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Teaching baby how to talk

Isaac has been adding many new words to his charming little 21-month-old vocabulary and seems to be delighted that he has figured out ways to verbally express his wishes to us.  He loves being able to tell us what he wants, then get the reaction that he expects, simply by saying a word or a combination of words that he has learned.  For several months he has been able to understand much of what is going on, and we are all so excited when we hear something new that he clearly utters. 
For quite some time, Isaac has known to say "amen" at the end of a prayer, since he hears us praying often as a family at the table before we eat, or when we have family prayer.  Sometimes he will squeeze his eyes together to pretend they are closed and bow his head. 
Tonight as Hannah was ready to go to bed, we gathered together for prayer and somewhat jokingly, Kelly called on Isaac to say the prayer. Without thinking of it, I called him over to stand by me to help him.  (Please note that this picture below was not the actual prayer time that I'm talking about, but was one of several attempts I made at getting a good shot of him before church on Sunday in his new little vest.)
Back to the prayer, I reminded him to close his eyes and I started him off by saying, "Dear Heavenly Father, we are thankful for all of our blessings. Thank you for everything," then I told him to say "thank you." And as he was snuggled up next to me, in the sweetest voice, said "thank you," which actually sounded more like a "teh-tu," but it seemed so genuine and pure to me, and for a moment I couldn't speak, because I was so happy that my little baby boy was learning to express his gratitude to our Father in Heaven through prayer.  The brief silence where I was trying to pull myself together before commencing to help Isaac with the remainder of the prayer, had the rest of the family unsure of what was going on, but Isaac knew what he was doing.  He then confidently declared, "Amen." So we all joined in and made his amen the official one.  It was a tender moment to hear my son say his very first prayer.  I know it was extremely basic, but I will count it as that.  It warmed my heart and I am thankful for his intelligence and his sweet little spirit and the joy that he adds to our home.
I bribed him with a Hot Tamale candy here to see if I could get a smile from him.  I'm not fast enough with my camera!

Comments

sayfuzzypickles said…
How sweet. I can't believe he's talking and saying prayers now. So cute!

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