A first birthday is a big milestone. Your little person has grown from a tiny dependent baby into a toddler with very definite opinions and interests, bursting with personality and fun.
Just as importantly, YOU have survived a full year of parenting. You've got through sleepless zombie land (or if you're like me, you're still struggling in the grips of that one!); you've managed feeding and nappy changes and several new sizes of clothes; you've nurtured your little one through rolling and crawling and bumped heads and jammed fingers, all the way to this day. There were times when you wondered how you could possibly get through the day; times you sat down beside them and sobbed along with their tears; times when you reminisced about how simple and easy life used to be.
You gaze at this little person and wonder how your life ever felt complete without them. You now completely understand the intensity and consuming commitment of parenting. You never thought it was possible to love someone so completely, and sometimes you feel like you might actually burst with it.
A whole year of love and adoration and your world being turned inside out and back to front. You wouldn't change it for anything.
THE DESIGN BRIEF
- A vintage look, with funky formal clothes to celebrate my little toddler
- A beige background to suit my sandy haired boy and tie with his new ukulele
- A few shots sitting on our cajón drum with his ukulele, to match my oldest son's first birthday photo shoot with his little red 'guitar'
- A simple background and minimal props, all in a beige and tan colour scheme, with a few denim/navy blue features
- A guest appearance from his best buddy Rory Lion
- A cake smash with a real food chocolate cake for my refluxy, sensitive boy (this recipe from 84th and 3rd, although with a coconut buttercream icing so that it could get away with almost no sweetener)
- An outfit to show off those rolls!
THE SESSION
There's a lot to be said for having another adult around during a photo shoot! Juggling props and a camera, trying to create genuine interactions, keeping cake from being spread around the entire room, and making sure a one year old is sitting safely are easier said than done when your assistant is not quite three years old! The session was lots of fun though, being silly with my two favourite boys.
I was surprised that we didn't have more 'smash' with this cake smash, given that half of our regular meal times end up with a head to toe coating of food and a dash straight to the bath. In hindsight though, it makes a lot of sense - my little food lover was too busy shoveling as much cake as possible directly into his mouth! He just sat and steadily ate his first ever taste of both chocolate and cake - and then crawled off when he'd filled up. We had to call in reinforcements in the form of big brother and Rory Lion to help out.
I know I'm completely biased, but isn't he ridiculously sweet?!