Laugh riots

Posted by kara

Today Toshi had her first portrait sitting. I packed her up and took her to the photo studio. I got there early, like they told me to do, and ended up walking Toshi around their lobby, praying that she wouldn’t start crying. She didn’t, but my arms were tired and I was starting to work up a sweat. When I met the photographer, my first thought was, “She’s so young– is she old enough to be a professional?” That is when you know you are getting older. Anyway, she was really good with Toshi and even got her to laugh! Toshi managed 45 minutes of being put into 5 different poses and having us fuss over her to get her to smile. One thing I realized is that when you are working with a baby, the hair is never going to be right. I tried to have it all nice and brushed, but by the time we got her into any pose, it was so rushed and crazy, that her hair was the last thing on our minds. Plus, I was the one holding her for most of the poses. By the last pose, my arms were shaking and I think my forehead was beading with sweat. I was afraid I’d have to just call it quits. Luckily Toshi saved me by telling the photographer that she was done. (She started crying.)

Overall, Toshi did a fantastic job being adorable. The photographer said that she was very cute and that I must spend all day staring at her. I didn’t want to sound crazy, so I just admitted to doing it once in a while. (Even though I stare at her all the time.) I haven’t seen the photos yet. By the end, Toshi was ready to rest and go home, so we left. Hopefully Paul will go with me to pick out the one(s) we like.

After seeing the photographer get laughs out of Toshi, I felt inspired to try more ways to get her to laugh. I think the key is that you have to almost scare her into laughing. You really have to get all up in her face. I even figured out how to get her to laugh on video! At first she kept staring at the video camera I was holding and was too distracted by it. Once I set it down next to her, I got a nice steady picture AND was able to make her laugh much easier. I hope she’ll have lots of laughs for Grandma Kathy, Grandpa Irland and Great Grandma Toshi when we see them in two days.

Toshi is also starting to reach for things. Just sometimes. And she will also grab onto clothing or hair. It’s cute because she doesn’t yank the hair yet. And when I hold her against my shoulder and she grabs onto my shirt, it almost feels like a hug!

Here are a couple of webcam photos I took. Webcam photos are a lazy mom’s dream.