Below you will find pages that utilize the taxonomy term “Scarlett”
Scarlett Portraits (2021)
I made some portraits of Scarlett. I used the same setup as when I did Sam and Stella’s November portraits, except with the octobox on the left this time.
Scarlett's Halloween Clay Models
Scarlett created these models one day in October when she was feeling creative. I liked the models so much that I built a small box for photographing them. I fell behind on my photos, so I’m posting my favorite poses now.
Sparklers for the 4th of July
Sparklers were an ever-present feature of my childhood 4th of July celebrations. This year we introduced the twins to sparklers (I’m pretty sure Scarlett has used them at least once before). They kids had a lot of fun and there were a couple burn-scares, but I think it was worth the slight parental anxiety. (Did our parents care? They seemed a lot more laize-faire about us with sparklers, but maybe they were just good at hiding their fears?) Took out the DSLR and introduced the kids to light painting. Scarlett had the winning light-painting photo that made it past the multiple discard passes.
High Key Scarlett (March 2020)
I love just about everything in this shot. Even the hair is pretty neat, although I would have preferred for it not to cross the middle of Scarlett’s face.
Hoodie Sisters
There was something about this image that reminded me of older snapshots. I think it’s the fact that it’s a candid moment, not perfectly sharp as Scarlett moved out of the focal plane; but it’s not out of focus - you can see that from the shirts. So when I was processing the shot, I went for an older look. I think I ended up applying a Kodachrome effect.
Scarlett Portraits
It was time to take some portrait shots of Scarlett. As I was getting set up, I decided that I wanted to try something new; something I’d struggled with before, but never been able to succeed at - a flash highlight of a black background. I’d seen Gavin Hooey use the technique to great success on his Adorama TV show on Youtube. But somehow I’d just never been able to get it to work well. So I decided to try and mess around with the setup before the photo shoot. Eventually, I found something that worked well for me. I think, reviewing the photos for the fifth time now, that as I have it set up, it works best for the closeup shots. For the 3/4 shots, it probably should have been either dropped a little lower or maybe pulled away from the background a bit more to spread it out a bit more. The setup looked like this:
A Science Journal Entry
Scarlett’s scientific journal entry about a duck and a baby duck
Sometimes the things my kids focus on just crack me up.
January Snow Day
Since becoming a parent it’s been a common theme of the blog that I find it fascinating experiencing the kids getting older and, therefore, more able to process the world around them. This winter was the first time the twins could be out in the snow for more than just a few minutes. Not only were they more able to weather the cold, but they were also strong enough to move around in the snow without too much frustration. They were also finally able to have a snowball fight. Although, watch Sam’s face closely from beginning to end in the following video, it’s priceless:
Scarlett's idea of Spelunky
Scarlett drew this back in September when the kids were playing a lot of Spelunky. It’s interesting to see which parts of the game imprinted on her mind.
Twin 3rd Birthday Portraits
Just as with the farm portraits, this year both kids were enthusiastic about the portraits. I was bracing for Sam to once again hate the idea of portraits, but his urge to do what his sisters were doing was stronger - or maybe he’s just over whatever he hated about it last year. I’m really happy with how the portraits came out this year - particularly for Sam. It helps that the little guy is ALWAYS smiling (unless he’s been told he can’t do something). Here’s my favorite Sam portrait:
2018 Pumpkin Patch Portraits
Another year and the kids grow older. Last year was a disaster - the twins did NOT want their photos taken. We didn’t get any good portraits. This time everyone was game and we got good portraits - at least the first time around. When we reconvened a little later, the kids were over the idea of pumpkin photos, or at least Scarlett was.

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This year the kids were actually strong enough to carry pumpkins, so they did enjoy adding to the chunk of pumpkins that were used for the portraits.
The Kids at the Park

Funny thing about this is that I could say this reflects their moods, but really only Stella is being genuinely Stella. Usually you can’t catch Sam without a smile on his face (although he *is* going through the whiny 2 year old phase), and Scarlett’s the most neutral.
Scarlett's recital
This year Scarlett did hip hop as her dance class and the instructor selected a Pink Ladies meets Hip Hop sort of outfit for the kids. Like last year I did a portrait session with Scarlett in her costume. Unlike last year, it actually came out nice this year. (Last year I rushed it and the lighting was off)

