Week 27: MY Plane!

Jonah is certainly getting to the age where we can identify some of his favorite things. A lot of these things change on what seems to be a daily basis, but a few things have remained over time. Every day when we pick him up at school (when they are not outside playing), Jonah is playing with this plane and this school bus. He loves them and it seems the other kids know that these are "Jonah's toys."

He's had other toys at school before; he had a plastic giraffe for awhile that he was attached to. I distinctly remember one morning dropping him off, one of his friends came running across the room with the giraffe when we walked in. He handed it to Jonah and ran back across the room. That seems to have faded, but for now, the plane and bus remain. Jonah normally tries to convince us to let him take one of them home with us as we are trying to leave. Today he was asking me to write his name on the bottom of the bus!

It's fun watching him play with toys and becoming attached to things. It reminds me of certain toys and stuffed animals I loved when I was young. Jonah now owns one of the stuffed animals. I'm sure that at some point I'll look back and miss the day when he was attached to a simple plastic school bus - so I thought I'd devote a week to a couple of his favorite things. . . for now.

Photo: this is a rented 35mm lens (which I, unfortunately, have fallen in love with) at f/2 and all available light.

Week 26: It's all a give and take. . .

I distinctly remember talking to friends with older children when Jonah was an infant about how difficult parenthood was physically at the time. The lack of sleep alone was so exhausting. Add to that the carrying, bouncing, burping, etc. and we were just physically shot. One friend assured me that it would get easier - physically - but also warned me that as the physical challenges eased, the mental fatigue would take over. He also warned that the mental wear and tear was far worse than the physical. Now granted, he was referring to the teenage years, but I can already see the wisdom.

Life with Jonah is getting easier - and harder. It's very much a give and take; a push and pull. The physical challenges are easing - so is the pain in my lower back! It's so much easier now to go out and about. If we miss nap one day, it's not the end of the world. (two missed naps in a row might be!) We can go farther away from home on the subway without having to bring a carry on suitcase full of books and toys to keep him entertained. We can also go out to the park at the end of the day, play, and then go to a restaurant on our way home. That's what we did this Sunday - pictured above. Jonah did a nice job, was relatively well behaved, and then proceeded to walk (despite the empty stroller sitting there waiting for him) all the way home. The walk was right at a mile. It was a nice night!

On the flip side of that - we've started full-on potty training. Something we read suggested that when the child has an accident that it's a good idea to have them help clean up. (as an aside - thank God for hardwood floors!) We tried it with Jonah. He got tired of it quickly and rather than make sure he didn't have more accidents, as the advice suggested, he rebelled and started intentionally having "accidents" and then throwing a tantrum when it was time to clean. When we eased off the forced clean up policy a bit, the "accidents" eased as well.

Then there's his new favorite phrase - "want to do it myself." Yep - he's two. Actually, two and a half soon (Sunday). So, the mental fatigue is starting to increase. Nothing out of the ordinary for someone his age - he's just finding himself and finding his limits - and ours.

Photo - This is my 50mm at f/2 and available light. We were sitting outside in the nice covered sidewalk sitting area and the last bit of sunlight was beautifully diffused. Also, this marks halfway of my project! Thanks for following along!

Week 25: Where It All Started

So this is, more or less, where it all started. I met Kristi and got to know her when she was my accompanist for a vocal competition early on in undergrad. No instant sparks or anything along those lines - just a friendship. We sang in choir together and knew each other tangentially. However, it was the piano that would eventually bring us together.

After a couple of not so great accompanists my Freshman year of college, my studio professor encouraged me to ask Kristi if she was available. I did as I was told and reached back out to her. She had a spot available and became my accompanist. From that point forward we started spending more time together - lessons, practicing, etc. and a true friendship blossomed. Over time it became something more and (I'll fast forward through some details here that actually make it a better story - sorry) we started dating at the end of my Sophomore year.

We were living in Pittsburgh when we purchased our first home and were fortunate to have a perfect spot for a baby grand piano. We didn't have a ton of disposable income, having just purchased our first home, but Kristi really wanted to have a piano again. So, we looked through the classifieds for pianos, looked at a couple, and found a beautiful old 1920 something baby grand with carved legs. It was a beautiful piece of furniture, but left a bit to be desired as far as the piano part goes. It had a couple of cracks in the soundboard that we missed when we played it before purchasing because it was so far out of tune. Not perfect, but it filled a void.

