Last Monday I had the pleasure of spending the absolutely glorious afternoon photographing my little (not quite one year old) neighbor, Duncan, in my backyard. He is a beautiful child and so photogenic. Always smiling...a real heart breaker already. He has recently started walking and is now busy exploring everything in his universe. Since he's become mobile, the world is a smorgessboard of endless ways to excite his sense of touch, taste, sight and smell ....we will discuss hearing in a minute. His Mom and Dad, Susan and Chad, helped me by trying to gently persuade Duncan to go in certain directions or pose in certain ways. Toddlers, however, have their own agenda .... staying still or in one place was most definitely NOT on his agenda. A great deal of our time was spent with extracting leaves, bark and small twigs from his mouth. Leaves in particular seem to be of great interest to him. Oh, and I mentioned hearing ... he was not in the least interested in hearing his Mom ask him nicely to spit out the leaves. Unfortunately this period of turning a deaf ear, so to speak, gets worse before it gets better but I didn't want to alarm Susan this far ahead by bringing up the terrible twos! That will come soon enough. It is amazing how much ground a person that barely comes up to my knee can cover and very quickly at that. It became clear early on how much energy he has and I don't. It's been a long time since I've chased a toddler around. Sorry Tara .... hey what can I say, it has been a long time since you were that age! I simply moved along with him and watched with delight as he proceeded on his journey of discovery. His expressions changed with each new thing and I managed to capture some wonderful moments. It reminded me of all the afternoons I spent photographing Tara. I cherish those memories. I pull out the photos often and I can remember the exact place and moment I took each one. Every image a snap shot of a moment preserved in the tapestry of our lives. I hope the photographs I took of Duncan will preserve memories for his parents. What could be a more lovely way to spend an afternoon than rediscovering the world through the eyes of a child and making memories.
PS: I hope Mom and Dad will forgive me for including some shots.
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