It always kind of surprises me when Jason actually listens to me. About fifteen minutes before I snapped this picture, Jason and another kid had both reached for the same toy at the same time, which went about how you'd expect. I had reminded Jason that he needed to share and wait his turn, and though he wasn't thrilled about that, he went along with it. Eventually, they both got their turn and moved on to other things. Fifteen minutes later, I turned around to see Jason impatiently shuffling his feet, hands jammed into his pockets as he waited for another kid to finish playing with another toy he wanted. He wasn't particularly gracious about it, but he did wait and didn't whine or cry. I was impressed.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G DX lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/125 sec, ISO 400. Post-processing in Aperture 3: white balance adjustment; curves for contrast; levels to darken shadows and brighten midtones.

It was at this point that I realized that Jason was pretty much done with pictures. This was the last shot I took that day.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/1.4, shutter 1/1250 sec, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: straightened; auto white balance adjustment; curves for highlight recovery and contrast; levels to darken shadows and brighten midtones.

"I want a stick."

"OK, let's go over there and look for one. Here, how about this one, is this a good one?"

"No."

"OK, let's keep looking."

"OK. This a good one!"

"That's great."

"And this a good one!"

"Right on, Jason."

"This a good one and this a good one. I have two sticks."

"That's right, you have two sticks."

"Can I keep them?"

"Well, you can play with them here in the park, but once it's time to go then you have to leave them here."

"OK. Oh! That a good one!"

"No, Jason, that's not a good one. That's a pencil."

"Oh. OK."

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50 mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/2, shutter 1/2500 sec, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: straightened; curves for highlight recovery; levels to darken shadows and brighten midtones.

Getting Jason to cooperate when I want to take his picture is not terribly easy. But I figure that if I can get him to hold still and look at the camera, working with other kids ought to be a breeze.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/2, shutter 1/1250 sec, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: straightened; curves for highlight recovery; burned the background; dodged over the subject; further dodged over his eyes; levels to darken shadows and brighten midtones.

I like to call Jason "Monkey," among other things. Sometimes it fits a bit more than others.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/2.8, shutter 1/1000 sec, ISO 800. Post-processing in Aperture 3: straightened; max recovery; burned over the background; levels to darken shadows; curves for contrast.

Most nights, I'm the last one to go to bed. Jason is in the bath by seven and asleep not too long after that. Juliette has to get up early to be at work on time, and anyway she likes to fall asleep with the TV on, something that I can't do. I always have more work to do—pictures to edit, blog posts to write, business stuff to plan—and then I do like to have a little quiet time to myself at the end of the day to unwind. I read or do a crossword, or just surf the web aimlessly. Lately I've taken to having a nightcap or a cup of decaf.

Eventually I get tired or realize it's late. I check to make sure the timer on the dishwasher is set, let the dog out one last time, then turn out the lights. The last thing I do before I climb into bed is check in on Jason.

He's been in his "big boy" bed for a couple of months now, and although he's mostly used to it, he still hasn't settled into sleeping in a regular orientation. So, every night when I go in, I find him twisted up in a different position. Occasionally he's in what I'd consider a normal sleeping position. More often he's squished up against the toddler rail or lying lengthwise across the foot of the bed, or upside-down and on top of the blanket. He's never liked his actual pillow but he does like to have something under his head now, so often I'll find him with his cheek pressed up into a wadded up blanket or a stuffed animal—he never has a shortage of either in that bed.

It makes me grin to see him all twisted up like that, and I wonder how long it's going to take to start sleeping more "normally." Sometimes I wonder how long it took me. But mostly I just look at him and watch him breathe. Most nights it's all I can do to stop myself from climbing in there with him.

It's been hard to find time to get out and shoot lately, what with everything that's been going on lately. Happily, I was able to combine some family time and business planning this weekend when I took Jason for an outing to Old Poway Park. I needed to scope out the grounds and check the quality of the mid-day light in advance of a promotional event I'm planning for next month, and Jason needed to get out of the house and play after being cooped up for several days due to illness. He was, of course, insistent that we go straight to the playground first, but once he'd gotten some good climbing and sliding time in, he was pretty agreeable about the test shots I wanted to take.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/2, shutter 1/1250 sec, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: cropped to square; curves for highlight recovery; levels to darken shadows and brighten midtones; dodged over Jason; burned over the bright sky and ground; added vignetting.

Well, now we're in for it.

"The Popculturist Reads Leviathan Wakes":

I’ve got a question for you science fiction fans out there: what was it that first drew you to the genre? It occurred to me to ask that of myself recently when a friend of mine sent me a copy of his new novel, Leviathan Wakes. You see, a lot of science fiction (SF) is highly concerned with exploration and discovery, whether it’s in the literal sense of finding new worlds and new civilizations, or more figuratively by using the genre’s framework to delve into some arcane bit of scientific lore or to highlight some facet of the human condition. It can be a very cerebral genre, providing deep intellectual satisfaction.

"Jason, what's my silly name?"

"I don't know." [laughs]

"Is it Daddy Waddy?"

"No! Not today!"

"Not today?"

"No, that's yesterday!"

"So what's my silly name today?"

"I don't know. Ummm... Radio!"

"Daddy Radio?"

"Yeah!" [laughs]

"Oh my goodness, how silly."

"And Cooper is... ummmmm... [looks around] House!"

"Cooper House?"

"Yeah! [laughs] And Jason is... ummmm... [looks around] Bird!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah! [laughs] Jason Birdy! Not Turkey today, Bird! And Mommy is Mommy Gobble Gobble! [laughs]"

This is Jason's current favorite game. He loves it so much that it's nearly guaranteed to pull him out of a tantrum or distract him from something else he wants. The best part is how he can so thoroughly crack himself up just by looking around and picking at random something that he can see.