Birthday vandalism

It's Grandma's birthday on Friday and the best thing about having kids is that I no longer have to pay Hallmark money in exchange for a card. I will be able to make original cards that no one else will have and the children will be my paintbrushes. Literally.

In the last few weeks, both of them have finally grasped the concept of paint and crayons. Crayons are no longer just for eating. You can scrawl squiggles by moving them around on paper. Absolutely brilliant! And it keeps the attention for quite a while too. Same with paint, in a way. Not just something to rub together but whatever is on the hand transfers quite nicely onto wall, ladder, clothes, body and occasionally paper.

And finally this afternoon, I found some time to put their newly acquired skills to work on a card for Grandma. I didn't want to be ambitious so I gave them a colour each and led them to the paper I had tacked on the wall, hoping they would smear it on the paper, thereupon creating an original Jordan Evan Tan masterpiece.

If you look very carefully, you can see footprints as well. And no, even though my kids seem quite kinesthetically developed, they are not Spiderbabies. I basically used them as my potato mould and dipped their foot in paint and printed them on the sheet. When Evan got the hang of what I was doing, he would help by stomping his foot around with the full knowledge that Mommy wouldn't drop him.

Jordan however, had more fun putting war paint on herself. Because she was in a pretty dress and because Mommy was too lazy to actually go up and get her something else to wear, she painted in just her underwear. This meant, her body could also be her canvas and that was exactly what she did. She became, very quickly, Squaw, the native American toddler who goes by the Indian name Pukka Rainbow Flower Bellybutton.


Evan on the other hand, was happy spreading his colourful joy around. On the step ladder, on the wall, on the grass, everywhere got dirty but he managed to keep himself relatively clean. My little cam-whore was more interested in making sure that he was in front of the camera.

All in all, quite successful.

Incidentally, the twins are getting to the point where they are fascinated by difference. When Evan had diaper rash and we let him run around bare-bummed, Jordan spent much of her time chasing him and trying to stare and grab at what was between his legs. And today, because Jordan was running around topless, Evan went after her trying to pinch her nipples. Try that again in 10 years and he would be in SO much trouble.

All that excitement as well as having people around meant bedtime got pushed back an hour. Thankfully I had enough sense not to give them cake or I would still be in their room right now trying to convince them that Mommy's hissy voice is indeed a sign of displeasure rather than something to imitate and chuckle at.


Anyway, the 2 chuckleheads, their cousin and their beloved Grandma with 2 birthday cakes and Jordan trying to work out how she was going to blow out all those candles when she hadn't yet figured out how to inflate her cheeks and blow out the air. The both of them did get their first taste of what candle tasted like. Thankfully, they thought it foul despite the pretty bright colours.

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