Joshua's...4 3/4 year-old pictures?

Poor middle-child Joshua. Okay, he has two younger brothers, and only one older sister, so technically there is no "middle" child, but if someone in this family fits the bill for middle child, it's Josh. Especially when it comes to pictures.
Everyone else in the family has had their pictures taken on their birthday, and sometimes about the middle of that year. When they're babies, everyone got newborn, three month, six month, and one year pictures. Everyone but Josh. Somehow, we missed him at six months, counting Easter pictures as his "nine month" shots. He did get one-year-old pics, but everything after that was a little off. The majority of his wall pictures were shot at some random time, and were chosen out of vacation pictures or random outings with the whole family, instead of his having a special photo shoot like Elora and Jonah usually get.
I don't do it on purpose. Josh just doesn't pose well; he wiggles a lot and gets bored easily! And every time I realize we've missed taking birthday pictures again, it's usually so late I decide to wait a few more months.
Anyway, this last week, I was planning on taking Elijah's six-month pictures. I had been contemplating Joshua's wall photo and thinking about him too, but I kept putting it off. I wanted to try taking Eli's pictures outside for a change, but it turned out to be too windy, and he just can't sit up well enough yet for him to sit safely on the hard ground instead of a bed. I was feeling frustrated, when I realized, "Hey, Josh is wearing a cute shirt. I should take his  pictures!
Joshua was actually thrilled at the idea! I felt bad because I realized he hadn't had his own "photo shoot" since he was about 16 months old (when it was Easter), but he'd had to sit by and watch me take Jonah's and Elora's pictures these last few years. Poor guy! He was still wiggly and silly ( I took about 86 pictures and kept about 15, most eliminated because he'd move and not be in focus) but he did better than usual!
We had the usual places to take pictures, which may seem a little boring, but I guess it will fit with his siblings' photos from this year that are already hanging up!
I was looking for spots that were shady, since it was a pretty bright part of the day. First we found some nice stairs.

He actually did really great for his first shots! This really captures his personality.

I was surprised at how many cute faces he did,without wiggling too much.

 

He did especially well with Jonah trying to get in every shot!

























We did some other shots nearby, including a million on the often-used red gate. Unfortunately the sun was a little too bright, and Jonah kept wiggling the gate... as did Josh.

















Too bad, because I really wanted one of them to turn out great!

These bottom two are okay, but I hate how his arm looks all scrunchy and awkward.

 I also found this great wall, with a convenient sitting spot on the shady side! I was excited about it, but Josh didn't share my enthusiasm, so I only took one or two shots before he completely lost interest in sitting still. Oh well, I guess colored walls are becoming cliche these days.
























We then went over to the poles where we took Elora's six-year-old pictures. I didn't want to repeat the same thing, but they really are a good spot to block out the bright afternoon light.

what a handsome young man.

A lot of these turned out great too! I love him laughing in the upper right.

Finally I found a spot in these cattle chutes (I think that's what they are, but maybe I haven't read Pioneer Woman enough to know for sure) that was a bit shady. These were fun, and I love the light, but I wonder if the background might just be a bit too busy.

I love his silly look in the bottom left..and how red his hair looks!

So I'm glad I finally got around to taking some pictures of Josh...even though his birthday is still three months away. It's going to be hard to pick which one to hang up. Which do you like?