Mommy's mediocre attempts at Montessori

Since my Isaac is surely a genius, I am lately stepping up my efforts to introduce new ideas to him that he would surely encounter around preschool time. Note how I say "introduce" and not "force" or even "make up flash cards for". We are totally casual about things. But that Isaac has this unbelievable memory and also that he counts to 12 suggests to me that he might be open to, say, memorizing the names of the days of the week. Why not try? So far our attempts at this sound like:

Me (changing Jacob's diaper): Isaac, do you know what day today is?
Isaac: Mommy change Jake-Jake's diaper!
Me: It's Thursday. Can you say "Thursday"?
Isaac: Thurrrrrrr-day.
Me: GOOOOOOD!!! Do you know what tomorrow is? Tomorrow is Friday. Can you say "Friday"?
Isaac: Fwiiiii-day.
Me: GOOOOOD, buddy! Now, what day is today?
Isaac: (silence)
Me (whispering): it's thursday
Isaac: Thurday.
Me: And what day is tomorrow?
Isaac: CANDY STORE!

Yep. Remember, we're introducing concepts here. Since he is so good at recognizing and naming his shapes, I'm also trying to get him used to seeing his ABCs as discrete shapes, and possibly even learning their names. Whenever he sees letters, he pretends he's spelling them out -- he says, always, "Ay - Oh - See" and usually suggests that spells either "TOY STORY!!!" or "DADDY!!!" He gets the point, then, which I think is remarkable, that letters spell words. For some Sesame Street devotees, this comes as almost second nature; Isaac, however, is not the biggest fan. He digs Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and Journey to Ernie, will never sit through an entire episode. So instead he's learning his letters from watching me make letter shapes out of playdoh or drawing letters on the bathtub with our bathtub crayons. So far, I've stuck with the basics, A, B, and C.

Mommy: Isaac, what's this letter? (pointing to an "A")
Isaac (with almost bombastic excitement): That's an A!!!!!!
Mommy: GREAT job, buddy! Now what's this letter? (pointing to a "B")
Isaac (with identical enthusiasm): That's an A!!!!!

He'll get it. It's fun to think of what a blank slate he is, though sometimes he surprises us. Dada decided tonight, during their usual Daddy-Isaac bedtime conversation, to introduce Isaac to the concept of last names.

Daddy: Isaac, did you know that people have last names as well as first names?
Isaac: Yeah. Like "Dr. Modi".
Daddy (taken aback): Yes, exactly. Do you know what our last name is? It's "O'Neal".
Isaac: No-neel.
Daddy: Yes. So your name isn't just "Isaac," it's "Isaac O'Neal."
Isaac: Isaac No-neel.
Daddy: Yes. And did you know that Daddy is a doctor, too? Some people call Daddy "Dr. O'Neal", just like how Dr. Modi is "Dr. Modi".
Isaac: [insert sound of toddler mind-trip here]