No, really. I have no idea as I type this. Crystal is in labor and my future niece or nephew is about to announce him or herself to the world! The anticipation is so exciting.

Crystal is an avid photographer and there are plenty of beautiful baby pictures of her nephews throughout her meticulous albums. But I thought I would pass along some of the hard earned ‘tips’ we gathered from my first baby photo shoot just in case.

Things We Learned About Photographing Babies: An Illustrated List
originally posted 24 April 2007 at 1:43 am (when I was still young and a night owl)

I don’t know much, Internet. But now I know this:

If a child cannot yet sit up on her/his own, willing said child to stay upright by scrunching shoulders and shouting "Come on Little A, you can do it!" will not work.

Also, it's probably not a good idea to hope with all your might that a baby will be able to sit upright independently for the very first time on a hard surface, such as a drafting table, por ejemplo. (We'll deal with that washcloth issue in a moment.)

Not to beat a dead horse, but if you decide to hold the baby up with your hand and arm (are you sensing a theme here?) , your hand and arm will be in the photograph.

Do not give a baby anything to play with that you do not want in the actual photo. Unless of course you are a whiz at redrawing an entire child in Photoshop, thus alleviating the need for a photo shoot in the first place.

If a surface is so uncomfortable that you do not want to lay or sit on it, do not expect a squishy little 6-month old to be happy about laying on it either.

If you wait until a baby falls asleep, you might be able to take a picture when s/he is not moving. Maybe.

When you need a break, feel free to shoot stuffed animal porn. Parents will find it as funny as you do. Well, some parents. Definitely not all parents.

There will always be drool.

Thankfully, they weren't all out-takes...

Avery got acquainted with faux fur...

And we all laughed a lot.

This week I have 2 puppies and It’s been incredible! Chewie’s big brother Rufus is staying with me while his Dads are on a pseudo-vacay. I love these little guys – they keep me laughing 24/7 – and they are 2 of the most well-behaved, sweetest dogs you will ever meet. We completely lucked out! Well, my Chewbacca is a little bit grumpy (on the outside) but that’s part of his charm – my little curmudgeon.  And because this is his normal temperature, it’s really difficult to take him seriously when he grumbles because Rufus has officially claimed 1st lap position.  Grumble, grumbley, grumble… grumble. He totally sounds like a little old man.

As grumpy as Chewie can be, Rufus is the complete opposite. Totally wide eyed and affectionate. He will lick a hole in your arm if you let him. He’s game for anything. And he falls for every trick.  So I definitely have to protect him from Dug and ‘the sock game’.  No good can come of ‘the sock game.’  Basically it starts with Dug sweet talking a puppy with one of his humongo sweat socks in hand – dirty or clean, it’s of no consequence to him. And it ends with a teeny, tiny puppy wandering around bumping into things looking like some minor Star Wars creature.

To be completely honest, it’s one of the funniest things, and once it starts I can barely control myself from laughter, so it’s best to intervene as soon as one sees Dug with the sock and the wide-eyed, tell-tale expression…