But that very precosity of intellectual development (as opposed to precocious knowledge/understanding, which I'm pretty sure isn't the case) can produce an entirely different trajectory, I'd say-- so no, it's definitely not like a bullet train on the same tracks as the freight locomotives. It's fundamentally different to have experienced "I don't want to use that object to pull myself up to a standing position, because-- well, THEN WHAT? I'd be stuck. I should consider how to move about better. Or at least how to sit back safely on the floor. I'll think on that."
Oh, this reminded me of my son as a baby/toddler and I had to laugh! I never suspected he was anything other than normal, but I was always entertained by him. He was so alert and monitoring everything from the moment he could open his eyes. He attempted crawling once or twice, then like a week later could magically crawl with perfection.. same thing with walking.. he pulled himself up and edged along a table once or twice, then went back to crawling. About a month later, bam, he was walking like he'd been doing it for months. He was this way with puzzles, and legos and learning to read... you'd seem him try/struggle/attempt a few times, then nothing, then, like magic, he would master it in a single attempt.
(The specific thing that made me laugh was remembering when he decided he could walk - it was at airport security while I was attempting to put my shoes back on! Stinker let go of the table, and just walked off. The security people were giving me looks like "duh, watch your kid" and I was completely dumbfounded thinking "WTF! Since when can you walk kid??")
