It’s here.  The moment I’ve been dreading.  My sweet little immobile baby is walking.  WALKING.  And not the good kind of walk where they can stay on their feet and cruise around the room.  The really dangerous kind of walking where he can pull himself up on everything and stumble around furniture with his wobbly jello legs and then fall back on the hardwood floor, or almost tumble down the stairs, or hit a sharp corner with his soft little head.  It’s terrifying and time consuming and exhausting.  He just started crawling on Wednesday.  So the kid literally gave me 4 days to comprehend this mobility. I miss the days where I could plop the little guy on the ground, give him a book, and write a blog while he sat there completely content flipping the pages.  I guess I can’t blame him though.  He gave me a good long while without being able to move.  So much so that a piece of me wanted him to crawl just so I could stop that really small voice in my head that said “your baby will never, ever walk” which hid somewhere next to the other voice that said “your baby will never get teeth and have to wear baby dentures.” because the only thing harder then having to focus all of your attention on a shaky ten month old is having to focus your attention on a shaky ten month old who is getting all four teeth at one time and is in pain all day long.  I really got to stop thinking these things and jinxing myself!  So I’m writing this with one hand on my baby, and one hand on the computer, and praying my multitasking doesn’t fail me now!

I do realize that I am being super whiney about this whole walking thing, just like I was when Leo was a baby and I thought it was so hard to sit on my couch and watch Homeland all day and just have to keep the kid fed, warm, and alive, and I’m sure I’ll eat my words and look back and think this stage was a breeze and the next stage, so much harder.  But when I photograph families with multiple kids, like the ones right here, I’m always in awe of how they manage to get anything done at all.  My friend, Sarah, and her in-laws both have two little boys each and when one goes one way, the other goes another, and I do not know how they manage to keep track of both!  But both families did it with ease and between the seven adults that were there, we all managed to keep the kids out of the water and away from the sharp rusty edges on the boats and anchors that were sprinkled around Keuka Lake early last week.  I met Sarah more years ago than I’d ever want to admit.  We both moved to Canandaigua City Schools in 6th grade and ended up in a “New Kids” group in Mrs. Mooney’s office for what seems like forever ago.  After graduation, we managed to lose contact and while I moved to Boston, she and her husband moved to Colorado, so I was thrilled when I got an email from her saying they were planning a family vacation with her in-laws in New York the week I was planning to be home anyway.  The morning I spent with the Westbrooks was seriously one of the best I’ve had in a long time.  After my mom made me breakfast (because I totally let my parents wait on me hand and foot when I’m home) I grabbed an iced coffee and drove the back country roads listening to adult music as opposed to The Farmer and the Dell all the way from Canandaigua to Keuka to see Sarah and meet her ridiculously nice family.  Here are a few shots of the time we spent together.

Sarah is such an amazing mom and those boys just adore her.  

Chris and Melissa and their cute little ones, Daniel and Adam.

We went back to the house to play with toys and got some shots of the boys in doing what they do best.  Planes, trains and automobiles…these boys love any mode of transportation and played so sweetly together. 

I felt the same way when I had to say goodbye.  

Sarah, it was amazing to catch up and meet your family.  Thank you for letting me capture these moments.  I hope it’s not another 15 years before I see you again!