the evolution of a child's prayer

Caleb's prayers have rapidly evolved over the last couple of months. This is the path they have taken:

Partial repeat of what we whisper in his ear to say with a short cut head nod if the sentence got too complicated --->

No talking, only head nods --->

High pitched, irreverent shrieks with the occasional head nod --->

^^^^^

Sudden shift to reverent, sincere prayers said all by himself --->

Prayers get longer and include everything. After he's said something he knows is particularly sweet, he looks up at us, smiles, wrinkles his nose, and nods his head with approval. After closing, he states more than asks, "That a nice prayer?" --->

Whispers to himself what he wants to say, then says it louder, with more affirmation, and an occasional head nod of approval --->

Every line of his prayers must be said 4-5 times, and no one is allowed to help him stay on track in order to hurry things along.

That's where we're at now. I'm both curious and a little nervous to see what the next phase will be, but at the rate his prayers are currently evolving, I won't to wait long to find out.

Some of my favorite of his most repeated lines:
- "Grandma Jane feel better." (My grandma recently fell and broke her femur; he's remembered her in his prayers ever since.)
- "Bless that boy be safe." (At the end of the summer, a boy in the Chinese branch went missing, so the stake organized a search. He was found safe, but Caleb's concern for him has never stopped.)
- "Thank you my famy." (Proof that he does love us, even if we were all yelling at each other a few minutes before.)
- "Eat apple picking." (This, as you might guess, refers to the fun he had when we went apple picking.)
- "Bless my box of cars be safe." (For about a week he hauled around his favorite Matchbox cars in a small cardboard box. It has long been disbanded, but according to his prayers, he still remembers it fondly.)
- "Help everyone feel better." (Our family went through a long, mildly miserable stretch of stomach flu and head colds that just would not die. We're all pretty much now - finally - fully recovered, so perhaps this line is now preventative.)


About a month ago I recorded his lunch time blessing on his food. This was shortly after his sudden shift to more reverent, thought-out prayers. (I'd provide a transcript, but even I can't understand everything he says. His speech issues are vastly different from Garrett's, but I have a feeling that speech therapy will also be in Caleb's future.)