Celebrating 'Love Day' with the gorgeous babies and toddlers of Jiggy Wrigglers Southampton West.

Not a traditional holiday to be celebrated by babies and toddlers around the world, but Valentine's Day is slowly becoming a celebrating of love in all shapes and forms. Valentine's Day is no longer just for romantic love, but is for celebrating love between family members, friends and all the special people in your life. The popular hashtag this year is GALENTINESDAY - a day for women to show their love and support of one another. I also like PALENTINESDAY - a day to celebrate with all your pals!

We had a lovely, cute setup for 'Love Day' at Jiggy Wrigglers Southampton West's specials this year. I did try to tone down the pinks a bit because the backdrop arrived looking rather more 'girly' than I would have liked. I added in my little boy's favourite cuddly blue bear to bring the boy-vibes, and tried to keep the other bears as gender neutral as possible. We had Gilbert the England Rugby bear, and one of those bears that you stick in the microwave to heat up the beans inside. I've had it for more than 20 years, and it was given to me by my favourite 'Uncle'. It always makes me smile. The paper suitcases went down a storm with the little ones, as I suspected they would. Toddlers are like cats in so many ways - they love a box!

One of my favourite things about these sessions was that, because we had a Saturday session, and because the others were during half term, we had more Dad's than usual come to the sessions. Usually, the sessions are very Mum-dominated, and it was wonderful to see how many had turned the session into a full family experience! This also meant that I managed to get some great photos of whole families! These turned out to be hugely popular, and what's not to love!? - a few photos of your little one on their own looking super cute, and then a few photos with Mum or Dad or both, and an extra smiley little one because they get to be cuddled and tickled while having their photo taken!

I have started to really encourage parents to get in on the photo action too, especially Mums! I know this is a generalisation, but Mum's are usually the ones taking the photos of everyone, which means we never get to actually be IN the photos! It's so lovely to be in the photos with your little one! It's wonderful to be in a photo where your little one looks happy and content, and know that you played a huge part in that.

So, for the next Jiggy Wrigglers Specials that you see me at - get involved, and get a few photos with you in them too!