“I have a confession to make,” I told my friend Kelly the other week.

“Ooohhh, what?” she asked, leaning forward in anticipation.

“You know those Colour Wonder books? With the mess-free markers?”

“Yep, with the Dora and Tinker Bell and Disney Princess and Cars books?”

I eye Kelly suspiciously. Her mouth is twitching.

“Do you…?”

“Colour in them after your kid has gone to bed?”

“Gahhhh! You do it, too!”

There is something soothing about colouring, isn’t there? I find it incredibly therapeutic. I don’t know why we stop colouring as we get older.

The ol’ box of crayons and thick line-drawn books — while still entertaining — are things of the past in the colouring world, though. Now we have Colour Wonders.

Jen O. first introduced me Lucy to them in the summer. The markers show up only on the special Crayola paper. Remember those books we had as kids, where that clear marker would reveal hidden pictures and words on special paper? Like that, only colouring book-based, with over-commercialized characters kids love.

Lucy calls this book “Sleeping Julie.”

They have been a lifesaver for me while nursing, because Lucy can colour freely without any worry of marking up the floor or walls. She loves flipping from page to page and revealing little sections at a time. Then going back and filling in more white spots. I love the pages that have hidden drawings underneath (you can see some in the photos here).

On more than one occasion I have picked up a marker and coloured a page when Lucy’s having bath with Eric, or has gone to bed and I’m cleaning up. As a surprise for her, of course. I do a lot of the backgrounds. I’ve even caught Eric intently working on an octopus while Lucy was trying to turn the page (“Just wait, Honey, I’m not done!”).

We’ve now gone through two books — Dora Saves the Mermaids and Sleeping Beauty — and every inch is covered in both. New books are very high on Lucy’s birthday wish list.

Two downfalls, though: Although they’re available online, I can’t find just the colouring books in stores — they always come with a set of markers. We only have the two books, and already have duplicate colours. Seems wasteful to me.

Because I can only find sets, they’re expensive — usually $8-$10 for a book and set of six markers. I did find a blank pad of Colour Wonder paper, but it doesn’t hold Lucy’s interest the way the books do.

Overall, definitely a favourite activity at Chez McDougall-Foster!

Lucy is suddenly in love with Dora. She’s always liked Dora, but more as a recognized character as opposed to an entity.

Now, Elmo is oh-so-yesterday, and she wants to watch Dora Saves the Mermaids. Every. single. day. We’ve made it a bit of a routine to pop some corn and watch it after she wakes up from her nap, so before she falls asleep she entices promises from us that yes, we’ll watch the mermaids and “Dora in her gown” (crown) and the bad octopus with his garbage that you “no like him.”

(Not long after the mermaid obsession began, we discovered this pack of Dora underwear my Mom bought eons ago had — *gasp* — Mermaid Dora on them. Oh, the bugging of the eyes and the blinding grin that ensued. Can you guess which undies she wants to wear every morning?)

This little set of Dora Life Lessons books Lucy has had for ages — again via my Mom, via Avon — is enjoying renewed interest along with the mermaids and an expanding attention span for longer stories.

Last night we read “Best Friends Forever,” about how Dora and Boots are best friends, and all the nice things best friends do for each other: Give compliments, share, hold hands, give hugs, make the other feel special. As we were crouched by Lucy’s bed giving kisses, she suddenly reached over and gave me a hug, then grabbed my hand and started swinging it.

“Best friends forever, Mama!” she said with a grin.

Then I melted into a pile on the carpet, and Eric had to roll me out of the room.

…now there’s a book to help you explain it to your child!

In the book My Beautiful Mommy (due out, sadly, on Mother’s Day), a woman undergoes a nose job and tummy tuck and — voila! — ends up “even more” beautiful than before.

Please. gag. me.

Good thing the book is written in a “friendly, non-threatening” way.

Did you know there’s something called a Mom Makeover for women who’ve had kids? It’s a tummy tuck-breast implant combo. Sort of defeats the purpose of beautiful sites like this, doesn’t it?

Day 10: 29 Days of the Everyday

My special friend and former co-worker, Christy, introduced us to Sandra Boynton just a few months after Lucy was born.

I’m sure most of you know of her famous books, including The Bellybutton Book and Snuggle Puppy (a love story). If you don’t, pick some up — they’re hilarious and have some excellent adult-geared humour woven in, a favourite element of mine for any children’s books, movies etc.

Lucy, for whatever reason, really attached to Moo Baa La La La. Now she can recite parts of it with us. When she says la-la-la (with her tongue outside her mouth instead of in — how charming!), we know exactly what she means. Doing this little routine has helped us through many a long car ride.

Before there were any grandchildren on the horizon, Eric’s mom bought this Little People Christmastime is Here! book because it looked like such a fun read.

And let me tell you, that shrewed lady was right. It’s the best. book. ever.

How many days weeks are we past Christmas? And do you think I can get the book out of Lucy’s little hands? No! We are still reading about Ho-Ho coming, and packing presents, and the cute-stumpy Little People kids whispering in the fat man’s ear! Seventy bajillion times! In a row! Lucy adores this book.

It’s got more than 50 lift-the-flaps (which she has memorized, by golly. Ask her where the star or cookies or airplane is, and she will find it without any hesitation), made of durable, hard, glossy cardboard stuff. Lift-the-flaps are awesome for babies and toddlers, but many of ours have fallen apart under Lucy’s exuberant/curious fingers. But these are super sturdy. The illustrations are incredibly colourful and interesting, and an entire page has numbered flaps like an Advent calendar — so it encompasses learning about shapes, objects, colours and numbers, on top of Christmas.

(And FYI, it avoids the whole religious aspect of the holiday, and focuses on decorating, toys, caroling, family and Santa.)

Based on the plethoa of reviews on the Interweb, Lucy and I are certainly not alone in the love for it.

I considered trying to stash this away in our Christmas packing cases, but couldn’t get it out of her hands long enough to do so.

We have placed a moratorium gently asked that people not buy Lucy toys for her upcoming birthday, and in keeping with that theme, are going to buy a stack of the other available Little People flap books (Look! A brand spakin’ new one that’s not even in stores yet!). She’s going to love them. And thankthelord, we won’t have to read about reindeer and snow in July.