Scarlett's Pre-Recital Portraits

Scarlett's Pre-Recital Portraits

Scarlett's Pre-Recital Portraits

Scarlett's Pre-Recital Portraits

Scarlett's Pre-Recital Portraits

Scarlett's Pre-Recital Portraits
After seeing another dad do it last year, I decided to rent a lens this year so I could have much better low light performance. I rented the 70-200 II IS L lens. On the plus side, I was very happy with how close I was able to zoom to Scarlett without having to push the ISO past the limits of my camear. On the minus side, I just don’t have that much experience with dance photography and this year Scarlett’s class only had one dance. So although the lens was a reasonable $100 to rent, I am not sure if I’m going to do it again next year (assuming Scarlett does dance class again) since I only got 3 photos worth sharing.
Mt. Vernon
Danielle and I went to Mount Vernon back when we first moved here and were exploring new things to do in our free time that were unique to the area.

We’d thought of bringing our parents to see Washington’s house and property, but the timing never quite worked out - you really want to visit in the Spring or Fall, not during the Summer or Winter. So it remained a place we’d only been to once even as we made multiple trips to the same couple Smithsonian museums and zoos.
Easter at the Farm
This Easter we went to the farm so they kids could hunt for eggs there and then enjoy the farm. Unlike my childhood, Easter’s pretty cold up here as you can see.

It’s pretty ridiculous to me, considering almost my entire childhood consisted of going to the local park.
Stella’s been enjoying horseback riding for a bit now, but this was the first time she was old enough to do it on her own without me holding onto her the entire time.
Scarlett 6 Year Old Portraits
Holy Moly she keeps getting older and older!

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Sam and Stella's First Disney Trip
Back in November we took the twins on their first trip to Disney. This time around Scarlett wasn’t as interested in the parades as she was last time, but the twins were REALLY into them. Surprisingly, both twins ended up warming up to the characters. Sam’s reluctance with Mickey on the first day made me think he was going to try and avoid them the entire trip. But as you can see in the video, he eventually got into interacting with the characters.
Playing with Snow
First substantial snow of the season happened in December and it was warm enough for the kids to go play outside. A few shots from that day:

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A Fall Visit to the Farm
Back in October, we went to the pumpkin patch to do our annual pumpkin patch portraits.

Unfortunately, the twins were not amenable so we just did the other farm activities.

Sam picking a pumpkin

Sam and a goat

Sam and Scarlett feeding goats

Sam and Scarlett feeding goats

Stella riding a horse

Stella riding a horse

Scarlett riding a horse

In the kiddie hay maze

In the kiddie hay maze

In the kiddie hay maze

Stella and Scarlett

Pumpkin Patch Portrait

Sliding with Grandpa

Halloween 2017
Jumping forward (I’m still generally working on photos from August because I’ve fallen behind with other responsibilities and playing some video games for Extra Life), we get to Halloween photos. Once again these awesome costumes were sewn by my mother-in-law.

A Star Enters!

Tiana

Tiana

Gretel

Hansel

Hansel

Gretel

Gretel

Gretel

Hansel

Hansel

Hansel
Fun on the Farm

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Sam and Stella's first visit to Coney Island
Earlier this year we took the twins to Coney Island for the first time. They were not amused.

Sam and Stella's first time at Coney Island

Sam and Stella's first time at Coney Island

Sam and Stella's first time at Coney Island

Sam and Stella's first time at Coney Island

Sam and Stella's first time at Coney Island

Sam and Stella's first time at Coney Island

Sam and Stella's first time at Coney Island

Sam and Stella's first time at Coney Island

Sam and Stella's first time at Coney Island

Sam and Stella's first time at Coney Island

Sam and Stella's first time at Coney Island

Sam and Stella's first time at Coney Island
Scarlett's First Dance Recital
This year Scarlett concluded a season of ballet and tap with a recital. It was pretty neat to see it all come together after having seen it in bits throughout the season. Here are some of the photos I took. I think next year I’ll do the same thing the guy behind me did and rent some f2.8 glass so I can freeze the action a bit more and get less motion blur.
Easter at the Park
This year we went to the park for their Easter festivities. Enjoy the photos I took there.

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Scarlett's Easter Photos
As I continue to catch up, I arrive at the Easter Portraits I took of Scarlett this year. Enjoy!

