Because when you are two

When you are two...

it's really fun to draw all over yourself.

This was the scene not once but twice on Sunday.

It first happened while I was on a run and Chris was hanging out. She asked him for some pens and paper, he obliged and then went back to doing the breakfast dishes while she was in the living room. When I came in the door from my run there she was - all lovely and blue hands, legs, feet.

He scooped her up and put her in the bath and scrubbed and scrubbed.

The second time it was the purple pen.

Fast forward a few hours. She and Simon were hanging out in the living room. I had gone upstairs with Chris to check on our phone line (which is having some issues) and when I came back down there she was again with writing all over her legs and her hands.

I scooped her up and put her in the bath and scrubbed and scrubbed.

And you know what my main thought was through this whole thing (besides a bit of annoyance at the scrubbing)? I was thinking how cool it is that her drawing is moving into a different phase. Some of the marks she's making on paper (and in this case on herself) are looking more like letter forms.

Not that we're in a hurry for all that...simply an observation on what is around here right now.

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80 thoughts

  1. Tanya Watson says…
    08/09/2011

    Ali I remember my daughter did this at around the same age, she got felts for xmas from someone and I came out and she had lines all up her arms and legs and told me she was a cat lol how cute, I took photos and will one day scrapbook them (10 years later haha) the things kids do.....

    Reply 0 Replies
  2. dawn says…
    08/09/2011

    how like a 2 year old and twice in one day. great photo to go with story. hope this doesn't become a daily thing for you.

    Reply 0 Replies
  3. Sandra K. says…
    08/09/2011

    LOL! Great story! This sounds so familiar.

    Sandra

    Reply 0 Replies
  4. Leora Henkin says…
    08/09/2011

    I am smiling!

    Reply 0 Replies
  5. Donelle says…
    08/09/2011

    Just wait until she discovers scissors. I have a vivid memory of my now 17 yr. old daughter sitting on the couch with a bath towel on her head next to my stunned father. Her reply "I was cutting the brown out"She was about 3 years old.

    Reply 0 Replies
  6. emily (justem) says…
    08/09/2011

    I love this! :) My daughter is a month or two younger than Anna and we have endured a LOT of body art! The best was the sharpie all over her face, legs, arms, stomach, and even the bottoms of her feet! :)

    Reply 0 Replies
  7. Anna-Marie says…
    08/09/2011

    I was lucky enough that mostly my kids stuck to the paper, but I say better the body than the walls - that would be much worse. It's actually really cute - but having to bathe twice in one day and scrub like crazy is not fun. Just glad she didn't do it right before you needed to leave for somewhere. Love the pic and the story.

    Reply 0 Replies
  8. Lisa W. says…
    08/09/2011

    Oh I love your feelings of bliss:) over this. Oh I just hope she does not move to the walls like my kiddos did...UGH!!! I am smiling too!!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  9. Gina Crowley says…
    08/09/2011

    Ha ha. This is reminds me of my assistant's nephews. They are triplets and when they were about 4 they were all in their playroom together. When their mom returned they had all stripped down to their underwear and drawn black stripes from head to toe; they wsaid they were zebras!!!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  10. Michelle! says…
    08/09/2011

    ha! I love this! Her right knee looks like a star and her left looks like a little person! Not sure if that was intentional. I have a feeling she's going to be artsy like her mama!

    MY son once drew tons of smiley faces all over his thigh. He was barely 3! I didn't have a camera on me at the time and I really regret it because it was actually kind of cool looking!

    Reply 0 Replies
  11. Ashley Marie says…
    08/09/2011

    So many stories come to mind upon reading this. When I briefly worked in a county hospital, we had an 18 mos old girl that was collateral damage in a gang shooting. For her safety (as per the rules of gang related shootings) she didn't have very many visitors to keep her company. We gave her some coloring stuff to keep her busy. In about 15 minutes, she had found the only pen in the container of stuff and had drawn lines and curly-q's up and down both arms and legs. You just have to chuckle to yourself when you see little ones get creative like this.

