We hosted a body stencil playdate...Kaitlyn wasn't into the stenciling, but rather doing her own family of stick figures!
Out of the blue she gave me these statements. I had to document her art of Nana and that Nana was proud. Are you kidding me? I just love this one!
I drew the red from the opposite side, I was going to draw a triangle and Kaitlyn insisted she finish what I started. Wow. I didn't see this one coming!
Chalk drawing. She works with all mediums these days!
My letter A is in blue. All other markings are from her. Not bad is what I say! She's pretty proud about doing the letter A...she does it often and in the most random moments! I've seen her do B and C...I think we'll focus on her name soon!
At 32 months she has an elephant's memory. Kaitlyn can remember details that I had simply forgot or recall names of people, places we traveled to, stories we spoke about to imagined pretend-play scenarios as if we engage in the topic regularly. This memory bank is certainly a daddy gene and as for my gene influence it is evident that our Special K could make Picasso's in her sleep.
She has now grown into a new phase of art...first comes the circle for the head. Next are the two eyes, with pupils-mind you, then the nose and finished with a smile. She goes straight to the two ears, generally making multiple circles on each ear indicating the wearing of earrings. This is then followed by two straight lines that are drawn directly from the lowest curve of the circle to become this stick figure's legs. Each leg is finished with a cluster of overlapping circles/ovals to illustrate the wearing of shoes. Her final touch always ends in the hair after she either does or does not do arms with hands. The hair is one of my favorite elements of her work, generally big, but as of late it's been drawn with curls, spikes and even bows! She's a trip. It's very methodical. Yet, she never ceases to surprise me.
Over the weekend she was spending quality time with her dear cousin, Natalia. The two of them were engrossed in drawing. Kaitlyn drew one of her infamous stick figures but from an upside down perspective. Everything was upside down. The steps she took to create this figure were a truly remarkable unfolding of talent. She's going places, that's all I know!
There is this sassy-smart-assy edge to her blossoming character right now. Hmm. Yes, I know it will further emerge and challenge me, exhaust me. Heck, it already does. The key I find is simply engaging her. Play dress-ups with her, act like wild animals or make up our own songs and pictures....it's through this engagement she is calm, focused and in a sense, providing me with a mini respite from her often unannounced tantrum outbursts-you know those kind that make you realize you did have ears!
Of course I cannot forget to mention she is also a touch on the aggressive side. I often wonder where this gene comes from as I think my husband wouldn't touch a snail somedays and then I shatter that image with the reality that as I type he's completing his SWAT medic training which basically equates to: man + gun shooting + suspense + medicine = aggressive happy man. There is aggression everywhere in his world. Ok, for real, this has no influence on Kaitlyn, yet. I just think she's VERBAL & PHYSICAL and will always be this way. She seems to tackle Dylan either with love head locks or serious body slams any opportunity she desires. He simply just rolls along with her unpredictable shoves, pushes, grabs and even finger pointing bossy comments like, 'knock it off Dylan' (a common phrase of mine....ha, it's an eye opener when your child begins to imitate you). Ultimately I imagine this aggression will translate into a very confident young lady who has educated opinions she is willing to share (solicited or not), have a history of competitive sports and be one to still give me hugs and everyone else for that matter, well into her adult hood!
So here it is...a snapshot of our Sweet Wonder Girl K! I may be her biggest fan.
