Cade painted himself!

My mom, godmother and myself painted with Cade and Ezio this evening. We painted on canvas and well... Cade painted himself. I started it. I had the boys paint with their hands after they were painting with their paint brushes. Cade's hands were full of paint so I told him to clap his hands. Exactly what I wanted to happen DID! The paint splattered onto him and myself.

Cade has some sensory issues and absolutely hates being dirty! To the point that if he has a spec of water or the tiniest crumb on his clothing or even his sock he HAS to change! No ifs, ands or butts about it. So for him to even paint with his hands was a huge step for him! He did ask several times to wash his hands and I just continued to decline. I thought for sure he'd wig out and be done when I asked him to clap his hands together. He thought it was hilarious!

Over the course of about two hours he escalated the painting fun on his own! He was rubbing paint on his canvas with his hands and I could tell he was thinking about doing something, but I did not expect what came next. He painted his FACE! I was in shock and actually encouraged him to continue/keep on doing so. This was a great step in the right direction for his sensory processing. I'm all about messy fun, it's an adventure for the kids. He then started painting his hair with his hands... he does not like ANYTHING on his hair! I can't even wash his hair! Mind you, he painted his face and hair with BLACK paint!

I don't know what I was doing, but all I remember is my mom telling me, "Look at your HULK!". I turn around to see this.

Sure enough, he painted his arms GREEN! This evening of painting with his grandmas and my godmother was such an awesome evening. I'm still so shocked and proud of him for over coming his "issues".

Yes, he had a bath after painting his arms. I did manage to get his hair and face washed, with a slight meltdown, but we did it. His bath water was BLACK, however his bubbles were still white. I was a little disappointed that his bubbles didn't change colors from the paints.

Thanks for reading. I know for most they wont understand this as it's 'normal' for most kids to paint themselves, but for Cade with his sensory issues and OCD traits this was a huge step for him.