancies so we had lots of leftover maternity clothes, and lots of hand-me-downs. If he saw her wear them it could only have been once, maybe twice.

I couldn't believe he noticed that, and remembered. I had to call her right away. She was laughing and pretty shocked too.

[eilonwy]

DS just turned three a couple weeks ago. Don't ever tell ds your phone number if you don't want a phone call. He easily memories phone numbers and pin numbers (gulp).

:laugh: When ChibiChibi was 5 years old, she went to a summer day-camp kind of thing for a week. At the end of the week, one of the counselors told Chibi her phone number, but didn't write it down. Chibi started calling her up to chat with her, over and over again. :dizzy: I thought it was *hilarious.* I couldn't figure out why she would give her phone number to a little kid who adored her if she didn't want phone calls. Silly lady! :lol