Cheese (Ball)

Collin is kinda sorta learning this whole camera thing. Get out the camera and he dashes over to my side of the lens and screams "BABY!" because he wants to see the glorious image that is him, captured on the display screen. Of course, if I haven't even had time to turn it on, let alone capture that image yet, there's a problem. I think you'll get the idea from the photo below.

So, since he's becoming more and more sentient to the the world and communication is becoming more of a two-way street these days with his vocabulary increasing at an ever-expanding rate, I've gotten some headway in the whole picture-taking game with him. See, the explanation goes something like this: go over there first, say cheese and then come look. The result is that he dashes to about six inches in front of me, yells cheese and then dashes back. If I'm quick, really quick, I get a picture. I can't always guarantee that he will be looking up; sometimes, he's looking directly at his own stomach, the floor, his fingers, whatever; so long as he's saying cheese he thinks he's fulfilling the obligation. So, we've moved the directions up a notch to include looking up...which results in him staring at the ceiling to say cheese. Nice.

Upon realizing that the dash is faster if he doesn't actually turn around, I had to also include the instruction: turn around. This was owing to the fact that many of my "cheese" photos were side shots or back shots of the kiddo.

Unfortunately "turn around" can be a tad confusing if you are less than two years old. Apparently, this instruction only incites him to turn in endless circles. Yep, although this is a still shot, I think you get the picture. This is Collin, turning around, saying cheese. You may miss the "cheese" moment, as it occurred on the back end of the rotation.

So, I ask you this, how does a mother get a decent shot of her kid if he refuses to let her take one. I think I need a stealth camera.