My fun little hobby is getting time consuming and taking me from my chores this afternoon but that's okay.  Another former coworker of mine from a different NICU asked if I would help her take a few first birthday pictures of her sweet little man.  Let me just state the obvious, newborns are much easier to work with than toddlers!  We didn't go anywhere special, just a patch of grass off of their street and he didn't like the grass at all.  For the inside shots it was right at nap time and I was skeptical we got any good shots but was hoping at least a couple turned out.  He did great and Loren and I had a lot of fun.  We get our kids together a couple of times a month and it's always a good time. 

You know I had to snap one of my own munchkin.  This is her new thing, she waves and says "Hi's!" to everyone and everything and she gets so sad when someone (eating dinner at a restaurant, pushing their grocery cart quickly down an aisle, riding a bike on the sidewalk while she is in the car) doesn't say hi back.  My heart sinks just a little bit for her when she doesn't get noticed because she puts EVERYTHING into those "hi's" (Hi-ce), waits patiently, and then sort of looks down as she realizes what has happened.  The thing I love about kids though, she jumps right at the next chance to say hi to someone even if it's seconds later.  She doesn't linger in self-pity or get all "whoa is me", she tries again and with just as much passion, hope, and excitement as if it was the first time she has ever waved.  That's such a good lesson for me.  It continues to amaze me how much I learn from my daughter when I think I'm doing all the teaching.