Skip to main content

Monthly Snapshot: Gates at 31 Months

Life moves quickly with a child. The only way to really appreciate it is through still photographs--images that capture the essence and the emotion of a place and time. Yesterday we sat down as a family behind a camera on a tripod and captured a moment of us as a family for our 2014 Holiday cards and for Gates' monthly portrait.

 

Gates Directs Her First Photo Shoot

 

It's been half a year since I posted a monthly portrait of Gates (the last when she turned two). I got out of the practice when cubes was recovering from surgery last year and didn't really pick it back up again. Getting Gates to sit in front of a camera is an undertaking; she would rather be standing behind the tripod operating the camera, chronicling what she sees.
 

Gates Behind the Camera

 

But just because something is hard doesn't mean I shouldn't still be trying to do it. I regularly find myself flipping through the few photos I have of me as a child. If I enjoy seeing how I changed through the years, I'm sure Gates will also enjoy it.
 

Gates watches Eden and cubes Eden and cubes as photographed by Gates

 

Gates doesn't need the images to be perfect; I seem to regularly forget that. She reminds me when she's asking for a video on my phone and looking for the few where I'm in the frame with her. Those moments are far from perfect. Often Gates is tackling me and we, along with the camera, are falling backwards laughing. But Gates can watch them again and again and smiles and laughs along with the video. (My plan was and is to share some of those videos; I just haven't gotten around to editing the footage.)
 

In seven months, Gates has grown almost two inches. To get an idea of how fast she's changing, you can compare monthly portraits. The last time Gates wore her black polka dot dress for a monthly portrait was at eighteen months. The dress was a little too big and landed mid-calf. Now the dress is almost a little too small and lands just above her knee.
 

cubes and Gates Silverstein cubes as photographed by Gates

 

I really like how our photos came out, and am thinking of trying this again next month. I think it might be interesting to see how our family changes from month to month.
 

When was the last time you took a family portrait?
Do you regularly chronicle your child's growth with monthly portraits?
 
genuinely eden

Credits: All layouts designed by and images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

How to Store Fresh Winter Squash, Potatoes, Onions, and Garlic

I love a well organized kitchen and pantry. Sadly, since moving to San Francisco, all of the places I've lived have lacked a pantry. No pantry means one has to get creative with storage. Some solutions, while pretty, aren't always best at keeping food. I'm now on a mission to organize my kitchen with prevention of food spoilage in mind.     Right now winter vegetables are available from our CSA, some of which I'm not very familiar with -- hard or winter squash varieties for example. And, with cubes until recently on a soft foods diet we didn't go through what I was buying as quickly as before. So, I was seeing potatoes turn green or shrivel. Squash rot. Garlic turn to dust. Seeing this waste a light bulb went on: I must be storing the vegetables wrong. To my cookbooks and the Internet I went in search of the right way(s) to keep them. And I discovered, or rather confirmed, I was doing it wrong.   General Guidelines for Storing Vegetables Most of us don't hav...
Read more

8 Best Places to Get Texas BBQ Shipped to Your Door

( updated September 27, 2023 ) Depending where you're from, BBQ is sure to get a crowd fired up. Just try to convince a Texan that Kansas City, Memphis, or Carolina Style BBQ is the best--I guarantee you're sure to see fireworks. Sadly in the San Francisco Bay Area, Texas BBQ is in short supply--rotisserie is more our style. So when I've got a craving, I head to my Texas favorites and have the BBQ shipped.     After years of getting Texas BBQ shipped, here are my top 8 places to get Texas BBQ shipped to your door. Along with my favorites, I'm sharing tips for ensuring your Texas BBQ arrives in time for your special occasion.   How do you like your BBQ? Dry rub or Sauce? Texas, Kansas City, Memphis, or Carolina Style?     Read on for my favorite meats along with the places in Texas to get them shipped from!  
Read more

new? start here.

( updated 02/24/2022 ) Welcome! Nice to meet you!   I’m Eden, a fourth-generation Californian. Together my husband, 9.75 year old daughter, and Maine Coon/Ragamuffin rescue cat are in the process of unpacking and nesting in our new 100+ year old Craftsman in Berkeley, CA (until this past December we called a 100-year old, a 847 sq ft Edwardian flat in San Francisco home). We define The Good Life with haves not wants and experiences not things.     What's your story?  
Read more