Baby Ben and his dad.

About two weeks ago I spent the afternoon with Baby Ben, his cousin Jack, and Tamara, his beautiful mom. We had a blast, and captured some awesome images, but sadly, Ben’s dad, Ryan, had something come up at work, and there was just no way for him to get home in time for the session :(

Tamara is awesome, and she immediately said we needed to schedule another session soon… and we would just make sure that this session was really focused on Ben and Ryan. As luck would have it, Tamara wasn’t really able to get away from work for this session (although she did make a cameo appearance at the very end), so I really did have the opportunity to capture a ton of daddy time!

Tamara connected with me just before the session to let me know that Baby Ben had fallen and gotten a black eye. I asked her if she was ok with that showing up in the images, and she said she was… it’s a part of his childhood, so it might as well be documented. I loved that she had that attitude :) And seriously, how adorable is he?

Ben is a fan of books. He loves looking at them, he loves being read to, and he loves “reading” to himself. Pretty adorable.

Ben is also a little obsessed with climbing. He’s super adventurous (as evidenced by the black eye!) and was so excited when he realized he could actually get all the way up on onto the table.

He’s a gorgeous little boy. I love his hair :)

Ryan is an awesome hands-on dad. He was roughhousing and playing and tickling Ben… I was absolutely exhausted just watching him! Ben was really a tired boy, but it wasn’t quite naptime, so Ryan was employing all of his tricks, just to keep him awake and happy. It worked :)

I love these two images… this is what baby kisses look like when the baby giving them is almost 2 year old Ben.

We decided to head out for a quick walk… It was ridiculously hot out, so we didn’t stay for long, but I do love this image of Ryan and Ben walking past their home.

There was a sleepy kitty on a neighbor’s porch… Ben was enthralled by it. At first I was frustrated that it was so far away… but then I realized I could see Ben’s reflection in the door. It was the only way I could think of to capture him and the cat in the same image :)

Back inside, Ben went immediately for books again. Actually, this was a piece of mail that had arrived from the zoo… Ben is newly obsessed with monkeys (it’s a new word for him) and he was SO excited to inspect the little magazine and point out every monkey he could find.

We headed downstairs to Ben’s room… it was time for a clothing change and a much needed nap.

And then the book-reading/sleep-fighting began in earnest.

Loved these two different giraffe perspectives… I couldn’t decide which I liked better… so I posted them both.

Ben was excited about being read to… and he alternated between animation and exhaustion. He was fighting sleep so hard.

Then it was time to turn off the lights… and have a few minutes of rocking before getting in the bed. Although Ben was insanely exhausted, he didn’t want to get in the bed… This image makes me laugh. He was desperate for anyone to save him from evil naptime :)

But Ryan quickly had him settled down.

And then, the door chime sounded, as Tamara came in from work. Not a chance Ben was sleeping now, not with his mom home! He was saved :)

But you can tell he’s still SO tired…

And after all the hard work corralling him… Ryan had to be tired too. This one is adorable :)

All of the coaxing in the world wouldn’t get Ben to get close enough for his parents to snuggle him. I’m pretty sure he knew that if he settled down, he’d be asleep in seconds.

Ryan rallied for one last round of play before I headed out for the day. Seriously, he’s superdad.

When I headed out… Ben was so tired that he could barely wave goodbye. I’m guessing he was asleep immediately after I walked out the door.

Tamara and Ryan, I hope you guys enjoy your slideshow! I cannot wait to see you again… we need to schedule a session for baby-on-the-way!

hugs,

-amber