As I used to be an art teacher, we decided a couple of weeks ago that almost 11 months old was a good time to start drawing. Here's how it went:
I dug up some So Big Crayola crayons and plain white paper. I made sure he was rested and fed. And we put the baby in his high chair...
He must have been thinking, "Oh goody, more food!"
I put a paper on the try. He promptly began to try and pick it up and put it in his mouth. Can I eat this?
I took an unwrapped crayon (Smart mommy, huh?) an showed him that you could make a mark on the paper. He took the crayon and put it in his mouth. Mom, can I eat it?
After several tries, I determined that the problem was the high chair. In my mommy brain it seemed as if he must think that the things on the tray are always for eating; that's what he does there. So we took him out of the high chair.
I put the paper on the floor and hubby put the baby down near the paper. Hmmmm... Can I eat it down here? He, of course, started to try and put the paper in his mouth.
I, once again, showed him how to make a mark on the paper with the UNWRAPPED crayon. (Why was I worried about the wrapper? There was other paper...) Can I eat THIS down here? He took the crayon and put it in his mouth.
I took the crayon from him, but it came back with a little, tiny scratch missing compliments of his one tooth. I guess he can eat it...
We tried again. This time he did inadvertently draw some while he was putting the crayon in his mouth ON THE WALL. That had us laughing out loud due to a story my mother tells about my childhood; I'll save it for another day.
At this point we abandoned mission baby draw as currently impossible. I have yet to wash the mark off the wall. I just can't get rid of the one thing he's managed to draw. And I really get the whole choking hazard thing; my baby will put ANYTHING in his mouth!
Hmmmm... Can I eat this?
Find a nice frame, take the backing and glass out/off, and hang it ont he wall to showcase his artwork. It doesn't matter that it's only a few inches off the floor. Trust me. ;-)
If the artwork is super large (say covering an entire wall large) leave it until people think you've completely lost it then rearrange the furniture so as to hide the artwork from the view of the guests who think you've lost it. Paint over the wall if and only if you sell your house.
What? Hasn't anyone else ever done this before? LOL
Posted by: Kerry at June 15, 2007 02:52 PMI'd say that sounds about right for 11 months LOL Great story! wonder what he'd think if you actually let him eat one :o
Posted by: Anne Martin at June 17, 2007 10:49 AM