Too Much Nyquil It Seems

So little G and I went to an audition on Monday. I think I mentioned this before. She did great. So I thought. She was the epitome of a healthy happy and coherent baby. She smiled, she crawled. She climbed. She even did her Downward Facing Dog pose. They even asked for me to depants her. Slam dunk?

It would appear at this time as a No. Puzzled, you may be. I just learned that a little boy in her audition group is On Avail for this commercial. It may still be early, but if I recall correctly....this boy couldn't get to a crawl position without assistance. He was unresponsive to the director. His face was blank. And he didn't have interesting features on his face. He was just a baby.

I am learning that it really doesn't matter what I think. Or how well she may do. Or what the CD says afterwards. You really just never know what they are looking for. My little G was really, skating circles around the rest. Her motor skills are strong and she is alert and interactive. So maybe what she has is what they are not looking for. They wanted a 9-12 month baby and shouldn't 9-12 month babies crawl, laugh, smile, downward face dog and stand? :)

And if she really doesn't book this job, then this blog is a testament to that saying. But we wont be sad or get discouraged. I think that is one thing I am learning. Not getting a job doesn't mean she is defective. Its just not what they want. And I hope that when G is older, she will learn to deal with this rejection as well as I am. Really. This is the only part that scares me about this business.

So its my duty, as her mommy, to teach her about self esteem and doing things to please herself and not others.

Was that a rant or what? Tootles!

I am sorry, I have been missing

But we are back! I was gone for a number of reasons...the most important one being, it had been crazy with her schedule. We do the weekly mommy playdates and hit the gym regularly. Momma needs a tight ass, right? That on top of this little hobby was the reason we have been MIA.

Since you last heard....she booked a commercial. 3 weeks ago, she booked a job for Valerie Tabor Smith. Like Anne Geddes, G will most likely be on a greeting card or calendar.....in Europe. BOO HOO!!!! But at least I was able to snag some images for which I am truly truly grateful. Out of the 7 she booked since starting, this is the only product I have seen!

What should be out soon is her ad for Munchkin safety gates. Munchkin never made gates and acquired a company in the UK to expand the market. So once the gates hit the US, looks for G on a box or online ad. She was the asian baby, so I am not sure if they will decide to use her ad. But she did great....she shot all of the scenes with a cute puppy from Frontline fame.

TV spots are different from print. They like to group babies and then bring them back into the green room where they tape each baby. And I will be honest, she hasnt done so great on her tv auditions, primarily because most her of auditions require her to be held by another 'mom' which she isn't having any part of. So, many times, its a complete waste of our time. But yesterday, wow. I couldnt have been prouder.

They wanted a baby to be a baby. So I sat her down in front of the cameras. The other babies ahead of her, either cried when the parent walked in front or looked non responsive and just sat there. Some couldnt even move.

But little rambunctious baby G. The reason why I cannot get anything done in the house pulled out all the stops. She sat. Smiled. Climbed on me when I tried to move away. Director loved it. Then when she crawled to me...she smiled and then did her downward facing dog in front of the camera.

"Can you remove her pants?" says the director.

"Excuse me???" says the mommy in an obvious falsely offended manner?

Maybe I am her mom and I think she is better than sliced bread. But I really believe she knocked this one out of the park. And if she doesn't get a callback on thh 26th, then I must be taking too much Nyquil during the day.

Again, wish us luck and I will keep you posted.

I'll blog about the whack jobs I have run into on her jobs....just to let you know the ugly side of this hobby.

Until then...tootles!

xo,
Baby G and Me

First Commercial!

So my little Girl did it! She landed her first commercial! I know the news is late, but I have been super busy with all of her auditions and callbacks. I did this as a hobby, really not expecting to have 3 appointments in one day.

The lowdown and reality. Yes I am thrilled that she was 1 of 8 babies out of hundreds for a national commercial. But the reality was....6/8 of them cried in the scene. And G was one of them. But it is still one helluvan accomplishment!

What's next on the burner? This week, she had a request from Gap for their Fall2010 campaign. It shoots this week if all goes well.

Wish us luck!

