Walt's 2nd birthday

I took these photographs on Walt’s birthday last month so that I would be able to look back and remember how much he adored his Elmo toy, and how excited Joan was to gift it to him. I want to remember that, at this age, one of his favourite meals was soup, and that when he’d grow tired of using a spoon he would raise the bowl to his lips and pour the broth directly into his mouth, never spilling a drop. I want to remember that he liked his birthday cake, though was more focussed on the raspberries I served with it. I want to remember the way he would lie on the floor with a toy car in his hand, moving it back and forth and under and around, completely mesmerised by the wheels, the movement, and the story he had created. I want to remember Joan and Walt kneeling on the same chair at the end of dinner, eating orange slices - Joan squeezing the fruit into a cup to make juice. I want to remember that directly after Walt accidentally spilt Joan’s orange juice we had a dance party in the lounge room; they wore tu-tus and their bodies were sticky from eating passata and orange. I want to remember how small he was, because even though he seems so big to me right now I know I’ll look back at these photos in a couple of years and feel a tug at my heart for how little he was, how sweet he was, and how happy he was that we were all together, the day he turned two.

Heidi xo