"she's a dern genius"

I love my mom. One of the reasons I love her is anytime I call her with an accomplishment or milestone in my daughter's life her response is almost always the same, "she's a dern genius."

Chica is interesting when it comes to coloring. When we first approached coloring, I bought her a pad of blank white paper. Blank white paper begs to be colored. A blank slate in the truest form, it doesn't restrict my daughter's creativity or jam her into the evil world's narrow-minded definition of art. No, not really. The pad of white paper was the cheapest thing in the Target aisle so that's what I bought.

It wasn't that big of a hit. Chica's preferred coloring technique is barking orders to her mom or dad of what to draw, hovering over our shoulder as we give it our best shot, inspecting the finished product then declaring if it bears any true resemblance to her original vision. It's a real hoot for her art slaves. (One thing I have learned in the process is if you draw any person and put a bow on its head, Chica thinks it her.)

Unable to take one more announcement from my toddler that my artwork looks NOTHING like a real ______, I snatched up a few Mickey Mouse Clubhouse coloring books at the Dollar Tree. Forget a blank slate, maybe some beloved characters would inspire her to color something herself for once.

The coloring books were a little better. She was content ordering what colors to use then turning the page while I was only half finished. I don't know what's wrong with me, but it pains me to leave a page half colored. With all that page turning we discovered that every few pages had activities. And the activities?

They are my child's love language.

She loves it when I read the directions, explaining what to do and then she gives it her best shot.

After completing this page, I realized we needed an activity book a little more age appropriate. :) So I went back to Target and found these.
At the top of each page she spelled out her name so I could write it. When I forgot, you better believe she was sure to remind me. Below is her very first work book attempt. The goal was to draw a line from one side to the next while staying in the white.
Outlook not so good. Up next was the orange section.
Better! We survived the first page! We used that momentum to carry us into the next task. (She was beside herself excited at this point.)

Pretty good, huh? Up next was shapes. Her goal was to draw a circle around the circles.
Then she colored the two squares.
By this point I am swelling with pride. I can't wait for Dan to get home so we can show him her book and high five over our gifted offspring. I took a phone call while Chica continued to work. (Being the motivated and independent child that she is and all.)

(My mom is totally right, she IS a dern genius.)

But then I came back to this.
Uh huh. Clearly she still needs a little guidance. :) Here I explained she was to draw a line from one crab to the next without hitting a rock.
Mmm-hmm. The crabs didn't find each other but in other news she found all the rocks! :) Draw a line from one bunny to the next:
It took her a little while to get the hang of it. But amazingly, by this point, we were still having fun!

I think it's safe to say that for now, she prefers activity books over coloring books. Maybe it's a phase or just her personality, I have no clue and would need to ask a child counselor for some answers. Either way it's where we are right now. :) And speaking of counseling, I'm going to need some before she attempts this page. Or better yet, I'll have her Daddy do it with her. :)