Elmo told me to do it!

I've always thought that my daughter was an easy child, but the more & more I am with other children I realize that she's not as easy as what I had believed. She is an active & adventurous girl. I mean really, how many little girls scale the exterior of a spiral staircase, get to the top and yell "mommy, catch me, I am going to jump"? Yes, she did jump and fortunately, I was there to catch her. Not a simple feat considering I am pregnant with twins. When I reprimanded her for her actions, she looked at me quite plainly and simply explained that Elmo told her to do it. Well, needless to say she & Elmo both received the longest time out ever. My next clue was when I was cooking dinner and I heard "Mommy, look I'm swinging". I couldn't quite figure out what she could be swinging from, until I entered the dining room and there she was hanging from the chandelier. Needless to say another time out was given and the chandelier was replaced with a different fixture the next day. So I came to the conclusion that she's not easy, she just has good sleep habits. Naps everyday at 1pm, bedtime at 7pm and awake at 8:30am. People I tell think this is a crazy amount of sleep, but if you met my daughter you'd realize she really wears herself out. So now that I am 8 months pregnant with twins, I can't physically keep up the pace. Everyday I try to figure out ways to entertain her in a sedentary way. As I rack my brain on a daily basis to find a solution on what could preoccupy my active daughter in a passive way, I think I've finally found my dream solution... crayons, watercolor & finger paints!

When my two and a half year old daughter got her hands into the bright and colorful finger paints for the first time, her face lit up with a delightful smile! She was hooked on art and color, from the moment that her hands started spreading the magical colors around. Finger painting, watercolor paints and crayons have really made a difference! She loves to work with the textures and colors of the finger paints, and the painting process has seemed to open a whole new part of her brain. I think all children should definitely be introduced to crayons and finger paints. It is now a battle for me to pull her away from her "art" instead of having to worry about which light fixture she is swinging from. And that's a "battle" I'll happily deal with!