What have I done to deserve this??

Now, you know that my kid is a cute kid... I mean, really, (for the most part) he is! And, no one can say that he has not had plenty of time (5 years, 7 months, and 1 day to be exact!!) to get used to having his picture taken.

In the good 'ole days I used to be able to point the camera at him and instantly get a good shot. Smiles. Eye contact. Sometimes even a hand gesture. No more. I've noticed this crazy 'I-can't-look-at-the-camera' phenomenon for a few months now... the camera comes out, and instantly Bennett's eyes avoid the camera and his mouth does something crazy. EVERY TIME!

Take this for instance...

Admittedly, this one is not so bad. BUT, Brad was saying 'Hey! Bennett! Look at the CAMERA!!!' and this is the best we could get. I was hoping to document the first time we scrapbooked together. Maybe not.

On Halloween I was asked by Bennett's teacher to come and take pictures of the kids in the on-site Pumpkin Patch. Guess which child was the ONLY one that I had to take multiple pictures of to get one that was semi-decent... you guessed it! Bennett...

No, Bennett, look AT THE CAMERA!!!

AT THE CAMERA!! OVER HERE! do you see me??? over here.... please!

Ok, good smile, but can you open your eyes?

In this one, I can only assume that he is going for the 'gangsta' look. That or he is just trying to make me mad...

And this one...

Here we are. Sitting in a trailer full of people on Halloween night. Everyone else (who I removed for privacy's sake) is looking at the camera. Smiling. What is happening to Bennett??? Anyone? Another great picture, ruined.

This one was taken at Angie's birthday celebration. This was like the 5th picture that we took - and the best one. What's going on with his eyes? Is he scared? Scared of cake and presents? I think not...
Ok, and I present you with the picture that made me laugh out loud just seconds after taking it. It also is the inspiration for this post...

There really are no words for this one. Are there?

So, I am asking - no I am BEGGING - please, please, give me my normal cute camera-loving kid back. I am going to have a really hard time scrapbooking if I can't get some better pictures :)