Last Saturday, July the 11th, was fairly uneventful. Except for one major event. At one point in the afternoon, Daniel had gone to run some errands, and I was at home with the girls, in project mode, trying to finish some of our bedroom projects, and also preparing for a hot date with my handsome husband.
Camille usually wakes up from her afternoon nap before Brooke does, so I usually go and get her, and take her into our bedroom to play quietly before Brooke gets up. And so it was on this particular Saturday. Camille and I hung out, and I remembered, after a little while, that I had left some paint out downstairs and that there were a few brushes that needed cleaning out. I was just on my way downstairs to go and take care of that, when I heard Brooke in the other room. She was awake. Naturally, I went in to get her out of bed, told her that I had to do something downstairs for a few minutes, and to go into Mamma's bedroom to play with Camille for a little bit. Which she did. Happily. She's awesome like that.
Well, I went down to do my thing, stupidly forgetting that I had left my craft box out and opened on my bedroom floor, complete with craft supplies, paint and paintbrushes, exposed in grand temptation before the toddler. I was downstairs for, probably, all of 10 minutes? Or maybe less? But clearly more than enough time for Brooke to squeeze out some fabulous blue and paint her little sister.
When I remembered what I had done and realized what I would be going upstairs to, I think I stalled for about a minute. I just knew ... that it was going to be bad. But when I actually walked upstairs and took in the whole scene, I busted up laughing! It was all too terrible. And also hilarious, seeing Camille's little blue globe of a head. Painted oh, so carefully! It was just hilarious!
I laughed for a while and took a few pictures, and then promptly put both girls in our bathtub, trying to contain the active mess, so that I could take care of the stationary mess. I think, in Brooke's little *almost* 3 year old mind, she was doing everything right. I mean, she had squeezed the paint onto a little piece of paper (like when we paint together, I squeeze the paint onto a paper plate), she was using a paintbrush, and she was working very carefully. Unfortunately for our carpet, she was not careful enough. It's basically ruined. It is quite amazing that she didn't get paint on anything else. Just the carpet and the little sister. :)
Little Camille, happy as a lark. When I talked to people about it later, I could just imagine what was going on upstairs. I see Brooke selecting a brilliant blue paint, opening the lid, and squeezing some of it onto that little paper, and also on the top of Camille's head. Then I see Brooke take a paint brush and start carefully spreading and smudging the paint all over Camille's head and face, avoiding those eyes so well. And I see Camille, happy and chill baby that she is, patiently allowing Brooke to do this. And happy as a lark. Always.
It took some work to get all that paint off of Camille's head. I kept having to gently rub her head and rinse, repeatedly. And she was so happy throughout the whole process, I was amazed. The only time she fussed and cried was one time when I think some paint got into her eyes. But I washed it out, and she was fine again.
Brooke thought the whole thing was awesome. She misread me when I started laughing. I mean, obviously, it was pretty funny. But once the humor of it faded a bit, and I was left with a big mess (and some of it permanent), I was not laughing. I may have even been a bit mean to Brooke after that, for which I feel very guilty. And Brooke didn't seem to understand the problem, which was very frustrating. She got a very long timeout. And she was banned from having gum for a whole week. But, ... I still don't think she understands.
*Totally ruined. I felt so bad, because, really, it was my fault, for leaving everything out like that. How could I not expect that little 3 year old to get into it?*
*It's hard to see, but she was still a little blue, even after I had gotten all the paint off.*
Well, I posted a few of these pictures on instagram and facebook, and it was definitely a big hit. So many people commented on it, everyone thought it was hilarious! The next day at church, everyone asked us about it, and even last weekend, people were still bringing it up. It's pretty hilarious when kids make mischief ... isn't it?
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