One Tree Photography: toddler

Remember hot mama-to-be Mackenzie from this post? And this one? Well, here we are over a year later celebrating the first birthday of her son, Wyatt. One year. That's all it takes to go from beautiful belly to blue-eyed toddler. One year! Excuse me while I go hug my baby and tell him to stop growing up.

It was such fun to meet Wyatt and follow him around Queen Anne as he explored sticks and mole hills and lots of front gates. He's SO active. And sweet and drooly and wobbly. What a fun age! Here are a few that I managed to catch as I raced around trying to stay ahead of this little guy.

I mentioned the blue eyes already, right?

I love this family shot -- Wyatt surrounded by the smiles of his parents, Mackenzi and Alexi.

I think he's showing me a leaf here. See the coming kiss?

More smiles and happiness. Mackenzie, you look beautiful as always.

My favorite? Either this one or the next.

A rare quiet moment. Funny, I don't remember any quiet moments.

Wyatt loved the fences we found as we walked. Lots of poking his head through bars and slats.

And a fun tongue shot.

So much fun! I still can't believe it has been over a year since I was photographing you and your adorable belly, Mackenzie. Thanks so much for the chance to follow up on your beautiful family. Enjoy!

Oh, this is going to be a long post -- even for me. Our preschool's class photographer wasn't able to make it to school for our Toddler Halloween party, so I volunteered to step in to take a few shots. Of course, I don't know if that was necessary since I don't think there was a parent there without a camera.

Preschool has been such a great experience for us so far. We go once a week for a couple of hours, but Abigail has learned so much! My favorite part of the day is snack. Every child sits in a little chair (real chairs -- no straps or trays) and eats from a plate and drinks from a cup (no sippy cups!). Abby has learned to wipe her mouth with her napkin (and mine) and to stay in her seat while she's eating. You should see the tables full of these little people eating their food. I love it!

So today I tried to get shots of all the kids in their costumes (or out of them), though some kids were a little more available for pictures than others. Class starts with outdoor play time. Here are a few as the kiddos arrived and played.

Raya as a lovely ladybug. (When I tell Abigail it's time to go to school, she says, "RAYA!")

Abby on the slide. She is a sliding fool! (No costume yet for Abigail -- she wouldn't be able to play in it.)

Sweet Naomi in her pom-pom hat. She'll put her costume on later, too.

Ladybug in the dirt.

Ronan lights up in his monkey costume.

Princess Selena and her wheelbarrow.

Sawyer with his amazing eyes. What's his costume? Wait for it...

Liam, serious in pre-costume attire.

Christopher on the slide. I think it's obvious what he is.

Linnea gives a cute smile for the camera.

And then a fake one. I think her mom will get a laugh from this one.

You can't tell, but there is a child in that Elmo outfit. (It's Colt.)

Zoe plays in the sandbox. She's a great shoveler.

We head inside after 20 minutes (or so), wash up, eat snack, and then move on to free choice time. The kids can paint or draw in the art room, explore playdough or water/rice/cornmeal in the sensory room, have a tea party in dramatic play, or play with all kinds of toys in the main room.

Here's Liam in his costume. Guesses? A gnome. I'm not sure if he is the Travelocity gnome in particular, but either way, what a cutie!

Naomi is a bumble bee who doesn't want to wear her antennae. (Her mama made this costume!)

When free play is over, we clean up and have circle time. Lots of songs and movements and shaker-eggs. We went around the circle and sang to each child in his/her costume (or not). Ronan again...

Christopher...

Zoe as a ladybug.

Selena loves to be sung to!

Recognize that strawberry? (It's Abigail!)

Raya and mama.

Sarah, the soccer player. (Is that right? I'm not great with sports.)

And here's Simon! I didn't see a whole lot of Simon today. I believe he's our youngest classmate, and he still does a great job in school.

There's Sawyer, the lion. His mom says he's got a great roar.

This isn't a great shot, but it's worth noting because you can see Naomi's whole costume. (And I like how the moms are laughing in the background.)

Liam sitting in the middle.

Stella sitting on Teacher Linda's lap. She doesn't look thrilled.

But check out those wings!

After circle time, we went outside for a pumpkin hunt. One of the older classes in the preschool painted mini pumpkins to give to our kids. Teacher Linda hid them (in plain sight) out in the play yard and the kids went hunting.