A while ago I wrote a long post about the monthly chalkboard updates I did for our first son, Townes. When we had our second son, Hayes (who also goes by Hondo), I wanted to continue the tradition, but also changing it up a little to make it his. I was also much busier, since I had a toddler running around and a newborn to take care of, so doing two per-month for holidays and milestones was a bit much. This time around I consolidated my holiday themes into the monthly update when I could instead.
However, the main difference with Hayes' is that instead of using a chair, I drew Hayes right into the picture. I accomplished this by using the same chalkboard "wall" I had made for Townes during the renovation, and instead of leaning it up against a wall, I laid it down on the floor and then put Hayes down right on it. Then I photographed him from above.
As always, some of the designs came out better than others, and you can tell it took me a couple months to get into a groove of what works. One big thing that changed was the kind of chalk I used, I found the most fantastic, high pigment chalk from Crayola at Michael's and it changed a lot. The colors were so much brighter, had more depth and I was able to really expand my creative range.
Its hard to choose favorites, because so many of them are just wonderful memories of my little guy at that age, but my top four are certainly seven months (May/Cinco de Mayo), eight months (June/Father's Day), eleven months (September/Where the Wild Things Are) and his birthday.
My final thoughts on this method are to remember that the chalk will smudge, so be ready to snap your photo the second you put your baby down. Normally for that reason, I had an extra set of hands (Chanel's) around to help. I would stand on a chair to get the shot from above, and she would place him down and get him to giggle. But once he rolled over, we were done. Also, keep in mind that the little one will get chalk on whatever they are wearing - the high pigment chalk can be a bit harder to get out of light colored clothing - so you've been warned.
For more photo tips and editing (remember to adjust your white balance when you edit) - see the original post about Baby Chalkboards!