Why in the world do we spend hundreds on fancy toys when all a child needs is a big balloon?  You probably already agree with me, but if you don’t just scroll down.

Abbie Mae is the absolute prettiest little girl ever, and she’s also the busiest. Don’t get in your mind that you will trick her either, because she knows when you are trying to pull one over. She’s the perfect two year old; and I don’t mean that as an oxymoron either. She’s fun, loves to learn and see everything around her, and is unfiltered to her sweet bones. There’s no guessing what any two year old thinks or feels. That’s the joy and challenge of capturing them in motion too.

Until she saw the gallery, I think Abbie’s mama thought she had wasted her investment in this session, because it seemed that every time they got posed, Abbie disagreed, or wanted to look at the fish. And you can’t bribe or threaten a two year old. What happens, happens. And truly, it’s amazing. There is no other such beautifully innocent and “you get what you get” time in our lives. By the time she’s three, Abbie will understand the IF/THEN clause of life, “If you don’t sit still, then you don’t get that ice cream.” And she will be able to be bribed in addition to the IF/THEN, “If you smile for one more, Mama will get you a new toy.” We all laugh, but we all do it.  And statistically speaking, it works 51 percent of the time.

Sweet beautiful Abbie Mae, I hope you’ll read this one day and know how much fun I had capturing your second birthday session. I also hope you can see the pride and joy in your parents eyes when they looked at you. And I hope you never lose your spirit, even after you learn the IF/THEN parts of life. Love and blessings, Pat

I had to include above right, because it nearly stopped the session.  We THOUGHT Abbie would be entertained with the balloon long enough for us to get a couple of mom/dad shots.  Well, the balloon worked loose from Abbie’s arm, and Dylan caught it just before it floated too high to catch.  I laughed so hard, I almost had to pause the session.

It’s a pretty picture, and Harlie is posing for the pretty picture.  But Dylan and Abbie are looking for fish.  They found one, and Dylan stayed after the session ended long enough to catch it.  Then he put it back.  Girls like pictures; guys like to fish.  We had both!!