Sophie's First Portrait

Sophie does not like to sit still. She also has a mind of her own and makes a point of getting this idea across at any chance she gets. With these two things in mind, I don’t know why I thought it was such a great idea to have Sophie sit for a portrait as a surprise for Mother’s Day.

Typically, Sophie and I take a morning on the weekend to go shopping and give Ileana a little time to pick up the house without us bugging her. This was the perfect time to take Sophie to get her picture done. Unfortunately, due to some greater power, Sophie decided to take this Sunday and nap all day. We left the house and Sophie fell asleep. We went to Target for a little while and once back in the car, Sophie fell asleep. This was not a child in the mood to have her picture taken.

I persisted and took Sophie to the mall to see The Picture People. Aunt Kim and Ella met us there with a nice outfit for Sophie to wear and to provide moral support. Contrary to what she thought, just having Kim there just in case Sophie exploded was a huge help. Sophie seemed well behaved enough and she never really put up a fight… …she never entirely cooperated either.

We tried to get Sophie to sit in the center of the backdrop for the photographer. Sophie wanted none of this and began to inch towards me as if to say, “why do I have to stand alone on this piece of white paper?” We tried several props – a big pink hatbox held her attention for almost a minute and a small flower seemed to interest her for maybe two more. All in all, the experience was very quick. Sophie did not cooperate enough and we had to cut the poses short of what we were allowed for the sitting.

I went back for the pictures during the week and it was a tough decision. There were several that totally captured the moment, Sophie looking off-camera towards me with a disgruntled face. It captured the moment but I am not sure that is what mom would be looking for on Mother’s Day. I opted for a nice one of Sophie looking rather serious but her face is relaxed and you can see those cute lips that all of the old ladies in China seemed to go on and on about. I am not sure I would call this adventure a success but the picture is nice and Ileana liked it. Maybe we’ll try it again in a year or so.