Father's Day Handprint

This falls under the "better late than never" category. Ten days after Father's Day, we finally found the time to do our handprint craft, a little activity I am hoping becomes a yearly tradition ... if it actually gets done on Father's Day in the future, even better!

I've seen this idea before with a poem about leaving fingerprints on furniture and walls ... I am sure you know the one. But Natalie isn't even walking yet, so she's not really leaving prints all over the house - such a literal interpretation, I know. But I love the idea of capturing her handprint as a way of watching her grow. Inspired by that familiar poem and in the spirit of Father's Day, I thought we could turn this into a tradition, something that Natalie could do every year with her daddy.

Our version of the handprint poem/craft involves an 8 x 8 scrapbook given to us as a gift when NHV was born. I put some stickers and such on the first few pages - just to get us started - thinking that Natalie can "design" the pages as she gets a little older. And I wrote a little explanation on the first page. I also picked up some non-toxic black paint made by Crayola. But I let Chad and Natalie figure out the rest, while I took pictures. Each year we will add Natalie's handprint and a photo of her and daddy making the print.

As you can see in the photos, before even getting out the paint, we decided this was an activity best done with a semi-naked baby. The paint claims to be washable, but, really, why risk it when NHV looks so adorable in only a diaper? It was also quickly decided that the high chair was the best place for our little artist. It only took three attempts, and we had our "perfect" handprint.

I can't wait to continue this tradition next year. To see Natalie - a year older - interacting with her daddy and making an even bigger handprint!