Scarlett Easter 2017

Scarlett Easter 2017

Scarlett Easter 2017

Scarlett Easter 2017

Scarlett Easter 2017

Scarlett Easter 2017
Scarlett Year 5 Portraits
Got together with Scarlett to shoot a portrait session for her fifth year of life! I can’t believe 5 years ago she was fighting for her life at the Johns Hopkins NICU. (Support them through my Extra Life campaign) Thanks to Dan getting me a boom stand for my birthday or Christmas (I don’t remember which) I could have a hair light and keep her hair from fading into the background as I made sure it was pure black (or close enough).
At the Park
[caption id=“attachment_12338” align=“aligncenter” width=“768”] Up in the jungle gym at Centennial[/caption]
Halloween Costumes Part 2: Sleeping Beauty
Another awesome costume designed by my mother-in-law.

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The 2016 Visit to the Pumpkin Patch
Every year since Scarlett was born we’re been going to Clark’s Eliok Farm to get a pumpkin to decorate the house (and in later years for Scarlett to carve). This time was the first year for Sam and Stella. Overall they did extraordinarily well for 11 month olds who’d never been to a pumpkin patch before. Only Stella cried and that was only after it had gone on for a while.
Scarlett and the Pink Dress
When I went to do the 10 Month Photos for the Twins, Scarlett really wanted to participate. She helped me with the color picker and white balance. Then, afterwards, she wanted to do these veil photos. My favorite thing is that I didn’t tell her to do ANY of this. This is what she wanted to do and I just photographed. I enjoy her creativity.

Pink Dress

Veil 1

Veil 2

Shadowed Veil

Sitting Veil

Final Pink
New Haircut
Just a photo to showcase Scarlett’s new haircut. But when I saw it a month later, I really liked how it looked.
Looking Outside

While I think that part of what really makes this image work is the way I converted it to black and white, I do really envy my wife for having a good eye and good timing to capture the photo.
Scarlett's First Day of School

I just noticed there’s a watermelon on the ground next to Scarlett. That isn’t some kind of asian ritual, shame on you if you thought that. Anyway, Scarlett had her first day of school a while ago. I guess it can be an emotional time for some parents - that’s what I’ve heard on the grapevine. For me the only emotion was excitement! I was curious to see how she’d do in school and what she’d think of it. She’d never been in daycare, but we did do a couple one-week classes this summer and she seemed to enjoy those. Turns out that school appealed to some of her nature - wanting to know things and wanting to be around other kids. She’s excited about school every day and sad on the weekends when she doesn’t have school. Couldn’t ask for a better start to her educational career.
Picture Time

It’s a recurring theme that we forgot that our kids are people, just tiny people who perhaps haven’t finished developing all of their mental and emotional abilities yet. You expect them to eat the same thing every day and like the same TV shows and songs. But we aren’t like that, why should they be? That’s often made pretty evident to me with Scarlett and photos. Sometimes she’s dying to be in photos and ends up photo bombing everyone. Other times it doesn’t matter how much it means to me to have a photograph of a particular event or moment in her life. She does NOT want to be photographed and nothing can make her participate.
Scarlett on some Coney Island Rides

It’s pretty crazy how much Scarlett has grown since she first started going to Coney Island. Before, there were only a few rides she liked or could go on. Now she’s going on roller coasters! I wonder if she’ll want to go on adult coasters with me when she’s old enough. I guess we’ll see what thinks about being twisted and turned about.

Yashica A (Developed July 2016) Part 2: Cherry Blossom Festival
This is a short series I’m going to run here on the blog featuring photos from my most recently developed roll of medium format 120 film taken with my Yashica A twin reflex lens camera. I’m grouping photos together by subject.

It’s interesting that after the photos I took at the park, I put the camera away for almost exactly 4 years - these photos are from 13 April 2015. We don’t go to the Cherry Blossom Festival every year because it seems pretty pointless. The same trees and masses of people do not make for the best of times. But, with Scarlett finally 3 years old we figured she might enjoy it this time around.
Some Photos from Dan's Engagement Party
Well, everyone’s growing up. Dan’s the last to get married (the youngest three siblings don’t count because there’s too big a gap). Here are some photos from his engagement party.

Stella and her great-grandparents at Dan's Engagement Party

Eric and Dan at Dan's Engagement Party

Eric, Dan, and Katie at Dan and Katy's Engagement Party

Double Rainbows!

Double Rainbows!

Dan, Katie, and Rainbows!

Dan, Katie, and Rainbows!

Somewhere over the rainbow!

Dan, Katie, and Rainbows!

