ferrousland.com - diary archives
Friday, August 06, 2004
huggies baby, maybe - 01:29 PM
when smiley was only four weeks old i sent some pictures of him to a modelling agency or two. i think he's very cute & i was pretty sure that other people did, too, that it wasn't just a mother's bias.
a week or so ago, the lady at one of the agencies emailed me to ask for some updated pictures of him. i sent them. very shortly afterwards, she called asking if he was crawling. after i confirmed that yes, he does crawl (& very well, at that) she booked him in for a casting for a huggies ad. that casting was a few days ago, last tuesday.
it was kind of fun. i rocked up at the casting agency at the time given. i assume that there were a few booked in for a given block of time, because when i arrived there were five or so other babies (with their mums & a dad or two as well) waiting around. the tension in the room was palpable. every parent there was checking out all the other babies & sizing them up comparing them to their own gorgeous child. every one was friendly, but i knew that they were all thinking the same thing, "my baby is cuter than hers."
there was no one at the reception desk (in fact, it looked as though the desk was never occupied) so i asked one of the ladies what to do. she pointed me to the small desk against the opposite wall with two forms which were to be filled in. they wanted his length, but i couldn't remember, so i guessed. while i was waiting i saw a tape measure which had been left for the parents to use. i measured him & found that i'd actually guessed right (75cms).
after about twenty minutes, riley's name was called, along with another baby. i was sent to the waiting room upstairs while the other baby went in to show how well it could crawl.
smiley & i only had to wait about five minutes & we were let into the room. there wasn't much in there. a few tables were pushed against a wall, along with a couple of chairs. the middle of the room was empty except for some toys strewn around & two sets of bright lights were set up at the sides, illuminating the area where smiley was to crawl. the lady who'd called me in introduced the director & he instructed me to strip smiley down to just his nappy. the lady told me to put him down on the line of tape on the floor & hold up one of the pieces of paper behind him (it had his name & basic details in big letters) which i'd filled in while she pointed a video camera at him.
all he had to do was crawl around for them & after sitting there for a moment or two with a blank look on his face (probably wondering what was going on) he did crawl while we called to him & encouraged him to come by waving various toys at him. at one stage he wasn't crawling quite right & i called out, "oh no! don't do your mongy crawl, matey!" but the director must have thought it was cute & said, "no, it's good!"
they still needed a bit more so i lay down on the floor, knowing that when we do that at home, he loves to come over & do some rock & roll wrestling moves on us. as soon as i lay down he dashed over to me on his hands & knees, but instead of crawling all over me as he usually does, he lay his head on my chest gently & snuggled into me. it was pretty damn cute & absolutely perfect for the camera. the lady & the director both went, "awwwwww!" & then the lady said, "now that's a huggies moment!" kind of wanky, but good if it means they want him for the ad. 
with such a perfect ending, they finished filming & let me know we were free to go. i dressed smiley & that was it. the director told me not to teach him to crawl over the next few weeks, but just to let him do what he does (he must have really liked his mongy crawl) which is how we do things anyway. he'll crawl, walk, talk etc when he's ready.
they seemed to be fairly enthusiastic about him. i mean, i doubt they would see a baby they didn't like & scream in horror, "oh my god! what is that abomination?!" but they weren't just polite as though they might be if he wasn't at all suitable. i have no idea if/when i'll hear if he got the job, but i can't see them taking too long since babies grow & change so quickly.
of course, as soon as i find out i'll mention it here. 
Hope that it all works out for you and smiley, he is soo cute and funny
You realise that once he starts walking, he'll be a crawling baby model has-been.
gmail
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sounds all good. fingers crossed here.