Crayons

We just came from Luke's 12-month check-up where the poor little guy had three big shots - one in each arm and one in the thigh. The doctor said he's most likely going to be a little sore and grouchy all day. Great.

She also went down the development check list, asking if he is doing this and that. The last thing she asked about was whether he was marking on paper with crayons. I paused, said "uhhh, I don't think he has tried it. We don't have any crayons" and then I immediately wondered if I was impeding his development and picked up a pack on the way home.

I assumed crayons were for older kids, but hey, why not try it.

I should have known.

The first thing he did was chew on the box and rip the top off. I took a few out and showed him how to scribble on the paper, then helped him do it. For a child a very strong grip, his hand was like a wet noodle with the crayon.

Then of course he drew a few lines on the wood floor, but since I bought the washable crayons, it wiped right off. Though he didn't understand how to scribble with them, he sure enjoyed carrying them one-by-one to the couch, then putting them all into a tupperware container, taking them out, putting them back in. He was quite entertained for about 20 minutes, which was worth the $2.30 for the pack. When I saw him gnawing on one of them, however, I decided to put crayons on hold for a while. They're non-toxic, but still. I don't want to clean up a waxy diaper.

And even with the washable kind, I'm thinking that I may want to spare the newly finished floors and freshly painted walls in our new house. But we'll see.