"Say Prayers?"

Out of a fear of being like those parents who claim their 6-month old knows how to say, "Rhinoceros," we sometimes overcompensate by refusing to believe that Joseph does certain things until either other people observe it firsthand, or he makes it undeniably obvious.

For example, during the last couple of months, there have been multiple times where we would sit down to pray over a meal as family, and Joseph would grab his upper arm near the elbow to copy me and Erin as we fold our arms. He stops after a few seconds, but it's still cute to us.

Sometimes, after sitting in his high chair for a while, he decides it's time to pray again and grabs his arm and looks at us for acknowledgment.


Here's a shot of his reaction this morning when we were getting ready for church. We asked him if we should "Say prayers?" before we headed out for the day.

Other Developments

This week he demonstrated a couple of ways that he's starting to put things together in his head.

One day, he was sitting in his high chair eating when he spied a nearby dinosaur book. After reading a couple of pages to him, I noticed that he was pointing at his bib and looking at me expectantly. It was only then that I realized that his bib had a large image of a dinosaur on it as well.

His other fun trick this week involves a book called "Mommy Hugs."

Incidentally, if you ever want to get someone a great set of board books, pick up "Mommy Hugs" and "Daddy Kisses" by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben; they've got great illustrations. (I also think they provide a good way to teach about parents' love for their children. And, if you've got a child with a lot of wiggles, you can have fun by acting out the words and interacting with your child as you read.)

Anyway, one of the pages in "Mommy Hugs" shows mommy monkey giving her baby a hug with a pat on the head. The other day, Joseph was flipping through the book, and when we came to this page he started patting himself on the head. When I realized what he was doing he got a little twinkle in his eye. Now, every time we open that page he pats his head and giggles.