Thomas and Henry both got art presents for Christmas. We already have quite a bit of art supplies, but I always love getting new ones. I can almost always convince Thomas to do art, so it's nice to have a variety of mediums to explore. :)
Aunt Heather bought him this spinning art toy. I can't remember the name. I always wanted one as a kid, so I added it to his Christmas list for the year. I'm not sure who was more excited when he opened it. We did accidentally throw the plastic cover away, but Matt managed to find it in the wrapping paper trash bag. Note to the company, make the cover look like a cover, not a generic plastic throw-away piece.
Thomas had a blast with it! Matt provided the spinning, but otherwise we let him do it all on his own. He made the first one and I asked if he wanted to send it to Aunt Heather as a thank you. Haha - nope! "That one's mine!" He eventually decided the second one could go to Aunt Heather, then he made a third one for Nonni.
I'd like to take a moment address the finger Thomas is holding up. Matt thought it would be funny to teach Thomas to say "redrum" while wiggling his finger (a la The Shining) back at Halloween. And unfortunately, Thomas still pulls it out at random times. As long as he doesn't wake me up in the middle of the night doing it...!
I looked for infant crayons or markers and there was nothing! I ended up finding these fancy crayon "gems" at Target that seemed like the right size. They were technically for older kids, but I figured since they weren't a choking hazard they might work.
Haha - he wasn't at all sure what to do with them. He tried to eat them, then just looked at me all confused. I tried to use his hand to draw, but the crayons were a little hard and didn't make marks very easily. Boo!
Once Henry realized he could rip the paper though, that's all he was interested in. As long as he was entertained, I guess I can't really complain. :)
Aunt B also gave Thomas an art present! She got him a Koala Crate subscription, which I had never heard of. It's this super cool subscription that sends you a box full of art supplies, color accessories and a parental guide for the activity options with the box supplies. Thomas seems pretty excited with just the first box. I opened it and he grabbed the watercolors right away - we haven't really done watercolors so I was surprised how excited he was.
The box included a triangular paper and twine to make a watercolor banner. Thomas got to work painting his triangle.
I thought mom and dad should get in on the fun! I decided to do a sunrise to use a variety of colors. :)
Henry didn't get to paint with us this time, but he certainly seemed interested in what we were creating. He especially seemed to be looking at his dad's painting, so I thought I should check it out.
What the what?!? He's copying my sun! And making his more exciting! Not cool. We'll just assume that mine is a sunrise and Matt's is a sunset. Grumble, grumble...
The completed paintings! Thomas has a certain abstract flair to his, doesn't he? It was actually really fun for all of us to paint together. I can't wait to see what is the next box! :)