A Few Recent Favorites

I've spent this month developing a love affair with my new camera and the light in and around our home. I haven't taken this many photos in a long time. Bowie indulges me. We make win/win agreements. Yesterday when he was saying he wanted me to set up his bouncy house and I was saying that I wanted to take a few photos of him he said, "I care about your feelings and what you want Mama." My dear dear boy. During a trying day of emotional interactions, he gives me this gift. I've really been pushing myself with my photo editting as well, using different actions and textures in Photoshop and applying presets in Adoble Camera Raw. I even made my first simple action! I am not naturally computer savvy, so learning these things really must be a conscious task on my part.

Sharing Passions II

When I met Bowie's papa he was drumming in 2 bands, had his drumset in his living room, practiced almost everyday, played at least a show a week. When I began feeling the need to have a baby in our family, he asked me to wait a couple of years. He said that he wasn't ready to be the papa he knew he would want to be. So I waited and was part of his rock and roll lifestyle, happily and willingly but tapping my fingers nonetheless. (We now smile upon the weary childless couples we see barely rising for their first meal at 2pm while we have been going full stop since 7am.) The time came when he was ready. And Bowie came. And shows got cut, and rehearsals dwindled down, and the band wanted to tour and...now Chris plays once a week with some other rock loving papas (and one single rock loving lady) and recently he splurged on an electric drumset so that he could practice at home (which in our new home is placed next to Bowie's own set). He has two headsets so that Bowie can listen in while he shows off. It is really impressive. I fill with more, more love for him as I see him do what he loves and then overflow as I see him sharing it with Bowie.

As with my photography, we aren't invested in him following us and our passions, but we are sure that him seeing us do what we love will lead him to do what he loves.

Loving Cousins

Yesterday was a beautiful cool day so we went to the zoo with my parents and Bowie's older cousin Honey. My family went to this zoo a lot when I was a child. I have a lot of good memories there and it was fun to be sharing that again with my folks. The lions roared, the snow leopard was fluffed up, the grizzly bear was watching us watch him, the python was slithering, the sun was shining, the air was crisp and we ended the day at a greasy spoon. Honey and Bowie sat next to each other and my favorite moment of the day happened here.

Honey said, "Bowie, I fell in love with you." She looked at him, repeating and smiling, repeating and batting her eyelashes. Bowie finally answered, "Honey, I care about how you feel." OH the silly sweetness still fills me.

Sharing Passions

Lately Bowie has really been enjoying photography. Since I now have 2 bodies, Bowie has been using my d70 some. He changes composition vertically and horizontally. He asks for the light lens when he sees that I've put on the zoom. And he says, "You are gonna love these." while watching the playback. It's so fun to be sharing one of my great passions with him. Really looking forward to seeing how this evolves. I promised that I'd adjust the neck strap to fit him.

Moving In and Getting Messy

Bowie is getting really into messy independent play in his room. It's fun! Lots of rediscovery of old toys. It can be a real struggle for me to keep my order needs in check. It's his space. These objects are only valuable if he uses them. Sometimes I just have to walk away so that I won't interfere with requests for things to be put away. Other times I can shed those control tendencies by getting out my camera. Through the viewfinder I can see how interesting, beautiful, and meaningful these messy playtimes are in a way that can sometimes elude me.

Loving his new room so much. A few weeks ago I woke up in Bowie's bed (he has a full size platform so that we can be comfortable together in either bedroom) and very first thing he said was, "This place is so lovely. Thank you for buying this house." I just glowed with happiness for us all. We are so lucky.