In Which We Pose For Portraits

Connor, Mary and I got up bright and early this morning to head up the road aways for a photo shoot!  My sister is a talented professional photographer, and she'd made plans for a photography swap with Emerald England, another wonderful photographer who works in the local area.   Mary wanted Connor and I to come along for some sister and nephew shots, because she is awesome like that. 

Connor was not thrilled with this whole idea.  No one consulted Connor on whether or not he wanted to get up at early-o'-clock and take pictures, even if they were in a garden with gravel roads, which he considers far superior to any other type of road when it comes to entertainment value.  In Connor's opinion, he would have been perfectly fine if we'd taken off without him and let him sleep in. 

But Connor is not in charge around here, which is probably a good thing.  I don't have anywhere in the house to keep grizzly bears, sixty foot tall Christmas trees or the entire tulle aisle of the fabric store, which are all things he demands on a regular basis. 

Anyway, he was a good sport, though towards the end of the shoot he kept trying to fall asleep on us.  Em got some fantastic shots, despite having to work with the fact that my sister and I have the exact same facial expressions and also that Connor was there under protest and as a result Was Never Smiling Ever Ever Again.  He also felt looking in the general direction of the camera was a horrible idea and refused to do it on principle. 

Em did an amazing job with Connor; she didn't talk down to him, put him at ease quickly and he seemed very comfortable with her even if he wasn't excited about being there.  She even knew some sign language, which I think helped tremendously.  The shots that I've seen so far are stunning (if I get permission I'll post one or two here or put up a link to where you can find them), and I can't wait to see the rest.  I wish Jeremy had been able to come too; once Ellen comes home we'll have to get some new family portraits done!

After the photo shoot we drove straight over to the hospital, where Connor had his feet measured for his new ankle-foot orthotics.  Today they just measured his feet to make the custom foot boards for the AFOs, and in mid-September they'll be making the plaster casts of his feet.  Connor managed to try and fall asleep during this appointment too despite having someone messing with his bare feet, which is usually throws him into hypervigilance in anticipation of possible tickling. 

Connor was bound and determined to get a nap in, dang it.  He fell asleep again in the car, and one last time within five minutes of us getting home.  He ended up taking an almost four-hour nap, which is pretty impressive for a child who considers sleep to be more of a hobby than a necessity.  He really needs to get used to getting up early again though, because he starts school up in just a couple of weeks.  Hopefully he'll adjust quickly and we're able to get him back on an early routine before then, or he's going to have a long, long year.

Of course I also got to take a four-hour long nap, so I didn't really mind all that much.

We rounded out the day by watching a terrible movie (Mary and I have an ongoing competition to see who can find the worst B movie in existence) and then spent the late afternoon and early evening scouting out photography locations for the shoot Mary will be doing for Em and her family. 

All in all it was a pretty fantastic day!

~Jess