miller

I have been looking forward to Miller’s arrival for weeks. I first visited him the day he turned one week old. When I see a new baby I can rarely decide who he looks like. This is certainly not the case with Miller. At first glance, all I could see was Bob! Of course, it really didn’t matter who Miller looked like – he was bound to be beautiful with parents like Bob and Jessica. And Jessica and Bob are just like new parents all over the world . . . sleep deprived! They are very proud of their handsome young man, too. When I visited on Sunday, Miller was cuddled up with Jessica after being fed. When I asked how Miller was doing, Jessica’s response, “He’s very sweet during the day” made me laugh. I don’t know many parents who haven’t felt the same way.

Yesterday, Lynda (Miller’s grandmother) and I had a grand time taking pictures of him. Before I left, we had nearly destroyed the house and Miller had wet on several blankets. You see, I like my newborns as naked as the moment they were born. I love baby skin. But when you show all that skin, you are bound to get wet on at least once.

Miller has lots of wrinkles – like a little old man. He was sleeping when I arrived, but when we took his clothes off and started taking pictures he woke up and stayed awake the rest of the session. He was very wide eyed and mobile. For a week old, he’s very active. He picks his head up and turns it over and flails his arms and legs constantly. Miller just couldn’t understand why we wouldn’t leave him alone. One of my favorite pictures was right after I started our session. This isn’t a cry . . . it’s a huge yawn!

I absolutely love baby hands and baby feet, so I had to do some detail shots of Miller’s. I wanted to take other detail shots, but Miller was just too wiggly.

I’ll finish up with a shot of Miller’s nursery. I knew that with Jessica’s sense of style, the nursery would be a showplace. And I was right! I love the colors and fabric designs and textures. When Miller is old enough to appreciate it, he will love his room.

I am sure Miller will be tired of me taking pictures of him, but I look forward to seeing him grow. And I’ll be there, camera in hand, documenting the changes.

kayla

Don’t you just hate obnoxious grandmothers? You know the type . . . their grandchild is the cutest, the sweetest, the most well-behaved, and on and on. I am so surprised that my friend, Chris, has turned into one of “those” grandmothers. When she e-mailed to tell me she was coming from Michigan for a visit, she told me all about Kayla, her only grandchild who lives here in Jacksonville. I just knew there couldn’t be a baby as cute and as good as the one Chris described, but I was looking forward to meeting her anyway. We met for lunch on Friday and I hate to admit it – but Chris was not exaggerating. Kayla is absolutely adorable and she has the best disposition I have ever encountered. She just smiled and made faces at all of us throughout the meal. She did flirt a little with the waiters so I worry about her when she is older, but she was the perfect lunch companion – even with a terrible cold.

We had not planned for me to do pictures of Kayla on this visit. I’m more of an outdoor, casual type of photographer, so Chris was going to have more formal portraits made this visit. However, Kayla woke up on Saturday morning feeling miserable. They stopped by my house later in the day to return a chair Chris had borrowed and were quite disappointed that they weren’t going to get portraits made this visit. We decided to throw my backdrop up in my den and let Miss Kayla just play. We weren’t at all sure that we would get any usable pictures because Kayla’s little nose was running, her eyes were watery, and she had a raspy cough. Even so, Kayla was the happiest little thing I’ve ever seen. We were able to get quite a few good pictures of Kayla before she was completely worn out. And with the wonder of PhotoShop, I was able to get rid of visual evidence of Kayla’s cold.

Here is a sneak preview of Kayla’s unplanned session.

OK, I have to admit that Chris isn’t THAT obnoxious a grandmother. To be honest, she’s not nearly as bad as I plan to be when I have a grandchild. In fact, I’m already practicing with my granddog. Have I told you about Max the wonder-dog?