It is nice to have something I can show people when this infrequently comes up, because I have had people insist that these must be false memories, as children cannot form memories before 3. Or before 5. Or in one case, before 10? Like what?
My earliest memory is at around 18mo. When I was nearly a father myself, I told my mom of my early memory and she remembered it too and told me how old I was.
My kids, especially the first, would routinely recall things when she was 3 that happened when she was 2 or slightly younger. I can recall thinking, "I barely remember that, how the heck do you remember that!?" However, she had forgotten most of those early early memories a few years later.
I wonder if it's something to do with the memory being reinforced (maybe in surprising ways). E.g one of the memories I have from around a similar time is me receiving a toy gift (video memory) . It makes for a decent display item and has been kept out in one bedroom or the other in every house my family lived in since. So I would have seen it every now and then throughout my childhood. Perhaps, this reinforcement can occur in other, more non-obvious ways in a child's brain, offering a similar explanation for your experience.
It's also well-established that "memories" can be purposefully created by the application of the same tools.
I wonder if this is why smell helps to reactivate memories, your ability to recollect smells is probably the more consistent way to retain memories.
My 3.5 years old son, still remembers things that happened when he was 2 (visit to disney land for example). But I think it's maybe a bit different nowadays because we have a lot more photos that might help him form and recall his memories compared to when I was a child in the 80s.
I remember being frustrated in a 4th of July bike parade as a small child, as I had lots of long ribbons off the handlebars which I kept getting tangled up in on the bike with training wheels. We had a photo of me on the bike in that parade. I probably couldn't tell you anything else about that parade, but I do remember how annoying those ribbons getting wrapped around me and the sweat and heat of the day.
So the generalization ("all kids") is wrong, but some people, being exposed to toxins or stress sources (fetal alcohol syndrome, cigarettes, lead, premature birth, asthma, ...), can really only develop memories later. 10 years is a bit much, though...
I know they're from that period, as they relate to a place where my parents lived at that time.
I mean stroller where infants lie flat down and have this canopy above head, sorry don't know exact english term. Can't be more than 1 year in any normal case, I was a tall child.
But then again who knows, maybe its a memory of a dream experienced later. Our mind is a weird place, and subconsciousness is making various cleaning activities and modifications to make us feel better about ourselves (something I try to fight consciously to remember things as they truly were with all the warts and all, but it ain't easy).
Or that sounds like the kind of event your uncle would tell you about when you were a few years older. Probably every time he saw you. I know I have several childhood stories I've heard so many times they feel like memories.