This is a fast, fast world.

Things can happen in minutes. Since our last post...I just learned she has a callback for her first commercial! Way to go, BabyG!!! Its tomorrow, so wish us some luck!

Gymboree. Weeeee!!!!

This morning, we went to the Gymboree audition in Culver City. It was supposed to be a madhouse....some fool on the boards posted the location on a public forum. Anyway, we were in. Smile. Giggle. And out. I get a "Great job, Mommy!"

Seriously, I have no idea why she was so cooperative this morning. Usually, its like a smirk. But today, Thank You G for working with me! It makes the whole waking up early and trekking to the city all worth it.

Fingers crossed...I hope she gets some work out of this. It would be nice to finally see her in print. If she gets booked, she can be called for Jane/Jack and Crazy8 all summer!

Rockstar?

That is what her agency called her. She has been a booking princess! This week, we have 2 print auditions, 1 commercial audition, 1 call back, 1 fitting and 2 jobs. Holy Mackerel! That makes me One Tired Mommy!

Its Tuesday night and we made it through her first job with Target. I would say the hardest thing about these auditions is scheduling their naps around your call time. For instance, if she has a 9 am call time, when do I wake her up? If it takes me 30 minutes to get there, I need to feed her and change her. And if she naps, I need enough time to wake her up so she's chipper. That is the hardest part of it all.
But that doesn't mean it downhill from there. You also have to deal with traffic, pray she doesn't cry on the way down there and also plan dinner and fold the laundry.

Why do I do it? Simple. I get bored easily. Always have. Always will. My first grade teacher said I was hyperactive. She would pinch my ear and make me sit in my chair. That was when it was ok to abuse kids in elementary school. Ahhh, the good old days. Lunch was 35 cents. You can play outside until its dark. Back to reality...

Thursday, we have an audition for Gymboree. And on Sunday, we go in for another clothing company. Tomorrow, we have the day off. I am so. Totally. Looking forward to doing absolutely nothing with my favorite Sweet Pea!

Keep you posted!!

Sorry! It's been too long!

Sorry it has just been too long. So much has happened and that is why I haven't written. Where did I last leave off? Oh, yes, we opened a Coogan account and got our first Target job.

It's been about 2 weeks later and in this time, we also got a callback from BabyGap. We went on Monday to the callback. It was raining here in Sherman Oaks, so I dressed for the weather. When we get to West LA, of course, it is HOT. Try doing the mommy thing in 75 degree weather and rain boots! Regardless, we went to the callback at a studio with enormous ceilings. Nothing but natural light was in there. Behind the screen was a very intimidating table of 7 people, most likely producers. Very very intimidating. If this was a job interview, I would be nervous.

And so was baby G. Poor girl. Was happy all day. When the wrangler came and carried her to the floor, she was ok. When the male photographer with facial hair snapper her pic and smiled, she was ok. But when she realized there was a table of 7 people watching her, water works. Ah well. I am not too hopeful, but we were flattered to be there. I'll keep you posted.

It was a terribly long day on Monday. I packed the car with diapers and formula. All of her fave toys and puffs. We left the house at 745 am in order to fit 3 appointments in. Before the BabyGap callback, we had our first commercial audition for a pharmaceutical company. We stood in front of the camera and they asked me questions about her while they taped G. It think it went well. If she books the job, it will be a national commercial running through August! I wonder if I can be in it...play her mom. That would be really sweet, wouldn't it?

And finally, our last appointment on Monday was for another Target job. We drove to the other studio and they placed G on a stage of grass and tall flowers. She was dressed in 2 pairs of knit pants and 2 bodysuits. Uh, do you think she is uncomfy in this heat??? And well, she cried again. Poor baby. I think it was the lights. They were towering over her head.

I am beginning to see this will be a numbers game. Every time we go out, we roll the dice. She likes people. She likes men. And if you have food, she really really likes you! We'll just have to wait and see.

Coogan Accounts and lots of luck!

