Potential Artist?

Here are two pictures Layla drew this week:

Layla's depiction of me.

Layla's depiction of Mitch.

Now, you might laugh at her caveman-like drawings that look nothing like her parents (what? you couldn't see the resemblence???), but ... she is not quite 2 1/2 years old yet (28 months) and is drawing faces. That is quite good! She is drawing them consistently now, so it's not just by chance. Also, I should add that about one month ago she drew a pic of me that included a head and face, a body, arms, and legs with sidewalk chalk; I wish I had taken a pic before the sprinklers washed it away. I did show it to Mitch though.

My point is that, according to my limited research, drawing faces at this age is quite advanced. Most children do not draw faces until age 3 or 4. Most children also do not draw a body, and instead draw arms and legs protruding directly out of the head, until age 5.

What does this mean? Well, according to the all-knowing internet, it shows that Layla is intellectually advanced for her age, which we already assumed, though we've never had her tested. (I try not to let my parental biases affect my assumption that our daughter is extra smart, but she does show a lot of the signs of being gifted, so now I figure I should try to nourish that gift as much I can by studying up on how to raise a gifted child to help her reach her fullest potential. (Warning: showing signs of being gifted does not mean the child will be easy to potty train. ha, ha, ha.) At the same time, by vocalizing our opinion that she is gifted, I automatically get nervous for her ... will people expect too much of her? will she feel pressured to always do well? what if she doesn't do as well in school as we're thinking she will do? what if I can't help her nourish her abilities the way I should? Ahhh! It scares me a little.)

But my favorite part? It is a good indication that she is also artistically gifted. Just like her name sake, my aunt Leslie (Layla Leslie). Two of my mom's siblings are exceptionally gifted artists. My uncle is a car designer and my aunt, whom sadly passed away before I was born, had dreams of studying in Paris and working for Disney; I have no doubt she would have done just that if she were still here. We have some of her art she drew before passing away at age 18, and it is amazing what she could already do at such a young age. I know my mom could be just as good if she practiced; the few things I've seen her draw she does very, very well, even though she'd deny it.

I'm hoping Layla inherited this talent and will have the interest to develop it. (Good thing I purchased an art easel for her two years ago, hoping to have an artistic child— just have to wait until she is actually tall enough to use it! Ha, ha.) And I am so glad, once again, that we will be living in a area with excellent schools so she can utilize her little brain to her fullest ability. I can't wait to see all the things she'll accomplish as she grows.