When we moved to NYC, we had to leave it with a friend in Pittsburgh. There was no way a baby grand was going to fit into our apartment unless it doubled as a dining room table. So, we went without for a couple of years. When we bought our current apartment a few years ago, we were fortunate to have enough space for an upright piano. This all took place right around our 10th wedding anniversary so I decided that Kristi needed a new piano for our anniversary.

Shortly thereafter, Jonah came along and now I'm even more thankful that we have our piano. He loves it. He loves to sit at the piano with Kristi as she plays. He loves to "play," too. He's starting to be able to pick out instruments in recorded music and piano is one he definitely knows.

Photo - I decided to go a little more subtle this week. This is lit with one Profoto head in a 1x4' stripbox turned horizontally directly above the piano pointed back and down toward Kristi and Jonah - it's just outside the frame. This is my 50mm at f/2.

Week 24: Play Doh!

It's one of the universal truths of childhood - Play Doh rocks! Grandma Carolyn and Grandpa Jerry gave Jonah his first set of Play Doh at Christmas - it was an instant hit. Grandma Connie and Grandpa Jack gave Jonah another set for his birthday to supplement our supplies. Ever since, Jonah has routinely asked to "make Play Doh." So far, what that really means is he makes random requests of animals that mom or dad are supposed to mold from Play Doh while Jonah rolls the previous masterpiece into a ball; only to ask for the same animal he just crushed. We spend a lot of time in this cycle. In fact, if you look carefully on the desk in last week's photo from our vacation - you'll see the Play Doh bag.

When we moved to NYC, we decided to use the dining table we had in our kitchen in Pittsburgh as a desk and purchase a nice, formal dining table. When we moved into our current apartment, the new table took its spot in our dining room and the stainless steel table from our kitchen in Pittsburgh went under our bed. Not too long after Jonah was born we decided to make a switch from the nice, inlaid wood dining table back to the near indestructible stainless table. The nice table is in storage. Jonah's love of Play Doh is a frequent reminder of how glad I am we switched back to stainless! (that and the fabulous reflections I can get in photos of Jonah at the table!)

So, for those reasons, I thought a picture of Jonah playing with Play Doh at our old kitchen table should occupy a spot in my project. 

Photo - this is two lights. One Profoto head in a white beauty dish a bit above Jonah's head and camera left - coming in from the other side of the table. The second is a Profoto head in a 1x4' stripbox behind Jonah and camera right. This is shot with my 24mm at f/8.

Week 23: A Weekend on the Farm

As great as living in New York is, sometimes you just need to get out of the city.  Jonah's school was closed this past Tuesday for a staff development day, so we decided to take advantage of our lack of childcare and get out of the city for a long weekend mini-vacation. We didn't go far, but it felt like a whole different world.

We went to Rhinebeck, NY - which you may recognize as the home of the famed Chelsea Clinton wedding. No, we didn't go for that reason. Actually, Rhinebeck hosts the Dutchess County Fair every year and we decided it would be fun to take Jonah. Jonah had a great time seeing all of the animals and riding the rides. Mom and Dad - well, we chased after Jonah - and had a good time, too. The place we stayed is a bed and breakfast and a horse farm. They board horses, have a donkey and free range chickens. Jonah especially enjoyed getting to TRY to catch a chicken and petting the horses.  All-in-all, a great weekend together as a family and a much needed break from the City. The photos from the farm and fair are here, here, and here if you are interested.

This photo just presented itself and I liked it so much that it became my photo for the week. Now that Jonah has transitioned to his big boy bed, we decided it wasn't fair to ask him to sleep in the pack and play on trips, so we found a toddler air mattress that has built in bumpers on the sides to help keep him from rolling out. The air mattress worked out well but he still fell out a couple of times - out the end where his head was. Yes, he's a restless sleeper.

This photo is Kristi getting Jonah to bed for the night. The light is what was there, coming off the lamp on the desk. There's a little bit of fill from another lamp I had on by our bed, but not much. This photo is my 24mm at f/1.8 and ISO 3200. Thank you Canon for the beautiful 5D Mark II and it's amazing low light capabilities!