Plucky Rubber Ducky

Fern's 1st birthday is rapidly approaching, and I am currently juggling Christmas preparations with the organisation of a very special 'rubber ducky' birthday party. I made my invites, and on the front of the invitation, I decided to take a photo of Fern sitting peacefully on the couch holding a rubber ducky. A smile would have been a bonus. Should have been soooo simple right? But I was forgetting the last time I tried to stage a posed photo of a baby. 46 photos later, I kinda gave up on my original idea:

- She tried to eat the duck.

- She was more interested in the Christmas Tree next to the couch and kept crawling onto the armrest to pull off the decorations.

- She stared sombrely down the lens, refusing to smile. For 35 shots.

My husband took pity and brought out the big guns -- party whistles and poppers -- to cajole Fern to turn that frown upside down! Here are some of the snaps that didn't make the cut:

... and the winner? Drum roll please..................

I loooove this shot, even though it is far from what I first envisaged. In fact, it may be one of my most favourite of her ever! Which one would you have picked?