this little man...

...has been running a fever the past couple days. His dad thinks it's because of the four recent vaccinations he had last week, so hopefully it will go away soon.

On Tuesday, the girls had their homeschool classes and we were stuck at the house just the two of us, so after playing with his sister's new birthday toys for a while, I decided to pull out an old recipe book that my mom used to use when I was little. There is a finger paint recipe in it that I very well remember her making on the stove. I remember it being a dull white, almost gray color as it was cooking and then getting to help drop in the food coloring to make several colors. Then the best part: getting to dip my fingers in it while it was still warm! The experience of the squishy, smooth, warm texture between your fingers is just spectacular! :)

Anyways, I think I did this once for the girls but my baby had never done it before, so we made it together.

At first, he just squished the paint in his hands for a few minutes.

Then he tried a few hand prints just to test it out. He looks so neat and clean here - just a little bit on his fingers....keep watching...! :}

More squishing. I love the concentration in his face! :)

Big glops to squish this time! (Oh, and btw, that t-shirt is one we made for the 4th of July that I never got around to posting about. We also made firework ones. I got the idea from a Family Fun magazine...love that magazine!! :)

Next it was lots and lots of finger prints! :) He picked the four colors he wanted...but then of course mixed them together - and why not?? It was his artwork! :) Do you ever stress about paint colors being mixed? Or play-doh colors? I know a lot of parents think everything should be kept just as it came...and I will admit...sometimes the thought of the ugly brown play-doh we tend to end up with bugs me a tiny bit... But have you ever experienced the fun and freedom of swirling the colors together and seeing what new colors and patterns you come out with?? It's just paint! Or play-doh. And watching my baby thoroughly enjoy this texture and visual experience was worth the mixed up colors in the little bowls of paint. :)

After that he decided that the paint was calling to him. It needed to be experienced more completely. On a different surface than just brown paper. He just couldn't resist...

And I couldn't stop him. :) He was so engrossed in the whole process. Watching intently as the color crept up his arm. Feeling the now-cool paint under his hand as he spread it further. He wasn't trying to be naughty. He was just in the moment. Focused. And since he was the only child I was going to have to clean up that morning...I just let him go for it. (It's just paint...it's just paint...he might look like a smurf for a day or so...but it's just paint...!) :}

A little more painting on the actual paper....

...and then it was off upstairs to dump my little smurf boy in a serious bubble bath! (The only picture I didn't put up here was him sitting on the stool in the bathroom waiting for the tub to fill up. He proceeded to paint his legs and belly too!) Thirty minutes of floating and playing in the bubbly tub and he was good as new! I thought some of the blue might stick around and tint his skin...but it pretty much all came off...thankfully! :)

Here's the recipe:

3 Tbsp sugar

1/2 cup cornstarch

2 cups cold water

food coloring

(I used gel food color because I couldn't find the "regular" liquid kind at the house...but for this paint I would recommend sticking to the liquid kind - the dye is less potent and will probably get less on the skin...although, like I said...half an hour in the tub and he was perfectly clean...)

Mix the first two ingredients and then add the water. Cook over a low heat, stirring constantly, until well blended. (What it doesn't say is that this part takes about 10 minutes or so of cooking for it to start to get thick...keep stirring until all the liquid has thickened up and is finger paint consistency...)

Divide the mixture into 4 or 5 portions and add a different food coloring to each, plus a pinch of detergent (optional). The latter aids in the clean up.