Wynona Robison Blog

Cri du Chat

I wrote this post yesterday, and wanted to add a bit about Gideon's disorder.  Cri du Chat is French for "cry of the cat", and in fact, the most apparent indicator of Cri du Chat is that the baby has a soft, high pitched cry that sounds like a kitten.  A clip of Gid's voice at one day old is linked right here.  As you can imagine, the nurses had a hard time giving him shots, because his cry was just so heartbreaking.  One day we were carrying Gid in his carseat into a doctor's appointment and an elderly lady stopped us and said, "It sounds like you've got a mad kitty in there!"

Gid, as a baby, was the sweetest, tiniest little thing you could imagine.  He weighed 5lbs 1oz and because of his cleft, we had to measure his milk by the mL.  He was always calm.  The easiest, easiest baby ever.  It's hard to imagine now, when I leave him alone for a minute and find him up on the counter, knocking over cups of water and pulling spices out of the cupboard.  There's no way I'd describe him as calm or easy anymore.  The word that comes to mind now is trouble (though maybe curious is more accurate).

Anyway, just reminiscing today.  After Gid's birth, I was pulled into the fascinating world of genetics.  It's amazing how something as tiny as a part of a chromosome determine so much about a person's development.

Gid

Many of you know that my 3 year old son, Gideon has a genetic disorder called Cri du Chat Syndrome.  He was also born with a cleft lip and palate.  He is mostly non-verbal, though he says Mama and makes clicky T and K sounds when you ask him to talk.  (I should make a video of it, because it's darling.)  Because of his genetic disorder, he deals with delays in every area of development, but his biggest delay is in expressive language.

For someone who doesn't speak, he tells us what he likes in very clear terms.  He loves candy and cookie monster, blankets and staying up until midnight, but above all, he loves music.  If he sees a piano or drums, you will not be able to keep him away from them.  Anything with a cord, he will put up to his ears like headphones.  He may not be able to sing, but I tell you, he knows some songs by heart.  I can tell by the tone of his laugh and that look in his eyes.  He is moved by music, and that makes my heart sing.

Casting Call!

I am excited to offer a few sessions to families and children aimed at bringing to life some of my ideas.  I am looking for willing subjects.  Sessions will be free of charge, held in or around Salt Lake City, Utah, and aimed at capturing a particular image or set of images.  If time permits, other images will be taken.

I am currently looking for:

a family that loves winter and snow and is willing to face the cold for some beautiful images.

a baby under one year old who is sitting, possibly crawling, but not walking yet.

a family with a house with lots of light and a colorful interior (within 2 hours of SLC.  please send a few snapshots of your home)

I would also like to give a photo session to another photographer.  I know how hard it is to take your own family photos.  You must be willing to share ideas of the type of images you'd like and why you'd like me, in particular, to take them.

If you are interested, please send me an email at info@wynonarobison.com

I've got some great ideas for a similar casting call this spring/summer, so if I get a great response with enough comments and emails, I will definitely do it again.

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These images are from my first official family photo session, and it remains one of my all time favorites. Thought I'd pull their folder up again after the mom contacted me a few weeks ago.  These photos make me happy.  :)

Sy

Click on the photo to view it larger.

This little guy is my 4 year old, Silas with his current favorite things.  The BFG by Roald Dahl and his baby, Rosie.  I don't have a ton of time to post, so that's all you're getting.  Trying to keep things simple.