Mamarazzi is back on the prowl

Back when Jay was a baby all I did was take pictures of her.  She was 'shot' clothed, naked, bathing, crying, sleeping, discovering something new, sucking her hand, an isolated shot of her hand and/or feet, and even her diaper.  Literally, I loved every inch of that baby girl and I made sure to have mementos from that short time in her life.  Back then I only had a film camera, but I never allowed myself to run out of film and every chance I got I was printing pictures.  As she got older, I had more diverse shots to take and she loved every minute of our photo shoots.

Then came Nas.  I foolishly expected my baby boy to be the eager subject his sister was - somehow, he didn't get that gene.  If you have more than one child, you probably already know that the second child tends to have less photos taken - well I was aware of this tendency, and made it a point to photograph Nas a few times a week (whereas Jay was daily!).

Being a busy mom of two wasn't the only hindrance I met when it came to documenting my baby's growth - my BABY was the biggest hindrance! Sometimes he was in the mood, but most of the time he was cranky and maybe even afraid of the camera.  Really?! Child, do you know who your  mother is? We take pictures, and we don't cry in all of them! So I did what I could and even enlisted Jay's help by giving her a camera to shoot random moments of her brother.  During his toddler years we have quite a few pictures of Nas with a straight face - no smile, no frown, very much like photos I have of his father, oddly.  He's gotten better, Nas I mean, but the early days were my favorite, so where does an admitted "mamarazzi" go from here?

Recently I realized how infrequently I have photographed my kids.  They are 10 and 6 now, so they know when I'm coming and give me the "cheese" smile, even Nas.  Sometimes I just want to capture them doing what they do - homework, coloring, playing video games, dancing, playing with their toys, running around outdoors with the warmth of the sun on their little faces.  But that seems to have gotten harder as they've grown older.  It feels like I have to be more prepared for photo-ops, keep the camera handy, and hope they'll let me into their pretend worlds for just a moment.  Because, much like their baby days, childhood passes quickly if we're not paying attention - and I don't want to miss a thing.