Baby Briar's 2 Month Disney Milestone Shoot and Tutorial- Oh Twodles!

Oh Two-dles! Briar is 2 Months Old!

Time is flying FAST. I know I'll probably say that every time, but it's so true. It's such a surreal feeling to know someone for such a short time but also feel you have known them your whole life. I'll admit it hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows as we have been struggling to get her health insurance covered, but it's also been the most magical experience of my life being Briar's mom.

From here on out, all of her monthly milestones will be Disney themed! I am so excited to do this and put my passion and creativity into all of these shoots! They will be so fun to do and look back on. 

Here is Briar's 2 month milestone update:

As of the 13th of December we have a roller! At just 5 weeks old, Briar rolled for the first time from her belly to her back. We are shocked and excited, and thankfully we have a video to capture her first time rolling! Since then, she has been non-stop rolling to her back and it's been so fun.

We've been reading to her, and she loves to stare at the pictures. I can tell she's just absorbing what she is seeing and I can see her thinking. She has amazing focus for her age. She also loves music time and will "sing" along with me.

Briar has become much more talkative during the day as well as in her sleep. She's also getting cranky more often. 

After struggling with her eating, she's finally eating more at 3 ounces every 3 hours. That alone took a long time to get consistent with her. She really only eats on her terms when she's really hungry, which has been good spit-up wise because she isn't over eating. So far she's spat up one time a large amount on Ryan. and a smaller amount on me twice.

She is smiling regularly now and it's the best thing ever. I love her gummy smiles so much. 

She has been sleeping longer at night and sometimes even through the night. It has been a great relief to get a few extra hours of sleep. I am thankful that Ryan splits up night feedings with me anyways so we always got decent sleep, but now we both get to sleep longer. She is a horrible napper though. She fights and it takes a lot just to get her sleepy and to actually get her to stay asleep, but we would rather that happen during the day than at night.

She loves car rides and the car. She stares at a toy my brother gave for Christmas. She hasn't started to swipe yet, but for now she loves to look at it and herself in the mirror.

Her eyes are a deep blue still. She has all of her hair, but it's still thin on top like an old man and I love it! Her birth marks and bald spot have not gone away.

I love being her mommy so much. She was worth the wait, and every day with her heals my heart. We love Briar so so much!

How I did the photoshoot:

Materials:
    -Letter board spelling "Oh Two-dles"
    -Minnie Mouse doll
    -Minnie Mouse outfit and bow
    -Minnie teether
    -Minnie ears baby headband

How I did the shoot:
    I set up and photographed in the morning for the best lighting. I decided to take pictures on her white rug in front of her crib to optimize the bright look I was going for. I prepared the letter board, placed it on the ground in front of the crib. I propped up Minnie against the crib and letter board. I then put the baby Minnie headband on the corner of the letter board as it didn't fit Briar yet, but it tied the look in more anyways. I also used a white Minnie teether for her to hold to keep her hands busy. 
    Once everything was set up, I fed and changed Briar and placed her in front of everything. I used my own voice to call her and get her to look at the camera. About half way through she got fussy, so I gave her a Minnie Mouse binky and she was great from then. Overall I am so happy with how everything turned out! 

Links:
    -Teether: 
    https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002559204278.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.11cb1802uMODIN
    -Headband:
    https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33039349352.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.11cb1802uMODIN
    -Outfit:
    https://us.shein.com/Baby-Girl-Polka-Dot-Ruffle-Bodysuit-Headband-p-2322339-cat-2838.html

Tips photographing a baby:
    -Set up while your baby is napping! 
    -Once they wake, feed them, change their diaper, then put on their outfit.
    -Make it fun, have positive energy. Babies feed off you. If you are stressed, they will be.
    -Get a binky that matches what you are photographing. If they get fussy at a certain point don't be afraid to get a few pictures of them with a binky. 
    -Photograph on the ground on their level, try different angles, get close ups, don't be afraid to move around.
    -Use a squeaky toy and your voice to get them to look at the camera.

Let me know what you think of this photoshoot and tips in the comments! Will you be trying this?