Little Stinker

A photographer in the making

A couple of Christmases ago, my husband and I received a fantastic gift, a digital Cannon Rebel SLR camera. Until a few months ago, I always though of the camera as belonging to JJ, mainly because he was the one who took the time to read the manual, purchased accessories and lenses, and could take really great pictures. For some reason all the bells and whistles, along with the bulk of the camera was completely unappealing to me. In fact, JJ bought me a tiny camera to carry with me to encourage me to take more pictures. (By the way, I love my little camera).

When Carter arrived and I had a few months to awaken from the "mother-of-a-newborn -fog," I began taking tons of pictures of Carter with my little camera. But when I would upload them onto my computer to view them, the photos were often grainy, out of focus, or had major red eye problems. Knowing that I would be primarily responsible for documenting Carter's milestone moments ( since I'm with him most of the time), I decided it was time to start playing with the big camera.

I began to experiment with the different lenses, focus, and lighting- using Carter as my primary subject. I must have taken hundreds of pictures( thanks to Carter's cooperative attitude), then I would upload them and critique myself. I discovered that using the Cannon wasn't as hard or cumbersome as I first thought. In fact, it's quite difficult to take a bad picture with it. My favorite aspect is the creative part of photo-taking. I've discovered that it is fun to play with angles and lighting. I'm even learning a little about how to use photoshop to enhance my pictures. I actually think I would enjoy taking a real photography class. I'd love to learn how to do creative portraits for my family and friends. I've got a lot to learn, but who knows.....maybe I'm a photographer in the making. But for now, it's a fun new hobby that I really enjoy.

Here's a few of my favorite shots of Carter that were taken last week:

The Carter Experiment

When Carter was born, I was approached by a local university about enrolling Carter in various studies on infant development. As someone who appreciates education and research endeavors, I decided to give it a try. The first one was a study on brain activity in relation to various visual stimuli. The premise of the study was that when an infant sees something new, he uses a different part of the brain than when he sees something that is not new to him. The set up involved viewing a large screen that showed various animated and inanimate objects while remaining seated in my lap. The room was darkened so that Carter's attention would remain on the screen. Carter was fitted with an EEG cap that allowed the researchers to monitor the areas of the brain that were stimulated based on what Carter saw. The cap consisted of tiny suction cups that had been soaked in water and baby shampoo. He also wore a barber's drape to discourage him from grabbing at the cap. Carter was a little unnerved by all the attention from the grad students, but they were very sweet to him. The researchers were thrilled with how cooperative Carter was and felt that they got a lot of information from his participation. They mentioned that most babies wouldn't even let them get the cap in place. Considering we never watch tv during his playtime, Carter kept his attention on the screen as long as he could (about six minutes). Once he started getting fidgety, the students concluded the session and took off the cap. The following picture was taken right before they removed the cap.

On the Move

I can't get over how my little guy has dramatically changed in the past two weeks. Just two short weeks ago, Carter was perfectly content to stay in one spot on the carpet, playing with his toys. Now I find myself chasing him everywhere. It seems that he has all of a sudden discovered that there is so much more out there to explore. I'm excited to see him on the move, yet thoroughly exhausted by the constant activity. Not only does he want to crawl everywhere (and he's getting faster at it every day), he wants to pull up on everything. With crawling comes the constant bumps on the head. He's currently sporting a pretty good shiner from bonking his head on the hard wood floor, then again on the coffee table. Let the baby proofing begin.....or should I have already done that?

8 months

Carter turned 8 months old today. It seems like the past week has been filled with new and exciting developments.

1. He's constantly on the move. Carter is crawling, but usually in the opposite direction than he wants to go. I guess he's mastered the backward crawl.

2. He's pulling up on furniture, so his crib is now lowered.

3. Carter now sleeps swaddle-free. (Yes, it took 8 months before he was ready to let go of the swaddle.)

4. He's learned how to sit up totally on his own.

5. The boy can put down some food. He LOVES to eat.

6. He's smiley almost all of the time.

7. He gives us spontaneous kisses.

8. He's beginning to understand what "no" means.

We're really enjoying this phase with Carter, knowing that as he becomes more mobile and independent there will be new challenges ahead.