Instead of a Cake Smash Try...

For those that don't know me, I am a foodie. But not in the sense that I know a lot about food and preparation and serving, but mostly in the area that I like to eat food. As a youngster, my parents affectionately coined me "Porkchop" as a nickname. I could be mad, but I'm not, because honestly, porkchops were and still are delicious.

I'm getting off task here, but your girl here like to eat. So, image this, you have an about to turn one year old and you want an epic first birthday photo session. What do you do? You could do what you did with your first kiddo and go with a cake smash, or you could try something a bit different.

When Braxton turned one, his family opted for a spaghetti smash instead. I have an entire blog post dedicated to Brax. His session was a {messy} blast. But babies and floors clean easily. Parents provided the spaghetti because of the potential for food allergies and preferences but I had the cake stand and fresh veggies on hand. I absolutely loved how Brax's photos turned out. He chowed down on the meatballs and ignored the veggies (typical Midwest boy!)

Or you could opt to do what Oaken did and do a milk bath. I've seen photographers offer these at the end of the cake smash sessions, but we skipped the cake altogether and threw in some Chips Ahoy cookies.

I always like to start out with the babies (one year olds are still babies--fight me) exploring the props. With Oaken I just had the glass cookie jar (the same one I used in Dotty's candy session last year) on a little stool. Oaken was decked out as the cutest little baker. Apron and hat were from the same set I used for Brax even! That little chef set has gotten a lot of mileage out of it.

Then we let Oaken explore the cookies, the best way babies know how--by using their mouth. Luckily Oaken has no food allergies. I checked with his mom about three times to just make sure.

Oaken was such an easy client--he never fussed at all during this session...until we got out the bath. Oaken is the youngest of four kids, and speaking from personal experience, those fourth babies do not get bathed as often as their older siblings did at the same age, so we didn't know how Oaken would do in the tub. I did what I know how to do, and just let him explore things on his own and documented that.

Oaken loved splashing in the milk....until it got him in the face. For the milk, I used 2 cans of coconut milk, warm water, and cornstarch to the correct coloring I was aiming for. I just whisked it all up and viola, the perfect milky bath. Some parents opt to use breast milk for these sessions, but no worries if you don't have enough of a stash built up, we can achieve the same effect at a low cost.

After exploring outside of the tub for a few minutes, we decided to put Oaken inside the tub. This is the only time during the session that he made any fussing. He just wasn't a fan. No worries, I grabbed a few shots and we got him out in about three minutes. It took longer to clean up the spilled milk than it did to keep him in the tub. I am a firm believer in not forcing a kid to do something they are definitely not into, just for the sake of a photo. Pictures of crying kids aren't cute anyway. I'd much rather have a pleasant session than edit a handful of crying baby photos.

What would you choose to document for your baby's first birthday? Are you sticking with the cake smash, or are you willing to branch out and try something new? Let me know in the comments.