Episode Details

Ezra is fifteen months old. He says "Dada," "Mamma," and "Up." He's taken a few faltering steps. And he will sit on the floor handling a wire stripper for twenty minutes. In this episode, we triangulate three angles — the CDC's developmental milestones, the neuroscience of infant attention, and one father's observations — to paint a vivid picture of what's actually going on inside a toddler's head. Along the way: why a baby's consciousness is more like a lantern than a spotlight, why pointing is a milestone in its own right, and why the twenty minutes with the wire stripper is a self-directed lab session with a labelling service attached. Key sources: • CDC, Milestones by 15 Months, Learn the Signs. Act Early., page dated May 15, 2026 — https://www.cdc.gov/act-early/milestones/15-months.html • Zero to Three, Your Baby's Development: 15 — https://www.zerotothree.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Your-Babys-Development_-15%E2%80%9318-Months.pdf • Alison Gopnik interview, Scientific American, What Is It Like to Be a Baby?, Sept 1, 2009 — https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-it-like-to-be-a-b/ Episode 5864 — myweirdprompts.com/n/5864 (permanent short link: myweirdprompts.com/444077)