A fun mess

When Ajay was little, he would have a "parent educator" come play with him once a month.  She would play with Ajay and give me handouts as to what I should expect at each current age.  She would also help gauge if he was on track, developmentally.  Once he graduated from the program, at age 3, she no longer came for visits.  Since Ajay already went through the program and I was given all of the handouts, Alex wasn't eligible for the program.
 
When we moved last year, we moved into a new school district which opened up an opportunity for Aren to get the same type of visits.  Once a month for almost a year now (except for the summer months), Miss E. has been coming to play with Aren.  She brings blocks to stack - he thinks it's just fun, she uses it to check his motor skills.  She brought puzzle bears - you can change their clothes and their faces with different expressions.  Again, fun for him, but she uses it as a tool to teach emotions.

For his October visit she brought a big plastic tray and some shaving cream. 
 
Have you ever seen a small child play with shaving cream?  Some might be tentative, some might not like the mess. 

Aren dug right in.  And Alex played along, as well.  After awhile there was no holding back and it got quite messy! 

I had shaving cream on my hands as well, but in the end I just couldn't resist getting my camera! 

Can you see it in Aren's hair?  Can you even find Alex's hands?

Going all in!

Knee deep in fun!!

About this time we decided to reign in the chaos and get the boys cleaned up.  Aren, at almost two and a half, had no qualms about stripping down in front of Miss E.  I turned on the faucet in the tub to wash off the plastic tray and when I turned around, Aren was neked and ready for a bath!  Alex, on the other hand, thankfully, was a bit more shy.  He waited until she was gone before he hopped in the shower. 

Miss E. asked how likely I would be to do this activity with the boys.  I told her, honestly, not very likely.  Unless it is during the summer months and they can go outside!  (Even putting them in the tub for this might cause more mess than I care to clean up!)