Scarlett and the Rainbow

Scarlett and Abuelo Roman at Dan's Engagement Party (and a rainb

Scarlett and Abuela Carmen at Dan's Engagement Party

Scarlett and Abuela Carmen at Dan's Engagement Party

Mom at Dan's Engagement Party

Don't Min Chen Dan's Engagement Party
Family Portrait
We’re hardly ever dressed up so nicely. So when we all got dressed up for Dan’s engagement party, I wanted to get a quick family portrait before we left. The pose wasn’t perfect due to the rush, and I’ll be elaborating a bit more on that in a future blog post, but I do like it as a bit of record keeping. Slightly more than a snapshot, but not how I’d have done it if we weren’t in a hurry.
A Trip to Washington with my Grandparents
They’d never been to DC before so we went to the usual tourist spots. Also there - my parents, daughter, and youngest brothers.

At the White House!

Grand Parents at the White House

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In front of the Washingon Monument

In front of the Washingon Monument

Enjoying Gelato at Pitango

Enjoying Gelato at Pitango
Those are definitely balls!

There are balls to eat?

Happy Ball Eating Time

Trust Fall Exercise

Hey, Sis!

So Many Balls!

It's Raining Balls!

No photos of my sister!
Purple Tub Portraits
It’s a time-honored tradition for us to photograph babies in the purple bucket. We did it for Nam, Lan, and Scarlett. Now it was time for the twins to do it.

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Scarlett wanted to do it again, so now we have this comparison. Baby Scarlett:
Scarlett on Orange

Big Laughter

Snicker

Cool Kid

Aloof

Laughter hug
I wanted to take a photo of Scarlett on this background with this dress. She’s in her crazy 4 year old phase, so the poses were all of her own design0. The only one I was able to direct her to do was the one with the glasses. Here’s the lighting diagram:
Static Electricity!

Most of the time I avoid taking my camera to the park because I know I’m going to be busy playing with the kids and the camera would just get in the way. But this weekend I brought it for some reason and I was able to get some fun shots like this one.
One of Scarlett’s favorite things to do is to slide on this slide and then have me touch her so she can discharge all the static onto me. Sometimes enough charge has built up that it actually hurts!
Kids with a 50mm Prime
That sweet, sweet bokeh. Although, you have to remember to increase that f-stop as soon as you start moving things out of one plane.

Hello, Sister!

Yes?

Squished Together

So, those are teeth!
Eat My FOOT!
When Scarlett was born, I went a little crazy. Sure, it’s natural for first time parents, especially someone with my personality. But I think I also deserve some slack because it was a difficult, complicated pregnancy and then Scarlett needed surgery in her first week of life in order to live.
So when I saw myself starting to act crazy again (after another crazy pregnancy with premie babies), my solution was to withdraw. If I didn’t get too attached, I wouldn’t have such visceral reactions to my underweight daughter not eating. So I threw myself into my books and video games. It was made easier by the fact that my mother in law was here, so I had more opportunities to run off. But then, a week ago (and I’m writing this post about a month before this will appear on my blog), I realized that I had been letting their infancy slide past me without enjoying it. And so I put myself back into their lives. This was made easier by nearly five months of the doctor weighing Stella and finally being OK with her weight. Also, we’d found out she was lactose intolerant and switching her away from mother’s milk and cow-based formula caused her to transform into a happy baby. But now I’m really enjoying the heck out of the twins and it’s a joy to see them each day.
Older Siblings vs Parents
There’s a story about my childhood my mom is fond of telling. My dad asks Daniel (the brother born after me) to do something. To my father’s consternation, he refuses because it would make me mad. It’s funny to see a similar situation going on with the twins and Scarlett. Part of it is familiarity - Scarlett is home with them every day; but the kids will smile or laugh more easily with her than with me. This video is an example of that which I found amusing. We’ll see if I find it amusing if I find myself in a situation similar to my father.
The Dancer on Stage

