Peter conquers the kitchen chair

I fondly remember the days when all I needed to do to keep Peter's tiny fingers off something was to put it up on the kitchen island.  Now that he can climb up onto the chair that Charlotte insists we keep there so she can "help" me cook, I have lost that option.  Pretty soon, I'm going to be putting everything on top of the fridge (although that reminds me of a story our friends told us of their son climbing up and retrieving a camera from the top of the fridge for the express purpose of dunking it in his cereal bowl).  I finally had to push the chair away from the island so Peter wouldn't maul the pizza I was making, so he decided to just climb up there with his teddy bear and sit there grinning away at his audacity.  Oh, Petey . . .

Mr. Fancy Pants

Remember Peter's strong interest in Charlotte's Mardi Gras beads?  Well, he has a new love now:

He's a guy who likes accessories.  Too bad he doesn't like keeping his socks on when it's 42 degrees outside.

An application to art school

Dear Aunt Martha --

Please please please consider accepting Charlotte and Peter into the high school art classes that you teach.  I think you will find they have skills beyond compare and would fit in nicely among your colony of budding artists.  I submit as their application the following evidence of their artistic aptitude:

Yesterday afternoon, Charlotte woke up from her nap in a foul mood.  I pulled out a watercolor "Paint with Maisy" book that I got at the discount bookstore and dressed her in a smock courtesy of Granny & Grandpa Great.  Once she got the concept of watercolors, she forged ahead on her masterpiece.

Peter got super cranky about Charlotte having all the creative fun, so I decided to introduce him to crayons for the very first time.

They were a hit!  Unlike his sister, cousin Quinn, and cousin Sonia, Peter actually kept the crayons out of his mouth during his maiden voyage.  His technique needs a little refinement, but he was starting to be able to make marks on the paper all by himself by the end of the session.

He liked to hold all four crayons at once.  Well, at least he tried to.

Hey!  This coloring thing is all right!!

Charlotte eventually moved on to coloring with markers and decorating with sparkly stickers.  (I like to call this her "Popeye" smile.)

Aunt Martha, you can plainly see that Charlotte and Peter are both excellent candidates for your program.  If you could also potty train them, I would be eternally grateful.

Very truly yours,
Niki