Smiles that reach the eyes

Rob has always taken really great pictures.  It is like the kid sees a camera and typically this big grin just moves onto his face.  And he is handsome--that isn't just proud mama talking. People mention it a lot.  But what I didn't really notice till I started looking back at pictures from longer ago was the difference between the smiles of say 7 or 8 years ago and the smiles now.

When I look back at the earlier shots, the smile is only his mouth.  His eyes don't reflect a lot of joy.  Truthfully, they look kind of haunted in some shots and in others, sort of vacant.  I feel a bit like a fool for not noticing this back then.  However at the time my only other child at home was Chet and he takes notoriously bad pictures.  His autism make that an ordeal for him, so to me, Rob looked so happy, so content. 

I guess what made me really notice was the two pictures from seeing Santa that hang on our fridge.  They are side by side and exactly the same size and Rob is posed exactly as KC and Lissa are 7 years later in the recent shot. That made the difference in posture and the light in the eyes jump out at me and I started looking back at older shots more carefully.  I think he spent a bunch of years faking happy.

I am reasonably sure that he isn't faking it any more. Probably not for the past few years.  I watched him at the BBQ today and he was very relaxed.  His laugh was genuine and he cracked some jokes and there was a sparkle in his eye. That sparkle is what is missing in the early pictures.  I'm glad it is there now.