So we went to a play date with the AF wives and their kids at Pottery Keepsakes- a place where you paint pottery in any shape/item you can think of. We opted for a standard tile that I wanted to put her hand prints on. They had a really cool book of creative things to do with hand prints. Of course the finished products in the book don't allude to the effort it takes to get there. (and in case you can't tell, I made her hand prints into palm trees.)
First of all, paint-your-own-pottery needs to have a "you must be this tall to paint" sign. 10 month olds who like to grab everything and put it in their mouths do not belong there. Second of all, it is not wise to put 20 under the age of 5 all together in the paint room. There was only one woman in charge, plus the other clueless parents, and Naomi was running low on patience. So there I was, Naomi in one arm, picking paint colors, pouring them, wiping them, dabbing them, trying to keep them away from her with the other. She did not like the cold, wet paint on her hands, but we managed to get a print from each hand. Then of course I had to add all the details while placating her which is how the flamingo ended up with a duck beak. There was no time for do-overs, this was a paint-and-run situation. In the end, I do love the result. And the only casualty was the blue paint and formula all over the stroller.