Regarding the time of Alfred's employ, I'm guessing continuity goof. His narrative about wishing he had been there to temper Bruce could be read as "I wish I had tempered you" or refer to Bruce's time traveling around searching for gurus to learn from.
But coupled with the later conversation where he tells Bruce "When I first entered your employ, I was impressed by your extraordinary planning and deductive skills. You spent as much time orchestrating as your actions as executing them"...yeah, that just doesn't read so well as a description of a kid.