Letterman

There's an alphabet print on Tuck's bedroom wall, and magnetic letters in several locations.  There are foam letters in the tub and he often sleeps with a boxed set of Eric Carle's animal-alpha cards.  We sing "the ABCDs" regularly.  We read books, some specific to letters, like "Big A, little a, what begins with 'A'?"  We carve hard-boiled eggs into 'O's and shape carrots into 'L's.  We say things like "buh-buh-banana, what letter does banana begin with?"
There is no formal practice, no preschool-readiness regimen.  Alphabetic acquisition happens at the grocery store, in the car, at the kitchen table.  Tucker points to letters on hats, searches for them on signs, names them on the keyboard.  He calls the zoo the "zee-oh-oh".  He knows to go "down and across" to make a 'T'.  He matches big and little letters and he sings "the M says mmm."  He traces 'X's in the sand and turns over a 'U' to make an 'n.' 
I know this is all very normal two-year-old activity, but it's a level of learning we haven't visited with our own child before.  And it just leaves me thinking: OMG, he's so smart.
JEB