Happy Birthday Brady (Pottery Painting)

Brady (and Karen) have returned from a summer in the USA!!! We are doing a jig and couldn't be happier to have our dear friends back. Brady turned three while we were apart. Instead of one more toy to add to his collection, we thought it would make a good birthd

ay present to treat him to a fun outing at the paint your own pottery place in Ixelles called c.ramic (what a clever name)!

There was a large selection of items to pick from to paint. I spent my time trying to defend Connor (as a guard in basketball would) from pulling down all of these breakables from the shelves.

But they settled and selected dinosaurs. Matching dinosaurs. So cute. Connor loves to be just like Brady!

The first thing they did before the paint even came out was to nuzzle their noses together, making them kiss!!! Oh Brady, we have missed you!

Then it was time to get down to business. The kids spread out at the colorful tables and concentrated on painting. Connor inherited my tendency to bite her tongue while concentrating.

The dinosaur started out with a bit of green on his back. This was really Connor's first time painting and she did pretty good. She didn't totally get the concept that she was supposed to cover the entire dinosaur versus painting layer upon layer atop of each other. But oh well. That gives him character!

Happy Birthday Brady! He seemed to be having fun too.

Karen and I both made plates in hopes of getting our little ones handprints on them. All moms want their kids' handprints documented over time.

Brady cooperated with the paint on his palm - great success!

Connor on the other hand was much too into painting the dinosaur to let her own hand be painted.

I tried to entice her with new colors...

I even painted my hand and put my print down first thinking that would help. Finally I just grabbed her hand and forced it to happen...probably not the classiest Mommy move...but we got a light print and it made me happy. If it hadn't happened I wasn't sure what I would do with a decorative plate with just my adult print on it - that would have been pretty lame. Connor went back to her dino!

The C.Ramic owner was wonderful and patient. She showed us the kiln while describing the firing process and really tolerated the toddler tumbles that came along with a 2 and 3 year old in her shop. When we were done we found her back patio and the kids just ran and jumped and played together with reckless abandon. The orange cones made for perfect imaginative props.