Shannon Phillips

So, after having I-don’t-know-how-many people come up to me off the street and say “Is that baby a model? He should be in catalogs!” I actually started to look into the weird world of baby modeling. As far as I can tell it’s not the sort of thing that would pay for a college education: it seems more common for babies to earn like fifty dollars a day, so it’s something done mostly for fun and the pride of seeing your kid’s face in a magazine.

Anyway, a couple weeks ago I actually sent off some snapshots to a talent agency, and guess what? When I got home today there was a message asking me to bring Robin in for a casting call on the 17th. Now’s my chance to metamorphose into a horrifying stage mom!

I know some people like to wait until they actually see their baby to pick a name, in order to be sure of choosing a name that suits the child. But if I had done that, Robin’s official name on his birth certificate would probably be “Mister CutieToes.”

We’re back from Arkansas now—sadly both Sam and I were dumb and forgot our cameras, so we don’t have any photos. But it was really special to see how delighted the baby was by his extended family. He loved his Pops and Mo and all his uncles and his aunt, but cottoned especially to Uncle Taylor. I loved seeing him so happy. Of course now that he’s gotten to spend a few days rolling around on the floor with four or five adoring adults all constantly competing to amuse him, it’s a little hard for him to adjust to being home with just Sam and me. He’s a social little critter and he clearly prefers being part of a big family. I think he’ll be pretty happy when he gets a sister or a brother.