Max 5yr 7months, Mei Mei 2yrs |

I love having professional photos taken of the kids. When you look at your kids through someone else’s lenses, you always find something that you haven’t notice before.

This summer is a special one because we decided that finally, it’s time for Max to go and stay with Grandpa/Grandma in Canada for 2 weeks by himself. He was going to fly there with them, Mom and Dad will pick him up at the end of two weeks. Mei Mei, however, didn’t go because she’s still my little baby girl. Before Max left for his summer adventure in Canada, I found a photographer within a day, thanks to the power of “HK Moms”, a Facebook group. I booked a professional photo session for the kids and the grandparents with Paula, a fellow HK mom and a professional photographer. This was my “Thank You” gift to the Grandparents for all the free babysitting that we were getting. Here are some of the photos that I LOVED.

今年的暑假對小麥而言，好像是他的成年禮一樣。因為我們終於答應讓他跟爺爺奶奶飛去加拿大，住上兩個禮拜，然後爸爸媽媽跟妹妹再飛去跟他會合。之前我們總是擔心他太小，會想家或者是不習慣，ㄟ爸爸媽媽想太多了，小麥簡直是玩瘋了，每天的節目都非常豐富，晒得跟小黑人一樣，我想要離開加拿大之前，他可能會嚎啕大哭，跟我說他不想回香港吧！

在他離開之前，我在香港找了位攝影師，讓她去捕捉小麥和小艾這個年紀的神韻，而透過她的鏡頭，我的寶貝看起來淘氣，調皮，看起來天真無邪，可是看完整組照片，媽媽也很感慨，因為『我的寶貝真的長大了』！

The plan was to take some photos outdoor and some photos indoor. Conveniently Paula had a nice little studio set up in her home. After the studio photos were finished, the kids went downstairs for some more photos because I wanted to get them outdoors with some natural lights. The other advantage of having a mommy photographer is that she really gets how kids are. Paula asked me in advance for the music that the kids liked and prepared them for the kids. She also asked me if the kids can have lollipops. Of course! anything to bribe them for a smile.

攝影師本身就是媽媽的好處就是還沒開拍之前，她就先問我小朋友喜歡什麼音樂，等下可不可以給小朋友一些糖果吃，其實只要可以讓我女兒擠出一絲笑容，給她一桶冰淇淋都可以。

My favorite photo of the kids is the first one where they’re sitting side-by-side and Max had his hand around Mei Mei. Max was very corporative but Mei Mei took a while to warm up and then the smile disappeared because she was getting cranky. Luckily, Paula was able to capture her sweet smiles and that mischievous looks in her eyes when she’s about to do something naught and knows it.

之前在拍全家福的時候，我就發現哥哥看到鏡頭就開始使勁耍寶，而且他很enjoy 整個 SETO 的過程，像是有阿姨幫他吹頭髮，或是上一下髮膠，他就會正經八百的轉過頭告訴我說，『媽咪我明天還要來！』然後正式開拍的時候，攝影師通常會叫哥哥『冷靜！冷靜』反觀是妹妹比較難搞，常常眉頭深鎖，悶悶不樂的樣子。上一次拍全家福，每個人都笑得非常燦爛，唯獨她一人，愁眉苦臉的樣子，真是超級破壞畫面。這次，所幸攝影師在她開始鬧彆扭之前就把她逗得很開心，然後即時遞上一根棒棒糖，你看她樂壞了的樣子，真是古靈精怪，一肚子壞！

Somehow looking at Max’s photo is more emotional for me because I see that he’s really turning into a little man. I can almost see what he’ll look like when he’s much older – cute, handsome and with a great smile.

小麥的照片讓我看了感觸比較深，可能因為他比較大，也可能因為他是我的第一個寶貝，小麥看起來比他的實際年齡大好多，我可以想像他十七八九歲時的模樣，帥氣，陽光，但是帶著個甜甜的微笑。