One of the photgraphers on Adorama’s channel has a show called You Keep Shooting. That advice worked rather well when I took Scarlett into the studio with me for a photo shoot that would be used for my Black and White Conversion Challenge. (While the videos are already live on Youtube, the blog post that ties it together has not yet been published) Scarlett tends to be a pretty awesome model for a four year old amateur. She was patient and took direction for about 10 minutes or so. Then she wanted to do her own thing. Mostly that involved jumping and dancing and asking me to photograph her doing it. I zoomed out to get more of her body on the jumps and in doing so ended up with the beauty dish in the frame. While it would be only of a medium difficulty to remove it in Photoshop or GIMP (and trivial to crop it out), I felt that it added to a feel of performance when combined with the red background. The only thing would have made it more perfect for that theme would have been if she’d been wearing a dress or tutu.
Easter Portraits of the Kids
You never know what’s going to happen when you try to take portraits of babies. Throw in the extra unpredictability of kids of any age and it’s a crapshoot whether a photo shoot is going to turn out to be fun with rewarding photos or a series of photos of your children crying.
One thing we have on our side with the studio being in the basement is that we can take photos when the kids are ready, not on a hope and prayer that they’ll be ready when we get to Sears, Target, or wherever people are getting portraits done nowadays. So we started off with easy portraits in the morning on the “Baby Portrait Couch”. Hey, it’s a tradition started with Scarlett!
Scarlett colors some Easter Eggs
You’re never 100% sure what kids are going to enjoy. We know that Scarlett loves painting. Would she love coloring Easter Eggs? The answer was YUP!

The colors are ready for Scarlett to dip the eggs in.

Scarlett dipping eggs

The green egg

All the eggs absorbing colors

Colored eggs

Colored Eggs

Colored eggs after Scarlett paints them
This Was A Lot Easier with Just One (Part 2) - Variations on a Theme
Just in case the captions for the photos don’t appear on your RSS reader or on Facebook, here’s what I wrote as the caption to the photos:
“Inspired by title I chose for my photo for the twins’ four month photo which didn’t come out quite the way I wanted it to, I decided to do this image. I love how it came out.”
I also usually don’t post more than one version of a photo - I have a definitive version and just go with that, but this time Scarlett came up while I was trying to to figure out which one I preferred and she insisted on a different one than I would have chosen, so I decided to share them all.
This was so much easier when it was just one baby! (4th Month Portrait)

I wanted to do this earlier - somewhere around 2 month portraits. I was re-energized to try the idea after seeing someone do a photo that made it look like their kid was bounding out of the crib with her stuffed animals. I did not take the Sam and Stella images from some other random image. They were right there where you see them. All I did was erase my body (or I’d be in here thrice). Still, if I were to do it again, I’d have Sam and Stella flying near me rather than against the wall. They end up too small and it lessens the impact of the shot. Well, there’s always next time. (And there’s always less edited shots!)
You will remember me
(About this shirt my mom gave Scarlett)
Scarlett: what does this mean?
Eric: It means people will remember you.
Scarlett: Why does grandma want people to remember me?
Some photos from Scarlett's Birthday Bash

Scarlett Fourth Birthday Portraits

Scarlett Fourth Birthday Portraits

Dina and Scarlett

Scarlett, her cake, and some fellow princesses

Dina and Scarlett

The kids and the grandparents on Scarlett's Birthday

Rapunzel Castle Cake

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Third Month Photos

Third Month Photos

Third Month Photos

Third Month Photos

Third Month Photos

Third Month Photos

Third Month Photos

Third Month Photos

Third Month Photos
Scarlett's Second Snow Day
This time with mom taking the photos!

Scarlett spends some time out in the snow with Danielle.

Scarlett spends some time out in the snow with Danielle.

Scarlett spends some time out in the snow with Danielle.

Scarlett spends some time out in the snow with Danielle.
Snow Day
The other day I posted about how the upcoming snow storm had emptied Costco. Here are some photos from the day:

Scarlett had been dying for winter to get here so she could play in the snow:

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Raking with Scarlett
Scarlett was begging me to do two things:
-Rake
-and jump in the leaves after raking.
We did both…

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Scarlett Halloween in Ellicott City
As usual we went Trick or Treating in Ellicott City’s Main Street area. Just a few photos from that evening:

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Scarlett graduates to salad chef
Scarlett graduates from lettuce washer to lettuce cutter:
Scarlett "reads" The Carrot Seed
I remember doing this and getting guff from my parents for claiming that I could read. In reality I had simply memorized one of my favorite books.
Scarlett's Alice in Wonderland Costume Portraits
Once again an awesome costume from my mother-in-law. Enjoy the gallery!

