Genius!

So...I'm one of those people that have a small tendency to collect things over the years, just knowing that someday they will come in handy. Like clothes, for example, I have a lot and yes, maybe some just sit there for 364 days of the year not being used, but that one day that I have the perfect outfit with that one shirt and I look so cute, it is glorious and I thank myself over and over the entire day for not getting rid of the shirt all 59 times I tried because I was so sick of the clutter. It's a horrible habit really and hopefully, one day I will change. BUT until then...I will marvel at the genius I am for keeping this:

It's a small table that doesn't even come up to my knees in height and I have been carrying it around for at least 3 years. It would sit in the bottom of my closet constantly buried by a mountain of those infamous clothes I was telling you about and absolutely had no other purpose UNTIL...drum roll please :)

I thought to use it to do this.

It is the PERFECT height for Brycen and we tape paper on it so that he can color whenever he wants. He does it first thing in the morning, while I do dishes, basically 10+ times a day for only about 10 seconds but every time he uses it, I stand there in awe at such the genius idea (today is one of my more humble days, if you couldn't tell :) It has solved so many problems. I enjoy not having to get out the paper and the crayons every time Brycen wants to color for 10 seconds (some call it lazy, I call it innovative; I am married to an engineer after all =)) and that usually would end up in him being frustrated that the paper moved as he tried coloring or would rip, etc.

LOVE LOVE LOVE his curls!

And I also find this chair genius. It literally has grown with our child.

We used it a ton when he was a baby. It leans back and vibrates and he used to sleep hours in it.

We used to strap him in and feed him solids when he was 4-6 months old.

And now, it is a rocking chair that he loves to sit and play in,

and pull up to his little table and feed himself breakfast on the mornings that Mommy is running a little late (his artwork is the perfect place mat).

You can see it behind him in this picture (and how it compares in size to a normal chair). PERFECT level for the table.

Disclaimer: We were in the process of getting him ready for bed. He has his PJ shorts on but we hadn't gotten to his shirt yet. Yes, I know they don't match and I usually dress him better. I won't speak for Bryce though :)...just kidding :)

On a slightly different subject, what IS IT with kids needing to test taste crayons? Yes... please trust me when I say, they are still as disgusting as they were yesterday. Brycen bites a piece off and then says, "yuck" and then will do it again the next day. Same with our Nursery class every Sunday (crayons AND play dough). It is almost like they are in denial that something so colorful could really taste so bad.

At least for the most part, most kids do think they are yucky and spit them out and will not repeat it for at least 24 hours. However, I do have a friend (you know who you are :) that has a child that is 3 months younger than Brycen and I am seriously convinced that she was born without taste buds. She will eat crayons, chalk, and gravel by the handfuls. I find it hilarious, slightly because it's not my child :) but also because not only is it quite the scene to witness but for the biggest grin she puts on her face after each episode because she knows how disgusting others find it (specifically her mom). I laugh now but she does enter my Nursery class in three months and I AM responsible for making sure the crayons are accounted for and returned each week (as well as the play dough) SO....we will just have to cross that bridge when it comes. haha. Meanwhile, thank you to the genius that decided to make them non-toxic :)