A new beginning

One of R.'s birthday presents was a Magna Doodle-like drawing toy. You know, where the pen, which is actually a magnet, pulls up the little metal filings when you draw with it, then you slide the bar across to erase it all. They were a staple on car trips for years, but as I was searching for gifts, I realized that R. had never really had a chance to use one. 

When I bought it, I was hoping it would have the same effect that I had noticed using white boards during school. There is something incredibly powerful about doing work on something that is so impermanent and easy to erase. This combined with it being a slightly different form of drawing made me hope that it would have a positive benefit for R. 

Well, look at the following pictures. I think they say it all. R. drew these this afternoon while sitting outside with J. They were not prompted or involved outside help in anyway.

This is Daddy and a cat

These are the very first pictures that she has done completely on her own which have identifiable body parts in the correct places. But what is super huge in my book is that they have actual faces. For five years she has been so face averse that she doesn't want to look at our faces, she won't look at her own face in a mirror, and she absolutely could not draw them. I cannot even begin to tell you what kind of hope this fills me with. 

R. seems to be slowly awakening to the world. Faces are where infants begin to do this same work. This is a great beginning.