a little bit sassy, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll.

Our little man is always up for an adventure, and his mama is, too–so a few weeks back we grabbed our packs and headed out for a day of travel, hard work and exploration into unknown territory. In other words…

A friend mentioned an open casting call for baby models in Grand Rapids and sent me the link, which was all I needed to entertain the possibility of taking Henry and seeing where the wind would blow us. Jason and I talked it over (this wasn’t exactly something we’d planned to do with our kids, let alone our three month old), and at the end of the day we decided that Henry and I could go. We also agreed that if anything about the experience felt strange, I’d turn the car right around and head back home sans modeling career for the little dude. Of course, a casting call is just a shot at a once-off job in most cases, and this was no different. Still, we joked about Henry’s future as a well-photographed babe, and figured that because he’s been in front of a camera since the second he was born (and really, before then), he’d be none too worse for the wear. Then off we went!

The Sassy Baby call was fun and lighthearted–just a bunch of young moms like yours truly and their cute kiddos, waiting semi-patiently for their turn to play with a few toys in front of the lens. Henry was 24th on the list, and after a good nap in the car, he was perfectly happy to stare at the photographer for a few short minutes, to collect his free toy, and to be bundled right back up again for the car ride home. We had a scintillating conversation on the way back (read: Henry made a noise, I mimicked it, and then we repeated that pattern for the next 40 minutes), and we both agreed that Mommy/Henry dates to Grand Rapids are quite a lot of fun. The weekend came and went, and on Monday, the phone rang…would Henry be available for a photo shoot on Wednesday in GR? Um, yes.

So Wednesday we were off to GR again, mommy and her little bug, just slightly nervous about feeding times and napping times and a smiley three month old and such. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t proud of the little rockstar. Thing is, he napped all the way there and woke up, bright-eyed, as soon as we arrived. And darn if he wasn’t the happiest, smiliest, easiest little baby the whole time as I signed waivers and changed him into his onesie “wardrobe.” When it was time for Henry to get in front of the camera, he was an absolute hoot to watch–smiling widely and hamming it up as if he knew what was going on all along. Surely, everyone working the shoot helped to eek every possible glint and giggle out of the babe for an hour. The end result? Hundreds of wonderfully bright and happy photos of my favorite bug and plenty of viable shots to use. Oh, and Henry’s chance to check “be photographed by Mitch Ranger by age one” off his bucket list. Why not? 😉

I couldn’t help but delight in H’s kissable face on screen as we went, and all in all, the experience was 100% enjoyable for both of us (as far as I can tell). To round out the afternoon, Henry went home with a few fun toys, new onesies and a hard hour’s work on the clock. Kudos to our little saver for contributing to his own college fund before even knowing what that means.

The day was truly one of my favorites with Henry to date. The chance to watch him interact with others, to see him light up over and over again at every new toy and face, and most especially, to be out with my boy doing something a little off the beaten path, crafted a handful of memories I won’t soon forget. I asked the Sassy Baby team if we might be able to snag a few of the pics, and they were kind enough to send some through the other day. There were so many more that I absolutely loved, but it’s reasonable to expect that I can’t just have them all at my fingertips. Hopefully, we’ll see a few crop up on the website or in other places in the days ahead (wouldn’t that be fun?)! In the meantime, here’s a smattering of happy moments from our Sassy afternoon together. Loved the day. Love the photos. Love my bug.