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Scarlett rides her trike on her own for the first time
In the following video:
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Scarlett and the Maps
A fun little video of Scarlett going from QUITE far away to pretty local in demonstrating where we live.
Scarlett on the Stoop
In an ever so slightly different universe this would have been Scarlett’s childhood:

Fun with the Inflatable Pool
We had an inflatable pool for use with ball pit balls, but I thought it would be fun to take it outside so Scarlett could play with a water in a different way than usual.

Scarlett Pool 006

Scarlett Pool 010

Scarlett Pool 013

Scarlett Pool 033

Scarlett Pool 015
Scarlett's 3-Year-Old Vocabulary
Some people still treat TV as if it’s the boob tube (that’s boob as in dummy, not breast). But Scarlett’s kid’s cartoons led her to learn some stuff that led to the following exchange:
Danielle (rhetorically): Why does this monkey have a frog on its head?
Eric: It’s Swedish. (The toy is from Ikea)
Danielle: What?
Scarlett: No, it’s symbiosis!
Eric: Symbiosis? (I wonder if she knows what it means) What does that mean?
Scarlett Outside in May

Scarlett plays in the yard-2 - web

Scarlett plays in the yard-7 - web

Scarlett plays in the yard-35 - web

Scarlett plays in the yard-42 - web
Scarlett Bowls for the First Time
This summer she’s trying a lot of new spots, it seems.
Scarlett during April Play Time
I’ve been looking forward to this moment for a long time - Scarlett finally plays on her own, allowing me to photograph her. It’s much harder to capture the awesome moments if you’re also playing along with your little one. I have lots of spontaneous photos of her extended cousins (and even my adopted brothers) at a young age, but a lot less of her because of that. Here’s a batch from April:
Scarlett Draws a Human
I know there’s a fine line between a parent being impressed by their child and a parent bragging. Nonetheless, I thought this drawing Scarlett did was pretty good for a 3 year old.

Scarlett Plays Catch with her Glove for the First Time
Danielle bought Scarlett her first baseball glove and I was curious to see how her first attempt at catch would go. Here is a video of that first try:
And some stills:

