The Year of No Smiles

My youngest has been in a mood this year, he hasn't wanted to smile for pictures. I first noticed this on Mother's Day when he handed me a nice frame he had made and added, "You might want to change the picture for another". It had a picture of him SCOWLING at the camera. Then came school pictures. Not a scowl, but definitely an unhappy face. Next came baseball pictures. He looked like he had smelled something bad. Then before my daughter went away to college we decided to have a family picture taken. He wouldn't smile no matter what kind of bribes we offered. We finally picked the least offensive one. He isn't smiling, and looks like he is ticked off, but atleast he isn't making a scowl. I decided that even though he wasn't smiling in the picture, it was still an accurate representation of how he looks this year whenever we take pictures of him. It's not that he is an unhappy child, I think that either this is a power struggle for him, or he just doesn't like having his picture taken, or he doesn't like being told to smile. Yesterday we went on an outing. I have been reminding him that we won't have any pictures of him smiling this year, so he finally broke down and smiled for the picture. I think 2007 will be the year of the smile. :0)