On Friday, we also opened her Coogan account. We were doing some trust work and decided I should open one up so that the account numbers would be ready. Anyway, we went to a credit union that specializes in Coogan accounts. A Coogan is a trust fund where 15% of earning as placed in there for the minor. This is to ensure that I don't blow it all on my nasty Keno habit at the Indian Reservation.

Target was supposed to begin yesterday, I lost all hope when the phone didnt ring on Friday. My birthday was yesterday as well. I thought that the best present I could get would be for G to get the Target job. Well, the phone didnt ring and I started to think about the modeling hobby and quitting.

We go to the park, and to my surprise and delight, our agent called! So she is booked next month for Target print. Apparently, I hear you get 6 months of work with Target without ever having to audition again! Incidentally, Target requires all their talent to have Coogan accounts. What luck!

Hopefully she'll get a commercial soon!

Anyway, we may have another issue. Her shoot date falls during Baby Gap's shoot dates as well. What to do, what to do. We havent heard from Gap yet. Fingers crossed!

Two in One Day!

So it turns out that not only do we get to see BabyGap, but we also nabbed an audition with Target! These are 2 companies that I was hoping G would eventually book and here we are, going to see them both in one day!

Exhausting it was. It was hot. I took G to Hollywood this morning to see Gap. And there were a lot of babies there. But not nearly as much as the Luvs call (that would be known as the most awfullest call we have been to so far). I looked at the sheet and it looks like the agency JetSet was not on there so far. JetSet is based out of SD and have a gazillion babies they represent. Babies from 1 through 10 were present, which leads me to believe that today was an agency request day. Good for us! And I hope I am right. The post said they started casting on Monday and since we were seen 2 days early that is a good sign.

However, there were so many babies there, that I think that if she were chosen, it would be a miracle. I mean, dont get me wrong, I think G is cute. But I am her mommmy. And every baby at Gap was cute.

3 cameras were set up and one by one we went it. They spent 2 minutes snapping her. Then they printed out the pictures and stapled them to her call sheet. 40 minutes after we arrive, we are heading back on the 101N to go home.

Later at 330 pm, we head back to Hollywood for the Target call. I decide that instead of showing up at 2 pm as our notice indicated, we showed up at 4 pm as our agent had stated we were requested to show up. And good thing! We were done in 20 minutes! I took her daddy and grandpa along. Daddy made her smile so much, they only took 3 pictures and told us they go the shot!

The thing with Target is, if you are picked, you are pretty much guaranteed work for 6 months without reauditioning! Our timing was perfect. also waiting were 2 sets of red headed twin girls. Ginger girls! Also a good sign as it looks as if the babies seen today were already carefully chosen.

So, cross your fingers! Hopefully she will book both of them. We'll know about Target by 3/29 and the Gap, maybe by the first week of April.

Win Some, Loose Some

OK. So here we are. After learning she was passed on for Luvs, we now have notice she has an audition for Baby Gap this weekend.

We got notice via a web portal our agent instructed us to join. The Luvs job was also noticed via this way, too. Which makes me wonder....will I be walking into a cattle call again? I really hope not.

The first job she landed, we received a call from our agent. Audition lasted 5 minutes and were booked that afternoon. The notice on the casting board states that audition begin on Monday. Our audition is on Saturday. So I really hope that the weekend is an agents day, where only represented children attend.

I also really wish I had a clue about this business. We are still new and navigating our way around. I heard that they auditions were pretty fast and organized. Lets hope so...I have my parents from SD and my father in law coming to visit on Saturday.

So how will I prepare? Well, for starters, I will bring more milk. I learned that rookie mistake from the last one. And I will make sure is is awake for at least 20 minutes before her time. I will also arrive early so that she can nap either on the way, or at the location. Hmmm, what else? Oh, during our last trip to the Zoo, I bought a crazy toy that made her laugh. I will bring that out and watch cuteness unleashed!

Anyway, I have bad allergies now. And I am still waiting to hear if Target wants to see her this weekend, too. Send lots of good vibes this way. I think that would be the cherry on the sundae if she books Gap!

