Almost 2

Kelsie is quite the nurturer I am learning. She LOVES to carry her baby dolls around and love on them, kiss them, squeeze them, and take care of them as if they were real little people (to her they are). When they fall, she gets really worried, leans over and says "ok? ok" in her sweet, already southern accent. Her sunday school teacher has even noticed how much she loves to carry around baby dolls and described her as having a "nurturing spirit".

She is also such a sweet little playmate. Anytime we are around other kids, she always offers them her toys, and as of today, even her food. We stayed after church for a newcomers lunch and there was a cute little boy there that was about 7 months younger than her. She kept giving him her snack cup, and even fed him a cookie a time or two saying "there you go". She was loving it! She would then look at me and say "share, nice!" letting me know that she was sharing and being nice. Of course, I reinforced that and applauded her for it. 

She also likes to share how she is feeling. She is still just talking in 1 word sentences but she can tell us a whole story with just one word at a time. "daddy, stairs, crying, bath, clothes, bed, night-night" She likes to call out when she is happy, excited or shy. When she is enjoying something, she will laugh and say "happy". Or when I have told her we are going to see her friend Ava, you will hear in the back seat over and over saying "excited" sometimes quietly or under her breath. And when are out and a stranger looks at her or tries to talk to her, she will cower down and look at me and say "shy"... She also says shy anytime she feels nervous I've noticed.

Yesterday she prayed on her own for the first time, and it was unprompted. We had already sat down to eat dinner, said our blessing and were about halfway through the meal when she just put her hands together, looked down like she was closing her eyes and just started naming things. "Daddy, mommy, toys, Bill (as in the show Little Bill), pacis (even though they are gone), church, car, swing, outside, George (as in Curious George which is her favorite show at the moment).. I guess she was thanking God for all of these things (there were others too that I either can't remember or didn't understand). After we finished videoing the first time, we tried to capture it again. We asked her to pray and asked what she was thankful for. She sat there quietly, hands folded, eyes nearly closed, and then all of a sudden raised her hand and said Tarheels! You know I about came unglued with excitement! Its obvious she hears her mommy talk about the Tarheels a lot huh!? :)

Regrettably, there is one word she has started saying much to my dismay...Gosh! Yep, I'm responsible for that one. I use it too much and need to stop. But it could be worse. I'm glad that's the closest to a bad word that I say!