Pumpkin Painting

As we entered Carter's first fall when he was around 9 months old I got this idea in my head that I wanted him to paint a pumpkin since he was way too young to carve one. It actually went over really well with him hardly ingesting any paint at all. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I felt warm fuzzies every time I looked at his adorable pumpkin. Then last year we did it again. Carter was hardly interested at all. The year before he had loved it. All I could get him to do was run by and stick hand prints on his pumpkin as he ran laps through the yard. I think part of it was the excitement of having both Uncie J and Uncie Taco over to carve pumpkins. 

Posing with their pumpkins before painting, Carter had to point out which one was his!

This year rolled around and I was super excited to paint pumpkins rather than just a pumpkin. I got home from my weekly grocery shopping trip pumped to show Carter the big pumpkin I got for him and the little pumpkin I had gotten for Elise. All he talked about for days was his big pumpkin and sissy's baby pumpkin. We started our weekly learning theme on pumpkins the next day and after some activities with the pumpkins we were ready to paint. It was crazy how much Carter loved it this year and how independent he was with it. He would grab the paint, pour it on the pumpkin, and sing his srub a dub song he sings as he washes his hands as he rubbed the paint all over the pumpkin. It was nice he was so independent as I spent the entire time trying to keep Elise from sucking her thumb and therefore getting paint in her mouth, but it also meant he used up almost all of our paint.

Now on to Miss Elise's first experience with pumpkin painting right at 6 months old. My plan was to paint pumpkins right before bedtime so we could go in and immediately take baths to clean up. What I didn't account for was the fact that Elise would be tired. And when Elise is tired she sucks her thumb or any finger(s) she can get in her mouth. Put some paint on said fingers and sis is going to end up with paint in her mouth. It was a mess! I was constantly pulling her hands away from her face and eventually just held both of her hands and lifted her up so she could paint with her feet. The funniest part was right as we started. Carter picked the paint for Elise and poured it on her pumpkin. She looked at her pumpkin, leaned forward, lost her balance, and face planted directly into the puddle of purple paint. The girl was a mess from start to finish.

Carter pouring paint on Elise's pumpkin for her.

Elise right after face planting the pumpkin.

 

Sneaking her fingers in her mouth as I turned her pumpkin.

She was not happy when I wiped her paint off her mouth.

 

Moving on to painting with her feet.

More painting with feet.

 

Ty took Elise in to bathe her as Carter finished up his pumpkin. I didn't want to leave the nice camera outside as I took Carter in so I picked everything up as we prepared to go inside and Carter ran off ahead of me, slapping the side of our van, leaving little hand prints on the door, and then putting a hand print on the front door. Thank goodness we used the non-toxic, washable finger paint! It will be fun to see what pumpkin decorating brings next year. To see Carter's first pumpkin painting experience, click here. To see his experience last year, click here.