Our Next Call

I am still tired from the last shoot we did on the beach. Its now been 1 week and the phone rings again. This time, I get a notice from a casting website our agent submitted us on. Its for Luvs diapers and as I learn from the postings on Craig list, they are looking for an ethnically ambiguous baby 3-6 months in age. That's my Baby G, good ole ethnically ambiguous Baby G! Well, what is her make up? Lets see. We have some Chinese, Polish, French, Filipino and yes, English.

I am very nervous as this ad/casting call was also posted on the Internet. Agencies all over So. Cal have been bringing babies from all over the Southland in order to fill the request for Luvs. Every agency, but mine. Is that a good sign? I think so. My agency isn't filling their roster just so they can land a job. This should ensure that Baby G is not lost in the shuffle. And she shouldn't be. After all, she did book her first go see for a national campaign.

Anyway, I think the fact that she is 1-1 has gotten me spoiled. I have an appointment at 10 am. Great! The last call took only 5 minutes. So I grab 1 bottle and 2 diapers and head out the door. HUGE MISTAKE! When we get there, there are about 75 babies already waiting in the stuffy room. You name it...triplets, twins, all kinds of babies.

This of course bothers me. I thought we had an appointment. Also, the room is filled with every type of baby needed. Not just the ethnically ambiguous kind. Damn. And I only have 1 bottle.

So we sit it out. I cant leave. Otherwise, our agent will hear about it and that is just not good for Baby G. Its noise as hell. Crying, crawling everywhere. Plus, more than one parent is with a child. That is a no-no. Most of the babies don't even have work permits. I just don't get it. I listen and people are driving 2+ hours to get to this tiny room. And if by chance, they were selected, would they be able to obtain a work permit, say in 1 day? Ugh, I was just getting stressed that there would be a parking ticket waiting for me.

I just get annoyed the more I listen. Anyway, about 1 hour passes. I am parked in a 1 hour space. Hoping I do not get a ticket, they finally call our number. Baby G is awakened a little beforehand and I try to wake her up a bit. Turns out, I didn't have enough time to liven her up. She sits. They take 3 pics and doesn't crack 1 smile. Nice G! We get up this early and you wont smile. Oh well. That's how it goes, right? As we are leaving, the casting director says, " She is a very pretty girl and has great skin. That goes a long way"

Whatever. Was she just trying to give us hope? Or shall we take what they say for what its worth? We shall see. The commercial (i think) shoots next Monday. And if they have any call backs this week, we wont be around. We are headed down to San Diego for 4 days. I hope they don't call bc I am not coming back on a Friday, only to go right back to San Diego.

But if they do...I hope the call back is next week. And I hope its a commercial, bc then it really would have been worth Baby Gs and my time and aggravation.

Stay tuned if you want to see if my baby was ethnically ambiguous enough!

First day of Work: JL Baby in Malibu

Well, she did it! After all that planning, she managed to pull it off! We had our first day of work this morning for the JL Baby Summer 2010 campaign.

When we got the call, we were thinking, "Wow, that is so cool!", not knowing what exactly was involved. Now that I think about the other mommies who have babies that model, I see what a tremendous effort goes into just getting to the set.

Baby G usually sleeps at 830 pm. We put her down at 8 pm, since we had to leave the house at 715 am the next morning. Keep in mind, she gets her first bottle at this time.

So we are out the door, heading to the 'Bu. In LA traffic, not bad...took us 45 minutes and thank goodness she decided to sleep!

Four other babies were there, with G being the youngest at 6.5 months. We arrive at Zuma Beach and await a shuttle which will drive us to a private residence on the beach. So far, so good.

G is called and we need to change her into the wardrobe, which consists of a SWIMSUIT at 9 am in the morning, on the beach. Uh, a little cold? YUP! And she is supposed to sit in the sand??? In the cold, in this swimsuit? And you want her to smile?????

Welcome to the world of baby modeling! She did as good as she could. She did not suffer from separation anxiety. She suffered from a cold butt! She didnt cry too much. We managed to get a few smiles here and there, but overall, the whole beach thing in the am with a baby was a bad idea. No heaters. I know. If anyone had a baby, you would think that you so need a heater. Or wait til noon when its warm, right? I mean, I wouldn't sit on that cold sand nor would I put a bikini on at 9 am in February!

