An Afternoon in the Underworld

There is a public perception of hell as a fiery place filled with demons or maybe just the one red guy with a trident and horns.  Much is gleaned from the bible, and then embellished by our vivid imaginations.  Hollywood helps fabricate some of these visions as well.

This is all well and good. What I am here to contend today is that there are many versions of a person's own personal hell here on earth.  I experienced one such difficulty recently.

When we approached the place it looked nice enough. It was well lit. It was not particularly hot, and the people inside looked like regular humans. There were no cloven hooves.

Then we ventured into the back room.  It also looked OK. In no way did it resemble the netherworld.  There were all sorts of toys and other decorations on the shelves.

Then we asked Braden to sit still and have his picture taken.  That is when all "hell" broke loose. He cried. Then he decide to get up and check out the camera. You could see him thinking no I don't want to see your stupid Elmo doll. I want to play with this wonderful contraption with lights and buttons that costs more than daddy's truck.

Then he tripped and did a face plant into the camera. He cried louder.

And so it went. We danced the dance.  We gave him cookies.  We gave him toys. We chased him down again and again. Finally we all left and let Arica work her magic with him.  Eventually we got some first birthday and Christmas pics.

Braden wins. I think these will do for a while.

Braden

I have nothing on my mind today. The area between my ears, formerly known as my brain, is as empty as Tiger Woods schedule last weekend. I hate to deny the world my little buddy Braden just because I am brain dead. So in lieu of a thoughtful perhaps even witty post about my life as a new dad here are a few pictures of Braden. I hope you enjoy.

Baby's First Pictures

We went to the Sears picture studio for Braden's first professionally done pictures on Thursday. I use the term professionally done loosely. The price was professional quality and the pictures were too but that speaks more to the level of technology than the level of photography skill. Our photographer looked like she road the bus from Junior High to Sears to take the afternoon shift. I am not bashing her. She was very nice and did a fine job. I am merely saying that she was young and was not a trained photographer.

Braden smiles all the time so he is a natural for picture taking. If you say anything to him with a smile on your face he will most likely smile right back at you. The girl was easily able to talk to him and get a smile. I will give her an "A" in that department. Our only problem came when Braden decided to try and eat his fist. That's one of his favorite hobbies. I always envision him saying "look Daddy I can fit my whole fist in my mouth." He may not say that, but he tries his best to fit it in there several times a day just the same. As you might imagine this is not the preferred pose for picture taking. I sat next to him and held his hands down until he smiled then I hopped out of the way. Oddly enough Arica's favorite picture is the one below where Braden has his fist firmly planted in his mouth. That just goes to show you that no matter how much training, or in this case how little, you never know what will make the best picture until after you snap it.