This little guy was on my radar for a while now, but his mama’s due date came and went. So we shrugged and said, “He’ll come when he wants to.” So starts the shift in babies’ dominance over parents’ plans.

Grayson is beautiful. Honestly. He has a full head of hair and the cutest little nose and lips. I always feel like I spend a lot of time oogling over babies when I photograph them, but don’t judge me. You would too when they’re this cute!

His features are so perfect and his eyes are so alert; like he knows what I’m up to the second I reach for him to take off his onesie. He knows. When I got to their house, mom said, “I wish I would’ve know; he has been so happy for the last half an hour and now…” Now, he was crying.

We coaxed and cuddled and took feeding breaks and patted and swaddled. And though he calmed down for a while and even dozed for a minute, he knew his limits and we knew ours. So when he was beyond reasoning and his tired little cry was just begging for some alone time and a nap, we let him be. Dad said, “I imagine that babies are very difficult to take pictures of.” I said, “Well, the most difficult thing is that I can’t communicate to them in words. So it’s a shoot that is totally commandeered by the infant.”

Let me add that Dad has a fantastic English accent that made me want to go home and watch So You Think You Can Dance hosted by Cat Deeley. When I watch that show, I feel like it gives me permission to do two things that I’m very bad at: dance and pretend that I’m from anywhere in the U.K. Kevin just shakes his head at me as I waltz (I use that word loosely) around talking in an accent that could really only be described as part Australian, part British, part Irish, part Canadian, part American very bad. Basically, I should just sit down and be quiet. Anyway, so since Dad is from England, we incorporated a few special things into the shoot, including a beautiful white baby blanket that his mom knitted and brought over just last week when she was visiting.

Grayson, you are a handsome little fellow and I’m so glad we got to hang out for a while. You’re precious and it’s quite obvious that you are surrounded in every way by lots and lots of love.

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