"watch this"

Recently Mary has frequently been saying "Mommy, watch this" and then she does whatever it is she wants me to see. When I get excited and say how wonderful or fun or proud I am of her she beams with joy. She wants nothing more than for mommy to be proud of her. What an amazing gift this current stage is. It overflows my heart with joy whenever I hear those sweet little words: "mommy watch this." They can come at times that are not always convenient but no matter what I am doing I stop so I can watch her and acknowledge and praise what she shows me. Her desire to make me proud is so pure and wonderful and I pray it will continue because it will greatly help in her moral formation. As she gets older she will hopefully make choices that will make Eric and I proud of her. She will hopefully look to us as her moral guides. And then hopefully one day that desire to make us proud will transfer to her perfect heavenly Father and she will desire nothing more than to make God proud. The parenting style we have chosen can be demanding and sometimes questioned but these moments are exactly why we chose this path. Mary is so beautifully attached to me that nothing else comes first. Her attachment has led to this desire to please me. We are approaching 2 and still have had very little discipline issues because her trust in me is so deep that it doesn't take much to correct her. I recognize that the challenges with behavior may come but I pray that throughout her whole life and will always have that little voice inside her of saying "mommy, watch this" and so make choices that she knows will make me proud.

Just a fun picture because she is too cute!