camera experiments and omens of things to come

i am experimenting with the settings on my camera. i am determined to make full use of all (or most, anyway) of its features instead of just leaving it on auto and getting pissed off when pictures are blurry or too dark or washed out or whatever. so here are some black and white shots that, if i do say so myself, came out pretty awesome! i mean, you can see the individual droplets of water. and since i am becoming a pro at photographing wildlife (and by wildlife i mean sullivan james), i am thinking national geographic is going to be knocking on my door any minute.

these shots are from sully's bath this evening. now, where ever you are, (dad, i'm mostly talking to you here), do a little mouth trumpet 'taps.' the days of bathing sullivan in the kitchen sink are numbered. he is just getting too big and curious, as you will see below. i'll narrate a little, but the photos pretty much speak for themselves.




once again, as soon as sullivan heard the little 'beep' the camera makes when it focuses, his head snapped up and he flashed me a smile. i think i can turn all the little sounds off, i just need to figure out how to do it. but as you can see, his little hands are gripped FIRMLY on the faucet hose.

he loves trying to grab the falling water. left hand still planted firmly on the hose.

i was able to distract him with the bath book. and while i appreciate the concept of keeping a baby happy and diverting his attention during bath time (it did work here), i can't imagine actually reading a book while bathing. i get boats, and squirt toys...but doesn't reading sound like a weird thing to do?

and here he is, chewing on the hose.

here i am trying to button up his pajamas after it proved to be too problematic to do in his crib or on the changing table; he was rolling EVERYWHERE. i thought i'd be able to keep him in one place on my lap. well, he wasn't able to roll over, but he did arch his back and try to use my shins as a slide. this started a slow drip of thoughts that started to come faster and faster until they were like dominoes, ticking into one another before the first thought was even finished. it went something like this. *ahem*

this is really hard! good grief little guy, sit still for a moment so i can snap these buttons. don't hit your head on my knee okay there! i got a snap. i think that was the last one...why does this look so weird? i messed up the snaps some where. okay, if i go really fast i can just get it done. snap snap snap. phew. he's so squrimy! well, he always has a lot of energy right before bedtime, kind of the build up before the crash....but he also has a lot of energy first thing in the morning. huh. and now that i think about it, he is always very animated in his high chair during meals. and when we play on the blue mats he is always rolling and/or trying to crawl. very little sitting. huh. well, there's always naps, at least he isn't moving then. but he really doesn't nap a lot. maybe he'll nap more as he gets older. i've never heard of a toddler napping more than an infant. what is he going to be like as a toddler? oh, man. this is karma coming around to bite ryan (and thus me by proxy), in the butt for being such an active kid himself. i think we're in for it. our pathetic attempt at baby proofing is going to be like having a squirt gun to put out wildfire. he is going to be like calvin. of calvin and hobbes. he kind of already LOOKS like calvin, especially when he squints a little...i even call it the calvin stinkeye! one of these years i'll have to dress him up as calvin for halloween. stripey shirt, spikey hair and a stuffed tiger. perfection!

seriously, though, we are in for a wild ride with this one.