Unique Opportunity

We had a really neat opportunity recently to take Colin into New York City and participate in a photo shoot for Toys "R" Us and their Differently-Abled guide.  The guide was created initially when the founder of Toys "R" Us heard from employees and customers that there were sometimes challenges for finding appropriate toys geared towards children with special needs.  The founder spearheaded the introduction of the Differently-Abled guide which has been around for many years since.  You can read more about it by clicking here. 

We heard about the opportunity through the Special Olympics of NJ and decided to give the casting call a whirl since it was being held at the Special Olympics facility.  We found out some weeks later that Colin was selected to be one of the participants for a specific toy on the inside of the guide.  We were really excited to have Colin participate!  

We used the train to get in and out of the city and Colin LOVED it.  

Shortly after arriving, Colin was dressed in an outfit to fit his toy (he was going to be playing with a basketball and net) and then had to sit for "makeup".  He sat perfectly still and thought it was the greatest thing to get powder put on his face.  

Once he was dressed and ready and his "shoot" was set up, Colin got into "star mode" to shoot his pictures.  

The photo shoot was a tad bit challenging because Colin wanted to play basketball but in most of the photos while playing his arm blocked his face.  They were trying to "pose" him more which proved to be a bit difficult, however he was a trooper and they got some cute shots.  It was a bit difficult too because they sort of wanted us to take a "back seat" and have the helper be the one to elicit smiles and such.  He kept looking for us so we were just trying to get him to smile and pose the way they wanted to.  They let us sit in the shoot area with him and started doing some "close up" photos of him and once he eased back in again, they got some really great shots.  

It was certainly an exciting opportunity and we can't wait to see it come out in September!