This is Daphne when she revealed to me at her first park playdate that she can sit up unassisted now. Who would have guessed. She just decided to do it when I was sitting there chatting. And the best part is that I got it on camera!
You make bath time so much fun (and not too hot). This is the duck I got for her to measure the temperature of the bath water. She loves to kick him and splash on him during bath time.
I have to admit that this was a staged bath time, but it was fun to photograph her and her ducky.
I posted this photo because I couldn’t resist.
We’ve been reading to her so that she gets the idea that there are things to learn and that the best way to learn those things is through figuring out what those things on that page says.
Here is her daddy working with her on my personal favorite, “Green Eggs and Ham.”
There are very few people that Daphne had left to meet, and this one was an important one. Grandpa Bob came up for a nice visit over the 4th of July. Despite the extreme heat, we had a ton of fun.
On the 3rd, we went to the local museum for the Spruce Goose. That plane is massive, and I loved seeing it. Even if the man was crazy, it just shows what that amount of determination can do. The other planes are very cool too, and we spent a good deal of time walking around looking at all the cool things they have.
The afternoon of the 4th, we went to the Saint Paul Rodeo, and I can’t say that I had done anything more fun in a long time. I realized how much I like the rodeo. We got to go out as a family, and despite the heat, it was amazing. Daphne loved the bull riding, and she sat intently through the saddle bronc stuff as well. She sure likes to observe the world around her, and this little miss caught on the rodeo really fast.
I was a little nervous that she wouldn’t like it, but she sat there through the whole three hours watching and being generally happy even in the extreme heat.
Jared and I talked for days about how much fun we had at the rodeo. Figuring out the whole parenting thing has been a little much, and we forgot that there are events out there that are a lot of fun.
We really enjoyed it.
Here are some photos of Daphne meeting Nano. Note the jeans and shirt in preparation for the rodeo in the last photo!!!!
I have one photo that my mom took of me when I was 4 months old. She notes on the back cover that I was “swimming.” This is what Daphne does before she gets into this particular position. I really enjoy the fact that she is learning to use her arms. She is working very hard on getting the entire crawling thing down. She either has her back end up or her front now. She crawled across the bed slowly last night, and Jared reports that she was working on it in her sleep last night.
It’s all beginning…. the mobile baby land.
Shortly before I graduated from high school, I was talking to one of the counselors there. I told her that I was just terrified about the prospects of me going out into the world because it looked like I wasn’t going to be able to make all the big, huge changes that I thought I was going to have to make to be a worthwhile person. She told me that the point wasn’t that I go change the world, but that I am a productive, informed person who does a good job in my own field. If I do that and encourage others to do that, THAT’S how you change the world.
This datum made sense to me, and went a long way in me feeling like if I wanted to be a dairy farmer or policeman that they were equally valid paths, as long as I did my part to set an example.
However, as time goes on, you hear about other people and how they build a company and are a millionaire before age 21. Or how someone builds hundreds of schools all over the world and is personally responsible for the literacy of millions. At those times, I feel inadequate as a person who is merely being a photographer. My intentions in my profession are very honorable, just not directly changing the lives of millions.
And then, as I was going to get my daughter up from her nap this afternoon, I realized something.
I was affecting a change in this world in a big way. I am a loving and a caring mom. I spend time every day to teach my daughter how to read even though she is only 4 months old. I have taken the measures to ensure that she isn’t getting vaccines that are full of poison that do way more harm than good. I feed her when she wants. I comfort her tears. I take the time to explain to her whatever object she happens to be the most interested in at the time.
Many moms put their children in daycare. Though I can understand the need for that, it is hard to imagine the direct result that this has on the life of that child.
My bond and my decisions with my little girl are, in this very moment changing the world. I may not be working with millions to affect great change, but I am working with one, on an intense basis, so that she may go out and create her own change.
This doesn’t make me feel small at all. The love that you give to a child is the best love of all, because if you have been diligent in sticking to their needs, they appreciate it.
So I am changing the world, in a big way, and I’m doing it one smile at a time.
I’ve decided that I am not going to vaccinate my daughter. We were never vaccinated, and I can only thank my grandma a hundred times for that. After I made this decision, I watched this video, which only made me more sure of my decision. It is a little long, but it is totally worth it
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8610554679207090010
I called to get an appointment to set her up with a Pediatrician in case she would need to have care at any time in her future. The one that I wanted to take her to was booked out many weeks in advance, and they tried to make me set up an appointment with another doctor to keep her on track with her vaccinations. I merely said, “We are choosing not to vaccinate our daughter.” The woman was taken aback at my decision.
In my favorite words of the day, “That’s why I’m the mama.”
I am now a believer that it is possible to make money doing almost anything. People are so creative in life, and I like that in this free market society that our civilization has expanded to such an extent that we are able to have people that can do some truly random thing.
I ran into this website the other day. I only wish that I had though of this before I had my daughter recently. For my maternity and newborn clients out there–consider it if you are in a position to do so. I think it is creative and simply fascinating.
Hello and Welcome!
This is my new blog. I am the owner of Yellow Cow Photography. As a part of a service to my clients, most of whom are brides or new moms, I have started this blog that you can follow to get tips on services, activities or just to look for ideas for your life or your event.
If you have any suggestions for something to post, feel free to email me at any time.
I look forward to this new endeavor.
Here we go.
Christine