Smile With Your Eyes
January 30, 2009
I planned to end this horrible, no-good, ignorant slut of a week with some photos of Ezra smiling -- and then I planned to send those photos off for an independent, third-party evaluation that I am confident will definitely prove that his smiles are very seriously the greatest smiles ever witnessed in a human being -- but of course he will only smile at ME, and not the CAMERA, and in fact the presence of the camera immediately makes him all SERIOUS BABY IS SERIOUS, and then I replace the lens cap and he's all HA HA smiling with his whole head again.
And now today he has a cold in his eyeball. Because of course he does. And now even the off-camera smiles are tinged with about five shades of pathetic and two kinds of eye goop. Which: yeah, he's cute as hell, but ew.
So instead, I present: SERIOUS BABY AND HIS THUMB.
I find his struggle to be both inspiring and oddly satisfying. He finally gets that thumb extricated from his fist and in his mouth and man, there's a metaphor for the human condition in there somewhere, but I think I'll just promise myself to get out of the house at some point over the weekend and leave it at that.
My kid totally turns on the SERIOUS at any whiff of a camera. What IS that???
Non smiling Ez is still cute as heck.
Posted by: Gillian | January 30, 2009 at 12:31 PM
I love a thumbsucking baby. Is there anything more precious? No. There is not.
Posted by: Bethiclaus | January 30, 2009 at 12:34 PM
He is so adorable. You are totally making me want another.
Posted by: Elizabeth | January 30, 2009 at 12:35 PM
My babies never sucked their thumbs, but it is something I wish they had done becasue it's just so sweet. I swear he gets cuter with every post!
Posted by: Starbuck | January 30, 2009 at 12:36 PM
Serious baby's cute too.
Posted by: Miss Grace | January 30, 2009 at 12:36 PM
He is so delicious it makes my ovaries ache.
Posted by: sheilah | January 30, 2009 at 12:42 PM
Ezra is just a few days younger than my baby Xander (he was born 10/10). He does the same thing - big, gigantic smiles with lots of giggles and laughing and whatnot, and you pull out the camera or video camera, and it's "Seriously mom. Do not document my jovial mood." What gives?
Posted by: Tiffany | January 30, 2009 at 12:46 PM
Nicely put. Gratuitous pictures of babies, especially cute ones, always work!
Posted by: Sprite's Keeper | January 30, 2009 at 12:49 PM
I think I am going to die of cute. Pictures of Ezra are a powerful weapon, use your powers for good, I beg you.
Posted by: Amy | January 30, 2009 at 12:50 PM
OH holyhell who needs smile when you've got nom nom NOM?
Posted by: wordnerd | January 30, 2009 at 12:55 PM
My son does the SAME THING!!!! The worst is trying to get him laughing/crawling/talking on the video camera. We have to go all special ops in order to get any sort of video other than him sitting like a lump. So camera shy!!!
Posted by: Katie | January 30, 2009 at 12:59 PM
It doesn't seem to get better as they get older either. My almost 2 year old will go from doing a full Shirley Temple-esque song and dance routine to being intensely interested in her feet at the first sign of the camera.
What in the world am I going to show her prom date now? Sigh.
Posted by: Dana | January 30, 2009 at 01:00 PM
awe his poor eye!!! I hope you are able to escape the house this weekend!
Posted by: Alicia | January 30, 2009 at 01:31 PM
He is so precious! No need to smile when you're that cute!!
Posted by: nonsoccermom | January 30, 2009 at 01:34 PM
Lord, I want to squish those cheeks!! He is gorgeous.
Posted by: Lisa | January 30, 2009 at 01:40 PM
Oh my God he is so cute! Thanks for sharing!!
Posted by: Robyn | January 30, 2009 at 01:56 PM
I want to kiss his face, eye goop and all.
Posted by: Jen L. | January 30, 2009 at 02:10 PM
Serious Ez is still cuter than the be all and end all! And the thumbsucking! You're watching and cheering them on the whole way "you can do it! you can find it!" and they finally get it and you're doing the happy dance and then they drop it and you're all "oh shit" and you wanna grab it and try and put it back in for them because it was such a struggle to begin with. *sigh* I miss those days.
Posted by: Sharon | January 30, 2009 at 02:21 PM
He is SO CUTE. Smooshy baby. Yum.
Posted by: Marin | January 30, 2009 at 02:33 PM
I find the struggles of my son to master the things in life that I take for granted by this time to be humbling and inspiring.
Posted by: Heide | January 30, 2009 at 02:47 PM
Am I crazy that that reminds me of the Warner Brothers' singing frog, the REAL one?
One Froggy Evening
Seriously, he looks very sweet in any and all pictures.
Posted by: die frau | January 30, 2009 at 02:51 PM
Way to go Ezra! You suck that thumb.
Posted by: Stephanie | January 30, 2009 at 03:01 PM
We have the opposite problem ... even sobbing, hysterical baby will smile for the camera, so no one believes our baby is grumpy.
On a side note, your serious baby is seriously gorgeous.
Posted by: Elizabeth_K | January 30, 2009 at 03:25 PM
Were you just like, "Oh my GOD, I have to post something so these people stop telling me I'm not depressed and suggesting crappy films to watch!"? hee hee. He's adorable.
Posted by: Jo | January 30, 2009 at 03:28 PM
Oh yeah... too cute.
Posted by: kbreints | January 30, 2009 at 03:53 PM
Oh, what a beautiful little creature he is! I love the thumb-in-the-mouth struggle. And as soon as they got it in there, mine always lost it again and it started all over. But they never give up, and the sense of accomplishment when they get it is just beautiful!