    Reply 0 Replies
  12. Cathy says…
    08/09/2011

    This happened to me once, Ali. But it was in college. In my dorm. At a party. And people drew all over me. Sadly. I have no pictures. ; )

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. Ali says…
      08/09/2011

      Awesome.

  13. Melissa says…
    08/09/2011

    The Crayola color explosion pens are clear and write only on the special paper. ;)

    Reply 0 Replies
  14. Annie says…
    08/09/2011

    Hi Ali, this reminds me of a book by Robert Munsch I think Anna might like called "Purple, Green and Yellow

    http://robertmunsch.com/purple-green-and-yellow/

    Reply 2 Replies
    1. Carol says…
      08/09/2011

      I agree Annie, a must read. When I was a librarian I read it every year to the kindergarten classes. There eyes would get sooooo big!

    2. Angie U says…
      08/09/2011

      I agree - my third graders love this book every year. They always want to know where they can get some "super duper never come off until you're dead and maybe even later" markers (or something like that - don't have the book at home. :)

  15. Shelley says…
    08/09/2011

    HA! I did the same thing as a child and once my mom took me to the mall and some older woman said out loud to my mother that she was a disgrace for allowing me to draw on myself. Can you believe that?? It was the early 70's and my mom was a total hippie so she didn't care if I drew on myself. Hey I was being creative, right? She looks adorable, keep on drawing Anna!!

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. Denise A. says…
      08/09/2011

      I just saw a little boy in the airport last month who had drawn all over his arms and legs with marker. I loved it. Just looked at it and smiled.

      I think it is great that his mom didn't scrub it all off. Being dirty, messy, and "arty" is what little kids are supposed to do!

      Go Anna! :)

  16. Alexandra says…
    08/09/2011

    So neat to see our kids evolving - my daughter Hannah loved her magnadoodle and the day she did an "H" on it was so exciting!!

    I'm not a huge fan of when my kids draw on themselves either but as annoying as it is I kinda like the fact that they are thinking outside the box. However, I was not terribly impressed when my son decided to draw all over a beautiful, silk-matted, oil painting - thankfully I called the gallery and they helped me clean it up :)

    Reply 0 Replies
  17. Jessica says…
    08/09/2011

    I had this happen with my 2 youngest kids (ages 2 & 3 at the time), but with black SHARPIE! I have photos too :) Amazing how quickly they do this when we turn our backs for a second!

    Reply 0 Replies
  18. grace hester says…
    08/09/2011

    Oh boy! Glad it's not permanent. :o) But what a lovely memory that you've captured for Anna. It's inspiring me to take photos of some of the little things my girls like to do.

    Reply 0 Replies
  19. tara pollard pakosta says…
    08/09/2011

    My oldest daughter did this on a daily basis, all over her face even...I could NOT get her to stop! they were just washable markers so I let her do it...wish I had more photos of it, but I do have a few hilarious ones!
    tara

    Reply 0 Replies
  20. Twyla Davis says…
    08/09/2011

    Heck I look like this after a good craft session or two.

    Reply 0 Replies
  21. Felecia says…
    08/09/2011

    Ahhh...yes....I recognize this! Mine made himself a tiger. And its ever so much funner when the older one colors the younger one. Since I have tattoos, it cracks me up when they color themselves "like mommy." DOH!

    Reply 0 Replies
  22. Allison Waken says…
    08/09/2011

    So funny! My 2 year old also drew all over himself with marker once. And when I say all over I mean ALL over - like I couldn't show the photograph LOL! His reasoning was that he wanted to scare his brother. Of course!

    Reply 0 Replies
  23. Marie-Pierre says…
    08/09/2011

    lol! Great thinking, Ali! :)

    Reply 0 Replies
  24. Cathy says…
    08/09/2011

    Let's hope she doesn't move on to the walls!

    Reply 0 Replies
  25. Lisa McDonald says…
    08/09/2011

    This picture took me back a few years...back to 1989. My 2 y.o. daughter and her cousin were "playing" while we sat around the dinner table. They were very quiet for a while and when we checked on them they looked much like Anna, except they were royal blue. "SMURF" was their nickname for quite a while!!!

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