Nutso for solids | Glimpses Week 18

(This photo is part of the Glimpses 52 project over at the Chic Critique Forum.)

In the last few weeks, Jack has transformed from "still kind of a newborn" to "definitely not a newborn." In fact, he's become the quintessential "Gerber baby" - he's sitting (in a wobbly, propped up kind of fashion but still, sitting) and smiling and grabbing things and even starting to rotate and push backwards when you put him on his tummy.

He's out of our room and into a crib, mostly sleeping through the night, and we also started him on solids. He goes nutso for the solids! I thought the high chair might be a good place for him to hang out while I do things like prepare meals, feed Liam, eat and clean up, but once you put him in there, he expects to be fed! And pretty much doesn't want to stop until you take him out of there. This is his mouth open where's-the-spoon look I get all the time!

I must say, it's a nice change from Liam, who right now often needs to be cajoled into every mouthful. Mind you, he was more like Jack at Jack's age too, and ultimately, I'm glad they're both good eaters. I have lots of fond memories of trying different foods on Liam and I'm looking forward to doing the same with Jack!

nyc baby, child and family photographer & architect alethea cheng fitzpatrick is based in brooklyn. she specializes in baby photography as interior design & interior design for babies. view her portfolio of babies, children or families or send her an e-mail here!

Liam and the beam again | Glimpses Week 16

(This photo is part of the Glimpses 52 project over at the Chic Critique Forum.)

With a three year old and a four month old, there can be a lot of drama leaving the house. Today was one of those days... but it was worth it.

(Remember the beam?)

nyc baby, child and family photographer & architect alethea cheng fitzpatrick is based in brooklyn. she specializes in baby photography as interior design & interior design for babies. view her portfolio of babies, children or families or send her an e-mail here!

Help, these people are crazy! (Jack)

Well, I figure Jack needs a blog post too, right?!

Jack is... well, what can I say about Jack? It's amazing to think that we've added a whole entire person to our family just like that.

Of course, it wasn't exactly "just like that" but it does seem a little bit like all of a sudden he's here and just sort of good naturedly going with the flow. Except when he's mad. When he lets you know. Just like his brother (and his father).

Jack is that age now when he's really starting to communicate. Pay him a little bit of attention and he will more than likely reward you with smiles that make you feel like you're the Best Thing Ever. So often in photos though he has this look as though to say "help, these people are crazy!"

nyc baby, child and family photographer & architect alethea cheng fitzpatrick is based in brooklyn. she specializes in baby photography as interior design & interior design for babies. view her portfolio of babies, children or families or send her an e-mail here!

Cheeks, eyelashes, lips | Glimpses Week 15

(This photo is part of the Glimpses 52 project over at the Chic Critique Forum.)

So my "maternity leave" is over... in so much as there ever was a maternity leave. Turns out giving an online workshop for 267 participants a month after having a second baby does not really constitute maternity leave. Who knew?!

Having a toddler, a baby and a business and figuring out how to juggle all three of these things (not to mention, husband, house and life in general) has definitely been a process, and is most definitely a work in progress. Some days it feels like I'm getting somewhere, other days it's overwhelming.

I always planned on scaling back on the time I spend on my business this year, but that has been easier said than done, especially as I still want to continue to not just maintain but grow the business. You might be wondering, how is that even possible? We shall find out!

One big step for me in the direction of making this possible has been hiring a Program Coordinator for Photosanity to handle all the administrative and technical aspects of the workshop, and we've been working on handing off and also automating as much of the behind the scenes work as possible (there's more than you would think). I'm also making some changes about how I offer the workshop and starting an alumni program for past participants - stay tuned for more details.

Finally, at least for right now, I'm holding off on booking portrait sessions, at least for the next few months. It's been hard to turn down inquiries, and I get tempted each time I get one, but I need to focus on the workshop and on spending the time that I want, while I can, with my babies. (As Liam likes to say "there are TWO babies!" even though he's really not a baby any more. We indulge him.)

One thing I am determined to do is to try and get a better handle on my own photosanity as far as keeping up with editing and sharing my own personal photos goes. To that end, I've decided to participate in the Glimpses 52 project over at the Chic Critique Forum.

This project resonated with me right away as the idea here is to motivate busy photographers to document and share the details of their own lives, one photo per week at a time, on their own blog. I share a lot of my iphone photos on facebook, but it's harder to find the time to sit at my computer and sort and edit my own DSLR photos. I'm hoping that the Glimpses 52 project will inspire me not just to share one photo a week but in the process, keep more up to date with my own editing.

I took this photo of Liam earlier this week and I love how it shows off those still chubby cheeks, the long eyelashes and sweet little lips. I look forward to sharing more photos weekly!

nyc baby, child and family photographer & architect alethea cheng fitzpatrick is based in brooklyn. she specializes in baby photography as interior design & interior design for babies. view her portfolio of babies, children or families or send her an e-mail here!

Happy Birthday Liam!

Today was Liam’s third birthday. Three years ago today, Liam was born in the late afternoon via c-section and so began this amazing journey into parenthood and, as it turned out, into becoming a family photographer and teacher with my own business.

My in-laws hosted a small family get together yesterday to celebrate. My husband dressed Liam in a button down shirt, something he practically never wears, and the whole afternoon and evening I marveled at how big and grown-up and, let’s face it, adorable he looked in it. My big boy, my first baby, three years old. This past year he has become so much more confident, independent and verbal. He tells jokes, talks about what he dreamt about the previous night, bosses people around, negotiates with the best of them and has just the most hilarious take on things. Everyone kept calling him the birthday boy yesterday and he kept correcting them – “I’m Liam!”

Happy Birthday Liam!

nyc baby, child and family photographer & architect alethea cheng fitzpatrick is based in brooklyn. she specializes in baby photography as interior design & interior design for babies. view her portfolio of babies, children or families or send her an e-mail here!