A day in the life of Jordan

When Jordan was born, one of the first things I worried about was her self confidence. It was a nervous concern that nagged at me a lot when she was a newborn. As she grew, it was quite obvious that Jordan is naturally confident and very focused on doing things on her own. She demanded independence.

I’ve stepped back and watched her grow. She has a monster personality. I try to capture that in my photos but the way she is at school is awesome and I’m never able to really capture her school moments. This is her last month and I wanted some pictures that tell her story. I really wanted pictures that would capture that confidence and ability. I want images I can show her on a bad day… I hate thinking about those days. But I’m going to be realistic. If Jordan gets down, I want to pull out some pictures to prove to her that there’s a very confident person inside of her.

Enter Rebecca Allen.

I met Rebecca through a former student and current friend. The moment I met with Rebecca, I knew we needed to work on this project together. She is launching a documentary photography business while I’m looking for ways to better tell the lessons I’ve learned as Jordan’s Mom. So Rebecca spent four hours in Jordan’s school. She was there for occupational therapy time with her helper arm and playtime without the helper arm. Scroll though the images to see a story of a day in the life of Jordan at school. I am especially in awe of a picture of Jordan putting on a friend’s shoe after nap time.

I showed Jordan the photos this afternoon. She loved it, wished all of the photos were in color and groaned out loud when the photo timeline ended.

 

5 Comments

  1. Kate, aka guavalicious on May 19, 2011 at 9:39 am

    It was so strange to see Jordan with her helper arm! I am so used to her without it.

  2. Kathleen@so much to say on May 19, 2011 at 10:14 am

    Those pictures are awesome. I followed Kate’s link on FB over here…delighted to find another “special” mom here in town. I am mom to Julianna, who has Down’s and is the cutest thing ever. 🙂 And I’m very envious of those pictures! Jordan is just gorgeous.

  3. Jen Lee Reeves on May 19, 2011 at 10:38 am

    @Kate – I hear you there. Jordan wears her helper arms for therapies, specific tasks and most sports (except baseball). I love her both ways – and I don’t take as many pictures of her wearing her princess arm. I’m really happy to have some beautiful shots of her wearing and not wearing her arm.

    @Kathleen – I’m so happy to connect with you in the blogosphere. I think we have a couple of Facebook group connections, but I don’t think we’ve had a chance to talk about our special worlds!

  4. Urska on May 19, 2011 at 11:13 am

    I am friend of Rebecca’s and I am blown away by how amazingly she documented your daughter’s day. As a mom of two little ones I am always wishing to be a fly on the wall during the day when I am away from them. I love Jordan’s moods she caught. It is exactly portrayed as I imagine all of our kids go through in a day. Perfect!
    P.S. I also work at the J School.

    • Jen Lee Reeves on May 19, 2011 at 12:21 pm

      @Urska – I’m so sorry I haven’t met you in the advising department yet. I feel terrible! Thanks for leaving your kind words… And sharing the link to your blog. The combination of your kidlets and bilingual perspective is beautiful!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.