Dear Elsie Jane,

Now you are two. I looked up and there was a little girl sitting in front of me telling me that she wanted "one more bite, Mommy" as she finished her oatmeal and wanted me to scrape the bowl for the last bits, and who said "I do it" when it was time to buckle her into her car seat. My baby girl is gone now, replaced by this strange little person.

As I watch you, I wonder about personality formation. I know that babies are born with personalities already, but I'm starting to consider this whole nature/nurture debate. What aspects of your nature are God-given, and which are a mirror of me, a result of your parentage?

There's a quote I saw on someone's refrigerator one time: "What we desire our children to become, we must endeavor to be before them." (I looked it up and it's by Andrew Combe.) That little saying has been playing again and again as I watch you and consider the part of you that is the "nurture" part, and realize that there's still a lot I want to teach you, show you.

"Train up a child in the way he should and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

I love you, sweet girl,
Mama