The Long Drive Home

Betting on horses based on their name; staring directly into the sun; driving 11 hours with a baby. Three things you should never do...but I once bet on a horse's name I liked and it came in second; I stared at an eclipse for a few seconds and didn't burn my eyes out, and this weekend we drove to South Carolina with our 10 week old and she slept almost the entire way. Like many a parent we've met have said, babies at this age do actually seem to be portable. The problem comes when you've ported them somewhere completely foreign. They realize that the nice walls you painted aren't there. That nice glider you've been rocking them in for months is no longer. That one picture on the wall they stare at has mysteriously disappeared, and in it's place? Forty people she's never seen, passing her back and forth, here and there. It's enough to make her cry, which is exactly what she did. But each day South Carolina becomes a little more familiar, the palmetto's sway more comfortably, and grandma and grandpa's seem that much more like home.


At home in Greenville, Syndey enjoyed her first trip to the pool. Only a whisker of her legs touched the water before she jettisoned the pacifier, writhing like a lobster near the pot...so instead we stared at her cute pink monkey bathing suit for an hour :)

Leaving On a Jet Plane....

22 hours...

the amount of travel time I spent in airports and airplanes on my first business trip away since Sydney joined us.

3 hours...

the time of my business meeting.

1 minute...

the amount of time it took me in the cab to start deeply missing my little girl.

Luckily I made it back to see her holding her head up strong as she attempted the ever complex vault over the Boppy. Fortunately her legs and desire have yet to conspire.

Week 9 - So Fast

I refuse to use the term "they grow up so fast". Every parent says it. It's sort of like saying peanut butter sticks to roof of your mouth or little babies farting is cute. So of course upon walking into the doctor's office for Sydney's two month appointment we were greeted with, "Can you believe your back so soon...don't they seem to grow up so fast?" It's been close to nine weeks now which has allowed enough time for bonding such that Maggie couldn't bear to watch our little girl getting her first set of shots at this appointment. I remember as a kid the prospect of getting one shot was terrifying but this little girl had to get four shots! And so began a life long hatred of doctors offices, her cries for help repeatedly dwarfing the shreiks of a 4 year old in the next room as mom looked away. One moment the funny man in the white lab coat, the next a thouroughly unfunny man. She seemed so much more alert though and aware of what was happening. It was a different cry and more her voice but unfortunately, unlike the 4 year old, no amount of Elmo stickers from the lobby was going to help ease this pain. It seems like just yesterday she was getting worked up in the hospital and here she was at her two month appointment. Gosh, they grow up so fast. Damn.

Here's a pick of good college friends turned parents. A few less beers and a few more poopy diapers. All in all a pretty good tradeoff :)

Look Ma...No Hands

Now that she's reached a reasonable weight and height so as not to be completely swallowed by this contraption, we broke out the Baby Bjorn. In honor of having my hands back I thought it only fitting that I take a self portrait of my new found happiness and the sleeping beauty...and no, the white cloth is not part of the purchase. That accessory was in hopes of saving the second shirt of the day from regurgitated milk.

Welcome Home

When I first got out of college, a friend of mine was married in a large Catholic wedding in Baltimore. This was the first of many weddings I would attend and I ached after an hour and a half of sit, stand, kneel, sit, stand, kneel. Then at my own wedding we remained standing perfectly still during the entire 40 minute sermon while the congregation sat blissfully relaxed behind us. Then there was the wedding in Mexico that lasted nearly 24 hours. Weddings are tiring in themselves but I never even gave much thought to the shadow like photographers running around behind us. Then on Saturday I helped out my friend Steph photograph a wedding and realized that no matter how much standing and dancing I had done at weddings, photographing a wedding and running around with lights, extension cords and camera bags will have me forever appreciate any amount of standing I do at a wedding again. I sat down that night and my legs literally throbbed for three hours. (It was good to see she felt the same way on her fivezees blog :) ) So the lessons I learned on Saturday are twofold. First, wedding photography is very stressful and debilitatingly tiring. Second, as soon as I walk out that front door I might as well be relaxing on a beach as far as Maggie is concerned and when I return, no matter how exhausted and almost before I can put my bag down I'll be greeted with Sydney planted in my arms, a quick peck on the cheek and a gleeful wave goodbye.

As Stephanie is rarely in front of the camera I thought I'd include this picture I liked of her setup while she photographed Sydney. A perfect illustration of why she enjoys this more tranquil setting for her craft.

Week 8 - The Little Things We Notice

Sometimes I think the most interesting part of a photograph or anything creative is hearing each persons unique point of view. If you've been to a place in a picture, all those memories come rushing back. If you've ever had a little one, you would appreciate how worried a photographer could be about the resonating click of a shutter over a sleeping baby. Then there are the small things we each notice like a facial expression, or a pattern or something misplaced. So when I first uploaded this photograph, with a love of sports and a father in law who would shoot baseball every day if he could, all I could see was my little girl dreaming of the sign from the catcher and positioning her hands for a southpaw two seam fastball. And although I snapped a few pictures in time, the shutter was indeed my downfall. I'll leave it to the imagination what a waking baby does when she yawns, opens her eyes, sees no mommy or daddy and only a brightly colored flower four inches away that is bigger than her head.

An Explosive Holiday!

Everyone tells us how young children just want to do the same thing over and over again and we better prepare. Try peek-a-boo once, you better hold on because you're going to have to do it seventy five times. It was yesterday I started wondering if we create these little monsters by getting them used to repetition early. The book says you're supposed to talk to them and say words so they get used to language but I've run out of things to say. I've told her that too, repeating "I have nothing more to say" over and over again trying to make her understand. So then I started pointing out objects in the house...a table, a chair, the lamp. I've pointed out the same placemat about thirty times now. No wonder they want to do things over and over again when they're toddlers. I could stop but it's probably already too late and in a short time I'll be playing "Where's the placemat?" a hundred times over.

Aunt Carrie visited for the big holiday which Sydney marked by moving up a size in diapers to contain her own fireworks!

Week 7 - Three Bears

When I walked by the key board in the front hall a few weeks ago my Dad and I had a good laugh at this picture. It makes me think of the Goldilocks and the Three Bears story. I had remembered other people saying this, but Maggie and I were sitting around last night laughing that it's becoming harder to remember what it was like without this little girl around the house. The littelest bear around here has stolen more than just our last spot to put keys :)