Kateri and Luis

Today I had one of my promotional photo sessions in Marine Park with Kateri and Luis.

Luis is an adorable 2.5 years old boy. He speaks two languages: English and Spanish. His mom, the most charming woman I've ever seen, is a teacher of music. She's teaching Luis to play different musical instruments, and the ukulele (a Hawaiian four-string guitar) is his favorite.

I had no ukulele with me, not even a single toy to get on the right side of Luis. So my camera made him a little shy and uncomfortable in the beginning. But the moment he got to the water his eyes started shining brighter than the stars. And that's when our show got rolling :)

It was such a pleasure working with you, guys, that I even stopped monitoring the time. I want to say special thank you  for such a valuable experience! Hope you enjoyed modelling and will be satisfied with the results.

Bisous,
Lina and Precious Moments With Kids

P.S. Your references will be very much appreciated ;)

Meet Our Friends - Kia and Helena

Day after day we go to the neighborhood playground with Askar. We meet a lot of kids with their parents and make friends with some of them. And I would like to devote several posts in my blog to those families who bring delight to our hearts.  

Today please meet Kia and her mom Helena. Kia is going to celebrate her first birthday very soon, and this photo session turned out to be her birthday present from Askar and me.  

I haven't seen their dad yet, but I'm 100% sure he is the luckiest man to have such adorable girls in his life. They are so full of life, happiness and beauty. Helena has the kindest heart and the warmest smile. Once in a while I catch myself absorbed by the way she merrily engages Kia into play activities and draws her attention to little things that matter in the world. At these moments I feel as if I turn into a kid again. 

I admire you, guys, and wish you to keep the passion and love you have for each other throughout your entire life. 

A Favorite Push Toy

Lately both of us got seriously interested in vehicles: Askar - in trucks, cars, buses and motorcycles; me - in umbrella strollers. Picking up the favorite truck is as important as selecting the best stroller. 

I turned out a stroller-maniac by the way. To be more precise I've changed about four of them before I found my BOB Motion, which I love-love-love. It is sturdy, comfortable, roomy and high-quality. But there is one minus: it's on the heavy side, therefore not great for trips on public means of transportation. 

And when the summer is offering many warm beautiful days to explore the city, weight is an outweighing feature for mobility. It took me two days to investigate the market of umbrella stroller to say "yes" to the UPPAbaby G-Luxe. Starting tomorrow we are test-driving it. Reviews coming soon.

Meanwhile please enjoy the recent pictures of my boy with his favorite toy that he's carrying everywhere. Literally. Thanks to Marat and his parents who gave it to Askar as his first birthday present! 

First "Trick or Treat"

Thinking of a topic for my new post I was looking through the family pictures. And while reminiscing I came up with the idea to structure my blog in a way that a story from the past takes turns with a story from the present. It won't necessarily be some chronological retrospecting, just a separate standing narration about people and places that we love. How great is that? I find this motif quite peculiar, and hope you will like it too.

So today I'm travelling back to the year of 2013, the month of October. This is our first Halloween with Askar. The celebration started early in the morning at the Brooklyn Public Library (Dyker Hights branch). Toddlers' Time reading and playing session gathered a lot of kids that day, all wearing cute costumes. Askar's character is a blue monster from the Monsters, Inc cartoon. To my mind he is fitting perfectly into this monster image, isn't he? 

Later in the day we joined our friends in Bay Ridge and participated in the 'trick or treat' procession. We met the fellow monsters in the crowd and took group pictures. Boys were very excited to come across a beautiful lady wearing a vivid red dress and feather in her black hair. A grand finale of our adventures was a basket full of treats from folks who hated tricks. 

It was a damn great day! Must repeat it again this year...

Sunday Afternoon On the Beach

The beach has become Askar's favorite place to spend Sunday afternoons. Actually, mine too.
With bags full of diapers, toys, snacks, water and thousands of other "necessary" stuff we head to the Coney Island beach.

I like this particular beach for its boardwalk, aquarium, recreational area, summertime fireworks and cool air from the ocean. It offers so many beautiful scenes and faces for a photographer, although I can hardly take my eyes off kids. I don't know. Maybe because only kids possess this genuine excitement and happiness about everything they see and do and feel.

Askar is crazy about playing in and with the sand. His bare feet start making every crazy move the moment they touch the granular surface. At one point he gets so excited that he starts eating it. Of course, this is when mommy puts her camera down and interferes with the play. Ugh!

With the sunset the air gets cold immediately. But it's not a big problem for Askar! The windbreaker his granny sent from Russia keeps him warm and cozy. Mom, if you hear me, I need the same windbreaker!

Hopefully we'll start spending our Sunday-Monday-Goodday mornings here soon and even open the swimming season. Meanwhile Askar is trying to overcome his distrust of the big wavy water. He's accepted the challenge already!