1) when did you start to see that your kid was different?
From day one, although on that day the shocks were more physical than mental. DD assisted in her own birth (to the collective gasps of every medical professional in the room), tracked moving objects were her eyes, and held her head up for several moments like it was nothing.
Mental stuff started showing up within the first three months, by the end of which she'd begun choosing her own wardrobe (my mom did not believe me until we invited her to take DD shopping), played her first prank, and said her first discernible word, which was "Doodlebop." Incidental to that last bit, she was able to sit still and observe, and react appropriately to, an entire 20-minute television show for toddlers/preschoolers.
2) In hindsight were there things that were "normal" for you, your SO, or your families, but in reality were indications of giftedness that you merely accepted as routine?
My family is mostly NT, and I already knew that I wasn't normal, so when DD started displaying things that I recognized in myself, we knew that she was more like me than normal. For example, adults described me as having a "photographic memory" when I was a child, so when DD became our official finder of lost objects at around 18mos, because she could remember where she'd last seen it (sometimes weeks ago), that resonated with me.
3) when did you for sure conclude/accept that your child was gifted?
Not until she was 5 and we were advocating for her at school. The school system recognized giftedness, and we didn't know anything about it, so we started doing our homework.
