six years old :: birthday photography

"the monster" turned six last week and i surprised him with a little party first thing in the morning.  always the multi-tasker, i actually did this for two reasons.  i, of course, wanted to do something special for him on his special day, but i also wanted to get in a few fun pictures of my growing boy!  i hung balloons over the entire fireplace wall and then strung a few streamers from the ceiling... a perfect backdrop.  i then strategically placed his wrapped presents directly in front, and facing the balloon wall so that he would voluntarily position himself front and center.  i'm so sneaky...

as he proceeded to tear into his gifts, i snapped a few photos and we completely avoided the fake and forced smiles that he usually gives me.  ha!

p.s.  as you'll notice, one thing i did not think of was "the monster's" attire first thing in the morning.  had i planned a bit better, i would have dressed him in some cute pj's the night before...  some that included a shirt.  of course, then he would have known something was up.