Family Files!

From top to bottom: “A picture of Mommy ’cause she has frizzy hair;” “butterfly;” and “Charley.”

I call this “the part where the alien comes out of that guy’s stomach.”

Inspired by the big aquarium at the Chinese restaurant we went to last night, Flora drew this picture this morning.

Flora got her very first “video game” for her fourth birthday, Splatser, and we finally figured out how to save her art to a USB drive. The game is really an electronic draw and paint platform for the tv, where the user can choose stampers, brushes, colors and more to create original artwork. Since she got the hang of the eye-hand coordination thing, she’s been pretty creative with her makings. Here’s one of them — a “birthday party for Ames” (she’s been calling me Amy and Ames as of late).

I dug out one of my most beloved childhood books from the attic, Ed Emberley’s Drawing Book of Animals. I’m pretty sure I “borrowed” it from my friend, Theresa Seeley, as it still has her sister’s name, Kris, on the inside front cover. Yah, you probably shouldn’t “lend” me anything if you actually want it back. Anyway, I totally credit this book for teaching me how to draw, by simplifying objects down to their individual shapes, and showing you step-by-step how to layer the shapes to make the object. Flora made the lion and spider above after just one try — her very first time using the book. Then later in the weekend, she made up the fish below all on her own. It’s amazing how since she turned four, or moved up to preschool, or whatever the genesis, that she can all of sudden write all her letters and draw identifiable objects. She’s definitely expressing an interest in learning how to read for herself, and is working on letter sounds and spelling.

She asked me if it would be okay to give me blue eyes instead of brown.

After drawing and coloring and painting and gluing, we were running out of snowy-day art project ideas. So we decided to make our own playdoh: (1 cup flour + 1/2 cup salt + 1/2 cup water + food coloring) which was surprisingly easy and just slightly messy!

I seem to remember from art school that the first object kids universally create is a circle with lines radiating from it, and it symbolizes either a sun or a person. I found this drawing developmental timeline online.

After three nights of “sleepovers,” I brought Flora back to Melrose. We visited the hospital on Sunday around 3:30 pm but not before Flora put on her dragon rain boots, donned a Mardi Gras bead necklace, and insisted on pushing her play stroller with Rusty the dog. She wanted to make a grand entrance.

Flora got to walk with her mother down the ward’s corridor and show off her boots to all of the nurses. She snacked on gelatin, ice cream, and juice from the snack area and got to see a few babies through the nursery window. Leaving mom behind though brought on a massive meltdown in which she chanted “Mom-mee” all the way down the hall, into the elevator, to the car, and all the way home.

Flora and I spent the entire day together today while Amy was with Charley at the hospital. (They come home tomorrow morning.) I declared it a “whatever-Flora-wants-Monday” as a treat to help her transition to the new family dynamics. So there were plenty of popsicles, she got to stay in her jammies all day, watch multiple “Super Why!” episodes, read Curious George books in bed, color with markers, paint with watercolors, and — her favorite — do “art projects.” Flora discovered how to squirt glue, so she coated the paper and pressed down stuff to her heart’s content. Oh, and she got to sit on the potty while watching TV. What more could a kid want?

View Flora’s “Art Project” photos