Babies and Kids: Peyton.

Peyton took one look at my camera and me and ran the other way. No joke. What did I expect? A two-year old to sit down and give me his best smiles. I asked him to just look my way. He smiled, gave me that sneaky two-year old expression and ran the other way. I asked him to sit still for one moment so maybe, just maybe, I could grab one cute picture of him. What did he do? Smiled, laughed and ran the other way. That is when it finally dawned on me. He is two. Two years old. Meaning, he wants to have fun, he wants to play and he wants to be able to be free. In other words, he wants to be two years old.

Now, I do not have any little ones myself, so I can never speak from a mother's point of view. However, I have dealt with my share of toddlers especially in the two year old range, and the more I am around them, the more I realize, to get the best pictures of them, you have to be fast with the camera, you have to be energetic and most of all, you have to be playful with them.

As soon as I put aside the whole let's-sit-and-smile and decided to play with sweet little Peyton, I got to see a whole different side of him. We played the tickling game, we played hide-and-go-seek and best of all, I got some of the sweetest hugs from this little man. And, this is why I absolutely love photographing kids. Somewhere in between the tickling, the hide-and-go-seek and the sweet little hugs, I got some of the best pictures from Peyton. I got to see that genuine smile, that free spirit and those eyes that sparkle when he saw a dog running around. I got to witness that two year old spirit that ran so wildly yet so lovingly.

Kelle, your husband and you are so lucky to have such a fun and spirited little man on your hands. He is just the cutest! I hope you enjoy some of the shots I got of him. xoxo.