First birthday cake smash with Elodie and Zac

The pandemic lockdowns haven’t decreased five-year-old Zac’s confidence at all. When I first met him a year ago for Elodie’s newborn photoshoot, he burst through the door telling me about his new sister and his train set.

This time he hadn’t yet crossed the front doorstep but was already filling me in on his past year: he’d been on a train, had a bubblegum ice cream and was wearing blue trainers!

Of all his news, the train and the ice cream were the most important to him. Zac and his dad Dan both wore T-shirts pledging their allegiance to the ‘Ice Cream Appreciation Society’, and Zac is every bit as interested in trains and their accessories as he was previously. He’s decided that he’d like to be a train driver when he grows up, but not just on any old train: it has to be an Amtrak passenger train.

It’s always a shock to see my newborn clients a year later, already walking around and interacting, and no longer a teeny tiny baby. That was certainly the case with little Elodie. She’s still got the full head of hair she was born with, but it’s starting to lengthen and curl. She’s mobile and interested in everything, exploring the studio thoroughly during her first birthday cake smash with me. 

Mum Louise told me that Elodie is quieter and shyer than Zac was at that age, but knows what she wants and will do anything she can to get it!

Louise told me that Zac has been the best big brother to Elodie. He loves playing peekaboo with her and has created a special song for her, one that makes her smile every time she hears it. He’s also been VERY patient when sharing his toys, staying calm with Elodie uproots his train tracks… again.

Zac was already incredibly articulate a year ago, and his vocabulary has increased exponentially. He excitedly told me about the family’s Easter trip to Ruislip Lido, where he particularly enjoyed riding the miniature train and seeing it pass at the level crossing later.

After our photoshoot the family headed back home for some sandwiches before driving over to Waddesdon Manor. They’ll be spending a sunny afternoon there, tiring the little ones out at the playground and then, if they’re lucky, refuelling on a bubblegum ice cream and perhaps spotting a train or two en route as well!

If you’d like to book your child’s first birthday cake smash photoshoot, or if you have any questions about family photography with me, please get in contact.

Sarah Plater LMPA is an award-winning, qualified, professional family portrait photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire. She is the Master Photographers Association Newborn Photographer of the Year 2019 for the Central Region (covering Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire).