Melissa, Photo-Journalist

Breakfast, or more accurately, brunch, was about over. The small boy woke early today. He was quite hungry and after nursing continued by stuffing himself with two baby bowls of rice cereal, in an attempt to finish the box by nightfall. The Baboo happily ate her breakfast of orange juice, leftover baked potato and mock-chicken loaf. She didn't even try to touch the pretty Valentine's day flowers on the table.

After taking a couple of pictures of the breakfast boy and boo, an idea entered my head when the baboo said "Want to!, please?"

"Hmmm," I thought. "The Boo is probably old enough to learn how to run a camera now and everyone could use a laugh today anyway."

"Why not let her take some photographs of me to show off the silly stripey 'pants' worn with a grandaddy burgundy t-shirt."

"Melissa, come here and you can use the camera," I said.

The Baboo set two personal records: one for seconds elasped before obedience and one for climbing down and crossing the kitchen floor. I handed the baboo the camera and started to expain:

"You hold the camera like this. You look through here, then press this button when you can see Mommy."

The baboo held the camera about a foot from her face and looked fascinated as she moved the camera around.

"Press the button, Melissa", I said. She looked confused, then went back to looking at the camera. I realized what the problem was: the display was on! She was looking at the display. I turned off the display and explained about the button again. The boo caught on and pressed the button, capturing our trash can for your viewing pleasure.

I tried to re-aim the camera at myself and said, "O.K. press the button again."

Having now forgotton the location of the button, Boo lowered the camera, located the button and, with the camera now aimed at her feet, pressed.

"Hold the camera up", I said. "Press the button again now."

The baboo managed to neatly cut off my head! I have to at least give her credit for photographing the stripey pants!

"I'll just get right down near the floor," I thought and leaned down. The baboo, now catching on, pressed the button again, but as it was too close to last time so the flash did not go off.

"Wait a minute...O.K., now press the button again", I said from crouched down on the kitchen floor.

She did and now you can see my face as well as a nice view from our kitchen into the living room.

"O.K., all done now," I said to the Baboo.

"NO, WANT TO!" said the Baboo.

I explained that we had to go into the office to get the pictures off the camera and she could see a BIRD on the computer. (The photomax program loads as an animation of a big parrot like unto the Jub Jub bird flying in and landing on the screen.)

So off to the office we went, taking Michael with us. Michael sat happily in his bouncy seat for a few minutes before falling asleep for his morning nap. Melissa "helped" with the clothes-rack before drawing on the white board, climbing up and down the stairs, and OH NO! destroying ZIP disk cases!