Baby Einstein????

OK, we all know parents who think their kids are genuises, but Emmy (just turned 5) is doing things that flabbergast us. Three examples.

First, she recently beat me in checkers, and I was trying to win. I showed her the basic rules and she intuitively figured out how to split defenses, set traps and lures, and prevent me from battling to a draw.

Second, last night she was lying in bed counting her fingers when she asked me how to know when to stop.
Me: What?
Emmy: What is the biggest number? How do I know when I am at the end?
Me: Google. Google is the biggest number.
Emmy: Daddy, you're wrong. (staring at her fingers) Google and one, google and two, google and three. See Daddy, whatever number you say, I will just add one to it and make you wrong.

Is it common to self-discovered the concept of infinity at age 5?


Finally, when we are driving on the highway, Emmy will stare at the oncoming traffic and have a dialog with herself.
- We're gonna beat that car to the sign
- That car is speeding, it's gonna beat us to the tollbooth
- That truck will beat that car before it goes under the bridge
- When I look out my window, the trees that are close to me are speeding but the trees far away are moving slow.

Is it common to ponder concepts of relative position and relative motion (differential calculus) at age 5?