An Extraordinary Example!

So lately Sydney has been trying to talk, read books and answer questions all by herself. Really all the comes out is her stringing a bunch of different nonsense sounds together in long drown out sentences. She looks at you when she is done as if she just did something wonderful, and you can tell that she is so proud of herself.

Yesterday Seth came home from work just as I was feeding Sydney her dinner. She was eating black beans, rice and corn, these are all her favorites. As Sydney was eating, Seth and I started in on the "Hi babe! How was your day?" kind of talk, and I began cleaning up in the kitchen. As Seth was standing across from Sydney while he was was talking to me telling me about his day, he unconsciously folded his arms. I noticed that Sydney had moved her arms too and that she was looking up at Seth with big wide eyes waiting for him to do something. Seth and I looked at each other confused because we had never seen her make that sign before. Suddenly I realized that Sydney saw Seth's folded arms and thought we were going to say the prayer over the dinner(something I had forgot to do because it was only Sydney eating). Before I could say anything Sydney bowed her head and said her own prayer, smiled at us and began eating again.We both thought this was so adorable.

Seth and I continued our conversation, I glanced at Sydney again only to find her looking up at us with her arms folded. I looked at Seth and noticed that once again he had unconsciously folded his arms as he was talking to me. I took this great opportunity to follow my daughters wonderful example and help her to say a simple prayer over her dinner. We ended our prayer with an "amen" in which Sydney also said "amen"(her first time!) and continued once again to eat her dinner.

I am continually amazed at what a smart little person she is becoming. Now that I know Sydney is somewhat understanding the concept of prayer, or at least the fact that we fold our arms and say something right before we eat. I am going to try harder to remember to pray with her at every meal, and before bed time as a family. I feel so humbled that my 18 month old daughter had to remind me to pray over her dinner!

Like I mentioned before Sydney is also reading books to herself. The book that she is reading is currently one of her favorites. It is about a little pea,(we had to change the pea to a ball so that she would pay attention to the story,!) who has to eat candy for dinner(yuck!) and for dessert he gets spinach(yum!). If you listen closely you can hear Sydney say "yuck"(it sounds like she is clearing her throat) and "yum, umm umm umm" during the part where the little "ball" gets to eat his yummy spinach! She also says "a ball" and "candy"(sounds like she is saying daddy) and "whee!"

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