When planning for your child’s 1st Birthday portrait session, you may see a lot of happy babies smashing their cakes around the internet. But don’t be fooled! What goes on behind the scenes is a completely different story!

For the first few moments of the ‘cake smashing’ portion of a one year session, the kids are totally into it. I’m talking huge smiling, clapping, and laughing out loud when they dig their hands into that gooey, sugary goodness in front of them! It’s hilarious. And adorable. But believe it or not, most kids don’t stay excited for very long, and go from zero to sixty like that. Their hands are sticky, no one’s holding them, and those big ol’ crocodile tears start running down their cheeks. This is totally normal. AND it makes for some pretty awesomely embarrassing photos- not to mention total blackmail for when they become sassy teenagers! (Moms love that!)

The best part, though, is the contrast between those big sweet smiles and the meltdown. This age is all about personality, and it’s our goal to capture all of those different faces- from happy to sad, to silly and mad!

We’ve had tons of precious baby boys turning one this season- take a look below at their smiles, tears, and just about every expression in between!  🙂

Happy Smashing!

-Leah