What is it about little boys?

...that makes them go from posing for pictures, smiling like this:

To posing for pictures looking like this:

All boys seem to do it. Every picture of my little brother from about the age of seven to the age of eleven, he's got some dorky look on his face. The snapshots of Eddie and his brothers from the same period also have silly, dorky smiles. Bryce pretends he's gagging in every picture I get of him lately. I'm trying to get a horizontal 5x7 closeup of each kid to hang in a b&w arrangement in my family room, and this kid is not making it easy for me. I've considered taking him in for professional pictures, but then I decided it would just be a waste of my money.

And while I'm posting pictures, here's one of each girl.

Maren at 10 weeks and growing up before my very eyes:

Since Annie doesn't feel that it's necessary to gag every time a camera comes near her, I did take her to my friend for a professional photo shoot. Here's one of my favorites:

--originally published 3/5/07