D1 had her first try at painting last week. She loved it. A year ago, when I first tried to give her markers to color with, she was totally unimpressed by the idea that she could make colored marks on paper; her only interest was in chewing them. When I got out the paints last week, she sat for an hour, trying different brush strokes, talking about the different colors, asking me to paint specific shapes and trying to replicate them herself, and watching the colors mix. I can't wait to see how she grows in the next year.

Midway through painting she decided she wanted to finish the job sitting in my lap. I hope the paint came out of my skirt; I forgot to check.