No heaters on the beach. No heaters in the guest house we stayed in. It was super duper cold. And you would think there would be hot water to warm a bottle, right? Wrong. As a mother, you have to be the one who looks out for your baby. One wrangler offered to run it under hot water. She wanted to microwave the bottle, too. No wonder Baby G was pissy at the milk! I had to run and nuke some water in a cup.

Other than that, it was a long 4 hours and a GREAT learning experience for myself. I now know to speak up when baby is trying to fall asleep. Otherwise, big tantrum tears and fail. I would think that a wrangler there would know the importance of a nap. They should be mandatory, bc a little nap goes a LOOOONG way.

We headed home after noon today. And she slept like an angel on the way home. She is napping again in the bedroom. I also took a little catnap with her. Just seeing her picture on the monitor, smiling, made me so proud! That's my baby up there! And I love her so much!

1-1. Go Baby G! Lets get some rest this week and see who else will be calling our phone!

Babys First Go See and the result is......

Well, this morning, we went on our first go see. So much planning involved. We had to be there between 9 and 11 am. Piece of cake, right?

WRONG! Well, her teething is over with, thank goodness. Everyday in our nice warm house, we take a nap between 830 and 9 am. I was seriously counting on her napping in the car. Instead, she cried, cried, cried, so much that I had to pull over and give her a bottle!

I couldnt risk her crying in her first meeting. So what did I do? I sat in the lobby conference room of the Sunset Marquis and let her nap for 20 minutes. Then she awoke at about 950 am. I changed diaper, gave her some juice and tried to liven her up.

We walked up to the people and greeted them. No other babies were around...small turn out, I thought. Good sign! We plopped Baby G on a towel and they proceeded to snap away, while I danced like a monkey to make her laugh.

I guess it was a success. She didnt cry and she was all smiles. Amazing what I have to do in order for other people to see a happy baby.

The job would shoot tomorrow, if she was chosen. So last minute. I guess this is why they say it is a full time job and not a hobby.

How do you think she did????

First Call

So about 1 month after we did her sheet of pictures and obtained her work permit, the phone finally rang. An eccentric voice, speaking a mile a minute called to tell Little G that she has a Go See on Monday for an upscale clothing line. I wonder what it will be like. Will Baby G blow it by crying? Or will she just knock em dead?

At first, I didn't answer because I thought it was this woman I was trying to avoid. I joined her playgroup and our personalities did not match. She is from the East Coast and is just too wound up. I, on the other hand, and just too laid back.

Anyway,this call could not have come at a worse time. Baby Gs teeth have come in. One is totally out and the other one is making its way. For the past 3 nights, I have awoken at 340 am and again at 5 am in the morning from her cries of pain. The daytime is no better. She just will not sleep during the day for longer than 20 minutes.

As a result, she is Miss Cranky Pants. Heading out to Whole Foods to buy some teething tablets.

Wish us luck....if all goes well, her pain will be over by this weekend and she would have booked her first print job on Tuesday and Wednesday! Hmmm...this means I need to look into opening her a bank account.

Oh we are JUST getting started!

Its been just over one week since we met with the agent and now the work begins. Since that day, I have been dressing G up like a doll and taking a lot of pictures to put her sheet together. So lets see.... 7 days * 50 shots per day. That makes over 350 pictures I have taken in order to find the right one.

It so difficult to catch that perfect smile. Its hit or miss. I was an amateur photographer in high school...learning on an old manual Nikon. So I can get some good shots with the perfect lighting. But now, I have a point and shoot HD Cannon camera. I like the natural light in our house, but it makes it super hard to catch the perfect shot since the shutter speed is automatic. So now, I am looking into buying a nice camera. If it will save me $200 each session, I think it is a sound investment. (yeah, just like that Disney sewing machine collecting dust in my office)

Every night I have been sifting through each of the shots. Cropping, rotating and trying to put together the perfect collection of 3 photos that will show her personality. I think I spent maybe 2 hours a day doing this. (now do you see where all the work comes in for the parent???) I'll probably have to do this every 2 months as babies change so often. After sending 2 batches if pics to the agent, I think we finally have the perfect set of pictures.

