We Have It So Good In Pictures

I've been scanning in some pictures from my childhood.  Real pictures.  On real photo paper.  The picture-taking technology today is so astoundingly superior to what existed in my childhood, it's made me think about all the challenges we didn't even know we had back then in getting the perfect—or even just good—picture.

First, the medium was film.  Film was not immediate, as it required development, even if you have a dark room in your basement, as my father did.  You've got your cute little girl sitting in her new dress, looking pretty and you want her to smile for the camera.  You snap a photo.  Did you get it in focus?  Were her eyes closed when the shutter went off?  What about the lighting and did you even get the smile in the first place?  How many tries do you make to give relative assurance that you got at least one good shot for the family photo album?  Oh no, you didn't forget to wind the camera before that last shot, did you?  Please tell me you didn't just double expose the perfect shot?

Because you can't see what you just did.  You can't even see it that night.  Because first, you have to finish the roll of film.  Do you take pictures of things that don't matter to finish up the roll?  Or do you develop the roll when it's not full?  Or, do you stick the camera back in the closet and wait another six months to a year until you have another picture taking opportunity?

Once you take the film to get developed though, you have to decide now, before you've even seen if the pictures are worth a flip, if you want one or two copies.  Two copies are great because you can share a copy and you get a discount for printing twice in one run.  But if eighty percent of your pictures are worthless—and you're not sure what was on those first eighteen pictures because you can't remember when you took them—is it wasted money?

You decide and get the pictures.  And hey, you did get a picture or two of your child where he doesn't look like he's just eaten a rotten turnip.  Now you have to go back and get copies, or enlargements.  When that's done, you can finally share them with your family.  That is, after you package them up and mail them because there is no such thing as email.

We have it so good today.

The Big Boy Update:  He found a paint brush in the mechanical room.  We had told him before it was a brush.  He made the connection this time and started brushing his hair with the paint brush.  When he was done with his hair, he went and brushed his sister's hair.   He's also been falling into a deep sleep when he's really tired, which is great, because it makes the transition to the crib from wherever he was so much easier.  The first time this happened, he had his diaper and pants changed without waking up.  We thought it was an anomaly.  It's now happened more than once, including a full, wet outfit change while he snoozed through the entire experience.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  da da da da.    ma ma ma ma.  These are very easy syllables fora baby to begin with.  She says them in a slow chant a lot.  It seems—mostly I think because we want it to seem so—that she knows these syllables mean momma and daddy.  When you're changing her or she's looking at you and talking, you can say the same chant back.  She'll stop and look at you.  Then she'll say it back to you again.  We had a "da da da" conversation several times the other day.

Fitness Update:  What fun today.  I went running with the children's Aunt Rebecca and their cousin Olivia.  And daddy and the kids came along too.  Olivia is an accomplished competitive swimmer and now she has decided to try her hand at running.  We were in a casual run with a large group.  The run was from two to ten miles, with mile markers for turnarounds at two, four, six, eight and ten miles.  Olivia ran out ahead of us from the start.  We thought we'd see her soon enough but it wasn't until three miles later, at the six mile turnaround point that we finally caught up to her.  We each did some running and some walking overall, but we made six miles (even the children in the stroller.)  I think Olivia is going to join her mother and me in the four mile race we've signed up for in October.  Hopefully I can convince my husband to sign up too.  He's had a knee injury and repair some years ago, but he out-ran even his own expectations today.  Three cheers for my great family.  See you on race day!