Spatial memory - when did your toddler have one?

[Mij]

OK, I don't think DD is a navigational prodigy, but she has surprised me with her spatial memory. She's 16 months, been walking since about 11, and while we do go to the same parks most weeks, I was impressed when she showed she could take me from one of the cafes to the playground (about 150 yards but with several path-junctions and obstacles to negotiate)and I'm surprised by the regularity with which she goes straight to the table we were last sitting at (usually days before). She also did both these things after we'd been away for 3 weeks.

So - am I just being a giddy first timer and loads of kids can do this, or can I start hiring her out as a human satnav by the time she's 5?

Oh, she has almost no language but has always been very physical. And I can read maps and build flatpack furniture... which apparently are related spatial skills which women (on average, yes I know, don't jump on my head) aren't as good at as men.

dd3 is very good with directions and remembering where we walked/sat etc and she's 3. And I am an absolute whizz with flat pack (built a whole kitchen) whereas DH is pretty crap at it.

So now i'm wondering what that says?

So maybe it's a mother to daughter thing! I've been secretly hoping my tomboy gene was going to get passed on

My dd has this too (20 mo). I have an unbelievable sense of direction along with excellent spatial awareness (yeah, ok, this is probably my only skill! LOL).
At 16 weeks, she could recognise the next street to ours- truly. She had terrible colic, and we frequently went for walks, trying to lull her. She always behaved differently when we turned the corner into the street leading to ours.
She also never reached out for things as an infant until she knew they were within her reach. We would test her, but she never made a grab for it unless she was guaranteed of getting it.
I have breathed numerous sighs of relief, as my husband has a 'negative' sense of direction- when we moved house within the city we live in, he made me do his journey home from work with him for the first week so he could get home.
He can however recognise any face he has seen before... doesn't always know their names though .

Oh- and I have face blindness!

Lolcats, we walked miles with dd in a sling in the early days, I wonder if that helps! Still do, actually, although now the carrying is as much to do with containment as anything else so she can't decide the route herself.

My DP says I 'lock on' when I'm in a new place, and when I do I can find my way almost anywhere. It's great isn't it, to have a 'nose' for direction. I take no credit for it though, completely inherited as far as I can tell.

LOL at 'face blind'. That's me too. Must go with the territory, I'm hopeless. Can't remember people I've met several times, unless it's in the same week!

Only problem with DDs sense of direction is that I can't tell her where we're going next unless we're going RIGHT NOW, cos she'll just take off towards it. That includes in the house. So, I can't say, 'right, breakfast next' if I'm changing a nappy cos she'll be half way down the stairs in the blink of an eye.