our little man

12.20.2007

little artist

this afternoon sophie was painting during ben's nap. he woke up before she was done, so i left her at the table to run up and get him. when we came back down, ben was totally intrigued by what sophie was doing, so i decided to let him have a go at it.

i got out the booster seat, stripped him down to his onesie, tried my best to convince him that paint isn't food (he got finger to mouth once, but i caught him before he actually ate any), and handed him a brush. i was amazed at how quickly he caught on. he wasn't just finger painting - he was using the brush, even dipping it back into the palette to reload the paint. and he really enjoyed himself! i think it helped that he was watching sophie paint, too, and he was feeling like a big kid sitting up at the table with her.

it was a little nerve-wracking for me because i had to keep within arms' reach to make sure he didn't make any more attempts to eat the paint. he didn't - but i made sure to have a wet washcloth on hand as soon as he was finished so i could clean his hands and remove the temptation. then it was into the bath for both him and sophie. it was a pretty demanding activity, but it was a lot of fun. when sophie was a little older than ben, we tried pudding paint... i think once the holidays are over, i'll try that with them. then i won't need to worry about ben getting it in his mouth, which will be much more relaxing for me, and much more fun for him!

posted at 9:42 PM by aimee // 0 comments