Scarlett plays baseball with first glove-2

Scarlett plays baseball with first glove-12

Scarlett plays baseball with first glove-14
What do you think? Sports in her future? Or nerd like her dad?
Scarlett Asks to be Recorded
Scarlett asked to talk in my field recorder, but she called it a lightsaber. “Daddy, can I talk in your lightsaber?”
Here’s what came of that:
Cutting
I asked my wife if she could show me how to cut a mango. This is what Scarlett said:
You use scissors! And you cut! Open. Close. Open. Close. Put your fingers in the holes. Open. Close.
And then I tried to recreate the situation while recording it. Here’s what she said with my prompting:
Conversation with Scarlett
I’m trying to see if Scarlett knows her five senses.
Me: what do you use to hear? To listen?
Scarlett: headphones!
Me: OK, what do you use to see?
Scarlett: telescope!
At that point I am thrown off by both the inventiveness and incorrectness of her answers and give up for the time being.
Scarlett Dancing to I Fight Dragons
I was explaining bands to Scarlett and she wanted to see an example. The only concert movie I had was from the I Fight Dragons Chicago show. I put that on and she rocked out; And asked me to dance with her. The first video (blurry because she’s so close, I think) she is spinning on my finger. The second she’s dancing on her own. I didn’t think to record video until well into things so she’s not going as crazy with the dancing as she had been.
A Conversation with Scarlett Today
Me: Daddy is a?
Scarlett: BOY!
Me: Scarlett is a?
Scarlett: Girl! No! Princess!
Scarlett and Birds
Don’t worry birds, I will feed you. Dad, feed the birds.
-Scarlett speaking to the birds in the woods behind our house (and then to me) a couple weeks ago
Scarlett Sings Along to Yankee Doodle
Well, more like finishing each verse, but it’s still pretty fun.
Scarlett's Second Halloween
I know this was months ago, but I started writing this back then and just got the opportunity to finish it recently.
[caption id=“attachment_7634” align=“aligncenter” width=“427”] Scarlett Trick Or Treating at Ellicott City[/caption]
This year was Scarlett’s second Halloween, but the first one where she had some kind of a clue about what was going on. The previous year we’d dressed her up as Toad, but other than the giant head-piece, I don’t think it was too different from any other day in her life. This time around, although she didn’t really see a point in collecting the candy because she doesn’t eat it - she did present her basket to each person giving out candy.
The Continued Evolution of Scarlett's Mind
I’ve mentioned before that I find Scarlett’s mental development utterly fascinating. As someone who’s always been fascinated with the science of cognition ( You Are Not So Smart is my new favorite podcast) and psychology, it’s amazing to see her capabilities grow and change as long with her physical growth. Her most recent new ability is understanding cause and effect. If you ask her a “why” question, she gives a “Because” answer. Now, this can border on the surreal absurd as when she recently painted her face with finger paint. The exchange went like this:
Late Nov - Early Dec Photojojo
It’s once again time for my latest Photojojo post (yeah, they’re back to back this time). For those of you who haven’t been following my blog for a long time, Photojojo is a digital time capsule service. Every two weeks they send me an email that has my most interesting photos posted to flickr from one year ago.
More Scarlett - this time getting the Christmas tree. It made me sad that we didn’t do the lights on her again this year. Then again, she might have wanted to do it all the time - so maybe that’s a good thing.
Mid-Novvember Photojojo
It’s once again time for my latest Photojojo post. For those of you who haven’t been following my blog for a long time, Photojojo is a digital time capsule service. Every two weeks they send me an email that has my most interesting photos posted to flickr from one year ago.
Once again a focus on Scarlett. Looking back on these photos I realize how easy it was to get to smile back then. It sounds ridiculous to say she’s gotten more jaded - she’s not even two, for Pete’s sake. But she does spend more time brooding and is a bit more specific about what makes her smile. Perhaps this is part of the reason why some couples decide to have more children - to get back that ultra-innocence of baby-hood before the slightly less innocent toddler-hood what with its tantrums and such.
Scarlett and Making her Toys Kiss
Scarlett first did this about three weeks ago before she started watching Disney’s The Little Mermaid non-stop. I was playing with her in the living room and she was making her various stuffed animals dance to the music. Then she took two animals - a dog and a cat or something and put their faces together and said “kissing”. This was baffling to me because Danielle and I don’t really have lots of PDA. It’s not a conscious decision, it’s just that we’re usually trying to juggle about three things at once when Scarlett’s around. And she pretty much only watches PBS and I doubt there’s much lip-on-lip kissing on there. So I wonder where she picked it up? It may be like the other things that people blame on daycare (biting, hitting, etc), kids just pick it up from the ether or they see it once - that one time you had some TV show on or that one time the wife and I kissed in front of her - and it just gets ingrained in their heads. Not sure, but definitely fascinated that it happened.
The Me Moment
[caption id=“attachment_7418” align=“aligncenter” width=“604”] Scarlett and I in the Kitchen before Bedtime[/caption]
Yesterday Scarlett pointed at herself and said, “Me… Scarlett”. She’s responded to her own name forever, but she is just now starting to realize that she is but one of many people inhabiting her reality. She is a person named Scarlett, I am a person “named” Daddy, and so on. It’s always been incredibly fascinating for me to see how her perception of the world has changed as she’s gotten older. It fascinates me more than her acquisition of new physical and mental skills (which is still cool on its own). Later on I asked her, “What’s your name?” And she responded, “Scarlett.” Up until now she’s just given us a blank “duh” stare whenever we’ve asked her that question. I’m sure this is but one of the reasons that parents put up with the stress of raising a child - for moments like this.
Mid August to Mid September Photojojo
It’s once again time for my latest Photojojo post. For those of you who haven’t been following my blog for a long time, Photojojo is a digital time capsule service. Every two weeks they send me an email that has my most interesting photos posted to flickr from one year ago.

