Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?

Jocelyn can have the sweetest little personality. Recently, one of the more popular snacks in our house has been pretzel rods. Jocie will point to the top of the fridge where the tub of pretzels sits and ask, "Pretz? Pretz?" and when I ask her, "You want a pretzel?" she gets all excited, does a little jiggy and says, "Yeaaaa!!" I take down the pretzel tub, open up the lid and hold the tub out to her. She takes a pretzel with her left hand, then puts it in her right hand. Then, she reaches back into the tub to take another pretzel rod and toddles away to give it to Kayla. Without me even asking. So sweet and always willing to share with her sister (even if her sister is in the bathroom. Kayla was washing up at the sink once and Jocie put the pretzel rod on the toilet seat cover. Yum.)

Don't get me wrong, Jocie definitely has her moments. She doesn't put up with Kayla's antics (i.e. Kayla poking at Jocie, or getting all in front of Jocie's face and not giving her adequate personal space). Jocelyn will not hesitate to give Kayla a push or a shove with both hands, or hit her with whatever object she currently has in her hand (toy dinosaur, wooden spoon, book, block, or just a plain ol' smack with her bare hand). Kayla will then start fake crying and will sometimes pout when we tell her that she shouldn't have bothered Jocelyn in the first place. These ordeals are usually quite amusing from the adult perspective, and it's hard for me and George not to laugh most times.

Several days ago, Jocelyn had put her baby doll in the toy stroller. The baby doll's eyes open and close by themselves, and it was leaning just far enough back in the stroller that her eyes were closed. Jocelyn decided that it was time to feed the baby and brought a toy bottle over to her. When she saw that the doll's eyes were closed, she started to whack the doll with both hands while shouting "Baby!!" (One whack per syllable of "Baay-beee!!) Since the doll's eyes weren't opening, Jocelyn continued to hit and shout "Baay-bee!!", with her voice getting louder and louder and her whacks more forceful each time.

(For those of you with young babies, I promise Jocelyn does not do this to human babies. At day care, she likes to get down on all fours and babble to the babies. So please don't be scared to schedule playdates with us!)