Non-Verbal Memories

Interesting experiment on evidence of early memory development in 2 year-olds.

I have 2 or 3 very early, non-verbal memories I've managed keep all this time. One from when I was about 9 months old and learning to walk, and one from when I wandered out of the backyard and down the ally behind the house when I was 2. I've got dozens of memories of being 3ish and remember my early childhood pretty well. I still find it odd that most people claim their memories don't start until 4 or 5 and am actively offended when people tell me any earlier memories "can't be real".

I know, for example, that my memory of being 9 months old is real. When I was 18, I (unknowingly) went back to the place the memory formed and immediately recognized the room, the fireplace etc., and had noticed the color of the rug was different. When I asked how long the rug had been there, they said 15 years, but it had been blue (the color I remembered it being) before that. Ergo, it was a real memory.