Nora got a great surprise this week!

While we were at Freddies for the fourth time this week, looking for birthday presents and food and a few replacement towels, I went down the aisle looking for some tape and found some water colors instead.
The last time I tried introducing Nora to anything messy, I got a "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" and a demand that I clean her hands RIGHT NOW.

Since we've made great strides in the Not Freaking Out When We Get Dirty department, namely, her being willing and able to freely play in any sandbox, I figured it was time to try again.

As it turns out, she's seen enough Elmo and his episode about drawing and art, that she knew EXACTLY what to do when the water colors and water came out, along with a blank canvas.She followed my instructions to get the paint wet first, and off she went. I tried to quit after she'd done about 8 pages, but she came in the kitchen and said "paint. paint." So I brought them out again.

By the time she was done, she was very obviously comfortable doing her work and she was bringing finished ones over to me with a look of pride that was just TOO precious! There's nothing quite like that "look what I did, Mommy!" when it's something they've made themselves.

I put a bunch of them up on the back of the front door, and she studied them, and
when she got tired of standing there, she laid down in front of the door and studied them some more!

Later, we brought out the FINGER PAINTS, and she got into those too!