Ali the Artist, cont'd.

Ali can consistently write her name now. It's about as easy as name's come, so don't be too impressed; all the same it's pretty cool. I thought I'd share this sample because it includes a bit of a self portrait, and the work at the top of the envelope is her name in cursive. She loves to write her name in cursive. She is working on her whole first name. Obviously trickier letters, and the kindergarten/first grade teacher in me stubbornly refuses to encourage her to draw her "a" with a ball & stick. Ali can rehearse "shoot (like a shooting star) to the left around up & down" perfectly, but the execution on paper is still a bit wobbly.

I put some water colors in Aliyah's Easter basket and we've really enjoyed them. I drew a bunch of fun pictures for Ali to paint on, alas, she chose all super dark colors for them, sometimes narrating, "Sometimes it's a gray day." Sigh. She loved watching me paint and once my paintings got super vibrant she'd ask for my page. Each time I shared each bright cheerful piece ended up swathed in brown & black. Finally, I told her I wanted to do two all by myself. Here's our best work from the day. :)