Posted by: Kendra | January 30, 2009 at 04:16 PM
Nom Nom smooshy baby cheeks Nom
My daughter is the same way--she's this giggly, laughing thing until the cameras begin to roll, and then she turns into Norma Desmond.
I was serious about the snowball thing, though! There's a teeny tiny chance we may get some snow here on Monday and everyone is holding their collective breath...
Posted by: SueBee | January 30, 2009 at 04:25 PM
Even sick and pitiful, he is gorgeous!
Posted by: Kristin | January 30, 2009 at 05:23 PM
He is seriously a very cute baby, seriousness notwithstanding. I've had a rough day but Ezra's perked me right up :)
Posted by: Parsing Nonsense | January 30, 2009 at 05:46 PM
My two youngest don't smile for the camera either. Holiday photos were.....difficult!!!
Very cute though!
Posted by: BedsideTalesMan | January 30, 2009 at 06:53 PM
Bravo! My baby is still trying to work out how to get the thumb out, and ends up wanting his dummy instead. As I sucked my thumb for 12 years, I'm ok with him not following in my footsteps just yet.
Posted by: Anne | January 30, 2009 at 07:03 PM
He is so gorgeous, serious thumby and icky eye goop and all, none of which is noticable under all of the nomnomnom...
Posted by: ashley | January 30, 2009 at 07:09 PM
Oh good, there's hope for Peeper and her thumb!
She's about 2 weeks (6 weeks, adjusted) younger than Ezra and, good golly, she's struggle to connect thumb and mouth.
I had no idea it was this complicated!
Either she's got it tucked in, or misaligned, or - my favorite, she gets it in her mounth, but between her upper lip and gum!
Are we wrong for finding it so amusing?
(Oh, and she's a total ham-bone for the camera!)
Posted by: Whozat | January 30, 2009 at 09:59 PM
He has the Teeniest nose ever. I think his cheeks are about to over take it!
Hope your next week is better!
Posted by: Trista | January 30, 2009 at 10:02 PM
His hair looks kind of red in that picture!
Posted by: Maureen | January 30, 2009 at 10:05 PM
That must be one tasty thumb. What a sweetie!
Posted by: Esther | January 30, 2009 at 10:33 PM
How have you not completely eaten that baby yet? He is sooo scrumptious!
Posted by: Suzanne | January 30, 2009 at 11:24 PM
His look of contentment reminds of how I feel when I finally wrench the cork free from the bottle of wine. Ahhh.
Posted by: missmismeliss | January 31, 2009 at 01:15 AM
I should add: it's a complete physical challenge, but totally worth it every time.
Posted by: missmismeliss | January 31, 2009 at 01:16 AM
Try playing "peekaboo" with the camera. Get the shot all lined up, and then peek around at Ezra all fun and sunshine and silly faces. When he smiles, fire the shutter. :)
Posted by: Chunky Photojournalist Barbie | January 31, 2009 at 02:47 AM
Aww, poor sick baby. =( If you haven't done this yet, I recommend putting breastmilk in his eyes. It will clear up the goop right away! I usually handpump my milk into a bottle and then use a dropper to extract the milk and drop into my babe's eyes. Hope everyone in your family feels better soon!
Posted by: Keri | January 31, 2009 at 11:12 AM
Such an adorable baby. He looks so much like his father there.
Posted by: Plano Mom | January 31, 2009 at 11:24 AM
He totally looks stoned in the second picture.
Posted by: Michelle | January 31, 2009 at 03:57 PM
I think trying to capture baby grins is probably one of the more therapeutic activities you could be involved in this weekend.
Wishing you and yours all the best . . .
Posted by: Britt | January 31, 2009 at 05:50 PM
Do not innerrup me when I finking seeweeus foughts.
Posted by: Missie | January 31, 2009 at 06:28 PM
Ack! My daughter does the same damn thing! I swear we only have like two pictures of her smiling, but she smiles all the damn time! It is so frustrating!
Posted by: Dawn | January 31, 2009 at 07:57 PM
For sharing thank you very much good very beautiful work
Posted by: çiçekçi | February 01, 2009 at 06:42 AM
For sharing thank you very much good very beautiful work
Posted by: çiçekçi | February 01, 2009 at 06:45 AM
Gah, I tried to comment on the sad movie entry and its closed but this one really made me weep when I was pregnant.....August Rush. It ends happy and has neat music. Still lots of crying.
Posted by: Mama Podkayne | February 01, 2009 at 06:48 PM
His nose is just the cutest little button ever. And my baby won't smile at the camera either, so shoot.
Posted by: MamaCass | February 01, 2009 at 07:33 PM
He really does get more handsome in each new picture. What a doll.
Posted by: Courtney | February 01, 2009 at 07:55 PM
You will look back on these photos and miss these days where your baby is so cute and pudgy and snuggly and you derive so much enjoyment from just staring at them! Keep taking those photos!
www.MiniHipster.com
Posted by: MiniHipster.com | February 01, 2009 at 09:51 PM
Something makes me think that his smile would puddle me on contact.
Posted by: amanda | February 02, 2009 at 09:21 AM
Shoot... he's seriously cute anyway. And very serious about the damn thumb.
Posted by: Amber Mc | February 02, 2009 at 09:31 AM
*precious*
Posted by: MommyNamedApril | February 02, 2009 at 09:46 AM
how many pictures do i have of little bean with her hand in her mouth?
she sucks her thumb & finger. (it's a bizarre way)
and for thanksgiving, every time i took a pic of her w/ family, her hand is shoved in her mouth.
i have gotten a few comments about how "refreshing" it is to see her w/ her thumb and not a paci.
ezra is precious. i'm sure you'll have many many more pix like those!
Posted by: mpotter | February 02, 2009 at 10:47 AM