Nightcrawler

Playing with Daddy's Hair in the Kitchen

Scarlett Sitting on Grandpa

Squirrel Resting Near the White House

Standing While Holding On
Late July to Early August Photojojo
It’s once again time for my biweekly Photojojo post. For those of you who haven’t been following my blog for a long time, Photojojo is a digital time capsule service. Every two weeks they send me an email that has my most interesting photos posted to flickr from one year ago.
I think in these photos Scarlett is finally starting to have the same facial features as 1.5 year old Scarlett.
June-July Photojojo
It’s once again time for my biweekly Photojojo post. For those of you who haven’t been following my blog for a long time, Photojojo is a digital time capsule service. Every two weeks they send me an email that has my most interesting photos posted to flickr from one year ago.
The video called Keyboard Scarlett comes from the fact that I found out I was able to make her laugh hysterically if I moved her hands back and forth on the table like Keyboard Cat. Interestingly, now that she has full agency over her limbs, she hates when I do anything like this.
Sleep
[caption id=“attachment_6252” align=“aligncenter” width=“400”] Scarlett Sleeping[/caption]
Sleep is one of the most stress-inducing topics for parents. Well, for first time parents. I imagine that, baring some medical conditions, once you’ve figured out how to get one kid to sleep through the night, you can reapply the template over and over. I think one of the reasons sleep tends to be so stressful is that parents are so gosh-darned competitive. It’s ridiculous, but every parent is in a competition with every other parent. People like me are cognizant that this is stupid and don’t do it consciously, but my mind is always playing on my parental fears and bringing it up. “Hey, that kid can walk/talk/insert skill and is the same age as Scarlett so why can’t Scarlett do that?” Other people do it on purpose - it’s how they get their sense of worth - their kid is better than those around them. These are the same people who will be asking in 18 years what college Scarlett is getting into - not because they care but because they want to tell me what school little Dylan got into. And sleep is one of those activities where the parents actually have some control (unlike their mental skills) and so it’s seen as a sign of bad or weak parenting if you can’t get your kids to sleep through the night.
May-June Photojojo
Unsurprisingly, Scarlett is once again the subject of the Photojojo. Also captured, a visit by the in-laws. I think the most interesting thing is that I find her way cuter as she looks now vs a year ago. But back then I found her way cute. Scientists say it peaks at age 4. I guess we’ll see.
It's Alarming How it's so Disarming
[caption id=“attachment_6241” align=“aligncenter” width=“683”] Scarlett’s Natural Curls[/caption]
I don’t think any father ever sets out to spoil his daughters. After all, not only does that lead to a mal-adjusted human, it makes her more likely to make bad decisions. But when she’s capable of looking this cute (at least to me, but all parents get like +100 cuteness points on their own kids over strangers’ kids), it’s so hard to be cross with her for long. In fact, I don’t know if this theory has ever been discredited, but some scientists think that kids look cute exactly for this reason - so we don’t lose our cool with them as much as otherwise would - at least until their brains have developed to the point where they can be liable for their actions.
Becoming Fully Human
My favorite thing about being a first-time father is watching Scarlett’s mind develop and acquire the skills necessary to be human. Anyone who paid a passing attention in biology class knows that humans are born more immature and less capable than almost every other animal. It has to do with walking upright shrinking the female pelvis while the ever-growing brain required a larger head. The result is that kids have to be born before their heads would be so large we’d be exploding from our mother’s vaginas like a horrible, horrible version of Alien. (As it is, quite a few women need an episiotomy to have a safe childbirth) And I’m not the only one to find this transformation into humanity so incredible as to refer to babies as not quite human. Jonathan Coulton mentions this in a throwaway line about his living situation while recording his song, The Presidents:
Mid-April to Mid-May Photojojo
It’s once again time for my biweekly Photojojo post. For those of you who haven’t been following my blog for a long time, Photojojo is a digital time capsule service. Every two weeks they send me an email that has my most interesting photos posted to flickr from one year ago.
Scarlett’s only 2-2.5 months old in these photos and the most striking things are how tiny she is and how much in awe she seems of the world around her. No mean feat considering how tiny she remains compared to her peers. But it definitely takes a lot more to astound her than it did a year ago.
Photojojo for Mid April
It’s once again time for my biweekly Photojojo post. For those of you who haven’t been following my blog for a long time, Photojojo is a digital time capsule service. Every two weeks they send me an email that has my most interesting photos posted to flickr from one year ago.
I took a long time to publish the previous post, so here we are again. It’s mostly Scarlett Easter photos. As I sit here and look at a photo of this year’s Easter photo, it’s pretty awesome to see how much she’s changed. For one thing, she’s mobile now, so it was a challenge to get her to sit there while we took the photo. For another, she can actually sit on her own.
Photojojo for Late March to Early April
It’s once again time for my biweekly Photojojo post. For those of you who haven’t been following my blog for a long time, Photojojo is a digital time capsule service. Every two weeks they send me an email that has my most interesting photos posted to flickr from one year ago.
The biggest takeaway which is SOOOOO crazy is how much Scarlett has changed in just 1 year. Only 365 days. And she looks COMPLETELY different!
Late Feb to Early March Photojojo
Alright, time to cover Scarlett’s birth. I imagine her photos will be the most interesting ones for the next year. But I guess we’ll see.