But it doesn't end there. I now have to send the original e-files to her, make 15 color copies of the sheet and then send her work permit over! A lot of work, huh? say goodbye to my awesome Lifetime afternoons on the couch. I think I just signed up for a full time job.

I have some time to relax, though. Little G is shy of 6 months and there isn't a lot of work for 5 mos or younger as they usually book newborn stuff. in 2 weeks, she'll be six months old and we'll see just how chaotic life will be. I am excited for her. I want to see how she'll do. I am excited for us, because we get to do something together. But overall, I just love this little girl to pieces.

Its 9pm. She's asleep. I just want to wake her up and spoil her with kisses. Goodnight.

She Has an Agent! Let the Blogging Begin!

So my little G got an agent last week! Woo Hoo! I know, she is just getting started and has no work, but I am super proud of my baby Girl. Now we have A LOT of work ahead of us in order to get her started. I did some reading and learned that the success of a child in Hollywood largely depends on the effort the parent makes.

Being that I am a SAHM for now and I live within 15 minutes of every agent/studio in LA, I think we might do well. Oh, BTW, did I mention I get compulsive, too? In the word of Dave Mathews...I eat too much, I love too much, I want too much.

Here's how it started. In December, I mailed away 2 photos of baby G to one of the top agents for young children. I figure if the best agent says NO, then the dream ends. I can go on thinking of other things to do, like what preschool to get her into.
(I know, she's only 5 months, but its crazy here in Los Angeles)

So I sent the pics out and in January, we got a phone call back asking if we would stop by so they can meet Little G. Her appointment was at 9 am. Great! I jumped at the opportunity.

My dilemma? Uh, since we returned from Florida, she has been waking up 3 times during the night. I think she started teething and she also has been pooping every 2 hours. CRAP!!!!! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO???? WHAT IF SHE CRAPS ON THEM???? WHAT IF SHE GETS CRANKY AND CRIES?????

So for the entire week I had to resolve each of these issues to make sure that 7 days from now at 9:10 a.m., Little G would be the Perfect Angel from December.

Issue #1: The pooping every 2 hours. My bad. I started her on oatmeal and if she's anything like me at all, she will poop after eating it. I spoke to my mom and she was like "Duh, oatmeal makes you sh*t" So I brought her back to rice 2x a day and that solved that was the end of the that. Thank Goodness!

Issue #2: Waking up 2-3 times at night. OK, I confess. My DH is the one that solved this problem. We had been BLESSED with a perfect sleeper. Since she was 7 weeks old, she had been sleeping 7 hours a night. That 7 had turned into 11 hours by December. Never had a problem with going to bed.

Come 2010. A nightmare...she was waking every 2-3 hours at night. This was so getting old and I realized what most parent had been going through at night. Sucks. And I want it to stop NOW. I was getting so cranky and bitchy to my husband.
Baby G was still being swaddled at night. And it worked like a charm...until now.
So to put an end to my night time walks to her room, I watched her nap. And I learned how she soothes herself...with her hands. She does this Lady GaGa thing to her eyes. Its quite funny.

So at my Hubby's insistence, I unswaddled her. 10 hours later, I was one happy Momma!

Issue #3: How will she be at her best behavior at 9:10 am???? I know she is great in the ams, but specifically, how can I ensure she will be on good behavior at that time? She wakes at 7 am and if she is up til 910 am, it wont be a good thing.

So all week, I experimented with giving her a quick feed and putting her back to sleep vs. trying to keep her up for a few minutes, then put her back to sleep. And it turns out with trial and error that letting her feed and get back to bed was the best solution.

issue #4: Teething. So would I be a bad mommy if I gave her Tylenol just so she wont be cranky? Ha. You thought. I ended up dabbing her gums with Orajel.


The result????? In their words...."Yes, she is sooo ADORABLE" They took her to the back office for 5 minutes where she met with the other agents. I could hear everything. And I specifically her her NOT cry! She was actually smiling at everyone, from what she told me.

Yay for Baby G!