We made a trip to Nana and Papa’s (Kelley’s parents) house yesterday to visit, well, Nana and Papa. It was Avery’s official crossing into being a 3 month old and obviously that’s huge! Maybe I’m a little biased as her parent, but isn’t that just a part of being a parent?

It was a pleasant time at Avery’s Nana and Papa’s house and her Nana got to hold her, feed her, and even got her to nap a little. Kelley and I took advantage and went for a nice walk together. The little things are so much bigger now!

Before the trip, we had a photo session with Avery sitting in her nursery chair next to a stuffed animal bear. We did this for her first and second month on earth too, and will probably do it for several more months.

As Kelley and I sat there waving our hands and making weird noises trying to get a smile out of our “big” girl, I had to ask, “When is this too much?” I know Avery is only a baby, but I feel even she was getting annoyed with our silly cackles and coos used in an effort for a smile. Maybe she’d just like to see mom’s or dad’s face not behind a camera.

After I considered this for a minute, I then continued to make stupid sounding noises and take multiple shots in hopes that one of them will capture a smile. We were able to get several good ones out of our marathon photo session, so in the end, it was worth it to us.

Looking forward, I can only imagine our photo frenzy will become greater as more lifetime events happen. This is great and I hope we are able to capture all of her big experiences via pictures and video to relive them as much as we’d like for years to come. But, I also hope we don’t get so wrapped up into “getting the shot” that we totally miss out on the real life experience.

I don’t want to be “the guy” behind the camera as Avery takes her first steps, I want to be Daddy holding her hand and standing by her side for assistance and encouragement. It might sound easy enough to do this if that’s what I want, but constantly find myself pushing my limits with a camera in Avery’s face. I have to keep myself in check and make sure to just enjoy the moment, sans cameras.

Having said that, I’ll still be taking plenty of pictures, just not getting too pushy about having her smile for everyone and making the session last forever.

Avery, if you’re reading this one day, I hope you have many wonderful memories of mom and dad being there and enjoying life with you. In the end, memories will always beat what’s on film….or, I guess memory card now.

Any other parents find themselves getting caught up in trying to take a great picture instead of just living in the moment?