Yesterday was Nate’s very first photoshoot. It was really special for me, because I’ve been following his story on his mom’s Instagram and Twitter accounts for nearly a year.

Sam calls him Super Nate on Instagram and I completely agree. This little guy is only 18 months old. He has been through so much already and has got so much spunk.

This weekend marked 6 weeks since he was last in hospital and it’s the longest period he’s ever spent at home. Seriously, go and look at his mom’s Instagram account and see how far this little guy has come. He is really amazing. You see he was born with a rare congenital bladder disorder. I’ve thought about it and I’m not going to blog about his story, it’s on his mom’s blog and his amazing journey is on her Instagram account. I just wouldn’t do it justice, and it’s really their story to tell, not mine.

I’m probably going to share so many more photos than I usually do as a preview, but I’ve been willing this little superhero to get better through ICU visits, operations and other hospital stays for so long. It really was quite special to finally meet him and his mom.

Sam wanted me to take photos of Nate mostly. The family was at the park to help out, but the focus was on him. However, you know how I feel about family connections and having memories captured. So by the time the photoshoot was over, we had a full set of family photos too.

Nate really wasn’t sure about the grass in the park. I was very surprised that he sat, although crawling was a stretch too far for him until he really got enticed.

He loved barking at the dogs he could see running across the park… that little mouth is saying “woof” in this shot.

I think this one is a favourite of mine. I LOVE his little fingers!

Walking with his dad and uncle Matthew were the most exciting things to do.

The words for the day were “TAAA” and there was loads of pointing happening.

The long veld was a stretch too far for him though. My aim was to get him to sit in this gorgeous long veld, but there was absolutely no way that he was happy with the spikiness and rough texture.

However, the few photos I got with Nate on Grampy’s shoulders were pure gold 😉

It was such a perfect way to end the shoot.