.347 day 324

.346 day 323

ventured out to flat land so toots could practice more pedaling and steering on her tricycle. a slight hill made her little legs flail rapidly and the lack of tree and shade depleted our energies soon enough. she became more interested in carving pictures on the green wall with a stick and i became more interested in taking pictures next to said green wall. less than an hour later, after the mosquitoes had their fill and our afros shrunk two sizes from perspiration, we both were kinda over it...

.345 day 322

day of doctor visits led to a day of nothingness.

sat on front steps trying to find something to shoot for today's instagram challenge (theme: perspective) 

while jalen taught toots how to use a rock as a crayon on concrete and how to make muscles if anyone dare challenge her new found hobby. 

clad in her nightgown and barefoot bliss, toots goes on the search for ants.

my 'eureka' moment. 

(oh,snap, do you remember that show on nickolodean? "eureka's castles"?!)

.344 day 321

my younger, soon to be heading to college, cousin (tati)...took a class in film photography.

iSmile.

.343 day 320

.342 day 319

dear i-self allah (isa): welcome to the world, my beautiful little nephew. 

born at home among family and midwives, while my older brother, supreme, rubbed away birthing pains and celeste (sayeeda's oldest) became, both, blessing and comfort during labor. so eager to reach the world that new mama, to the fifth power, didn't even make it to her birthing pool. rolled over to better position herself, and there isa came, while sa was still bent on all fours. never even cried when he entered the world. just calm and peace and certainty and nursing right away and pooping soon after and his spirit, like he's been here before, and his being just happy to be here again. 

he was just eight hours old when we officially met, his eyes bright and wide and wondrous, his cries, teeny, tiny and barely there, his body filled with an adorably chunky, seven healthy pounds. he's a cherished soul to have been born to such a pair. natural parents with natural remedies and a natural future already prepped for him to flourish in. i loved him instantly and i am beyond excited to see who he will become. one day i'll tell him how our family breeds great babies with great talent and even greater spirits and how he is the latest of a long line of newbies who were sent to change the world. yes, this is what i will tell him, and this is what he will know, so when this world challenges him, as it does all little brown boys, he'll hear these words inside his head and remember them above all others. 

dear isa: you are special. you are cherished. and your soul has value.

love, aunt b.

looking for a doula/midwife?

contact: sister asasiya muhammad | 860.833.6061

.341 day 318

awesome day at our favorite playground. 

on the days i actually bring my camera, my focus is normally on the children (who are still some of my favorite human subjects to shoot. older men, with lived in skin, being my fav). however, today, i found inspiration and common connections in just about everyone. truthfully, this is only a small fragment of the 100+ photos i shot in the two hours we spent there, and i'm much to drained to edit or upload any more than what you see.

(these drugs, that are supposed to be sustaining me, tend to feel like they're doing the opposite on my bad days).

because of the literary, photo book that i'm working on, i have even more reason to approach and engage random strangers, mostly elders, in even more random conversations. while there, i talked to elders who praised their age and cursed their youth, a rebellious, hindu teen who morbidly teased that she hated walking around with a target on her forehead ("i mean, it's like someone is pointing their gun at me, 24/7"), a comment that made me a bit uncomfortable and forged a friendship with an aging brown woman and her twenty-something year old grandson, who took a familiar liking to my toddler. i sat in sand boxes with rambunctious, ten year old, little people who playfully competed for me to take their picture and doubled pushed toots and a new toddler friend on the swings while her mother took rest on a near-by bench. on our way out, we ran into our new neighbors and i let toots play just a little while longer with 4 year old kevin (she rarely plays with other toddlers, oddly enough) before heading home to fix dinner. all in all, t'was a beautiful day to be alive and loving...(despite me throwing up behind a tree on the way out).