The bribe for this photo shoot was Orange Leaf frozen yogurt. Please don’t judge me for bribing…they’ve been wanting to try this new pay-by-the-pound yogurt joint in town for so long – I figured I may as well get something out them before taking them.
I totally thought this photo shoot was going to be a cinch. E understands the reward system, he can smile on demand, and he can follow instructions. X, well, she’s my go-to girl – right? Surely, she will make this easy for me.
E had a few giggles…I’ll take ‘em.
X didn’t like the giggles apparently.
“Ssstop” That’s her favorite thing to say to him.
I tell X to just look at me and smile.
“See…do what Mom says” retorts her wicked intuitive brother.
She can’t stand to be told what to do by E.
For no other reason than she is “tween” and he is 5.
And in case you’ve never encountered this type of creature we call “tween”….
Tween = Drama
And drama is contagious.
But E is smarter than the average brother.
He knows just how to get the drama up to a full boil.
Kissing.
The most disgusting thing on earth (to this tween creatures).
P.S. I so wish it would stay like that for 8 more years!
Yes, because physical revenge is always the answer.
Nothing like a “V” right to your heart.
I’m pretty sure it didn’t hurt that bad. I know my kids love when I say that!
At this point, I jump in and tell them to behave.
My go-to girl is all riled up and can’t contain the drama just dying to escape.
Another stern, “Behave” I give them.
“X, seriously! What’s with the faces?”
Okay, I’ll get over looking through the “O”. It made for a good edit.
At this point I suggest putting the letters down for a bit.
“Aaahh, he’s touching me!” says the tween creature.
After I got this shot (which I still love) she got off the bench and threw E off of her then shoved him to the ground.
For which she promptly got in trouble for.
And which made her brother cry.
But lucky for me, he’s a boy who gets over things really fast.
So while she sulked for getting in trouble, I got this cutie shot.
With the hope of pay-by-the-pound frozen yogurt she got over it.
I regret not touching up her hair for this photo shoot. She’s going to hate this picture when she sees it because of the frizzy ends.
After a couple really good together shots…I stepped into what could have been the death of my photo shoot.
Lucky for me, the tween beast did not rear it’s ugly head on this one.
But she did separate herself as far away as she could after that kiss.
I have no clue what’s going on in this shot, but I like it nonetheless.
And because I like to push my luck, I asked for one more pose…a piggyback pose.
And when he started to go for another kiss I decided to call it quits. Best to end it there.
Times like these is where I really feel the impact of years gone by. There was a time when X would want to love on E so much, when she wouldn’t think of raising her voice at him. A time with less drama and the simple reward of 1 piece of candy for a photo shoot.
2009:
There’s something so wonderful about innocence.
Can’t you just see it shining through in this 2009 picture. Oh – how it takes my breath away.
Moral of my story: Get all the pictures of your kiddos while you can – before hormones and society steals all that precious innocence away.
