New mom takes photos of her napping baby in costumes to create adorable works of art
What happens when mom is a skilled photographer and baby is a heavy sleeper? Creativity at its cutest.

Mom is finding time to still be creative.
When Laura Izumikawa was pregnant with her daughter, Joey, her friends who had kids warned her life as she knew it would change once Joey was born.
In some ways, this was true. After Joey was born, Laura's stress levels rose, and her "me time" diminished significantly.
Parents know this is just par for the course — new motherhood comes with all sorts of worries and responsibilities. Often the only time moms have a moment to decompress is during those precious few hours of nap time.
While many take that time to catch a few more winks themselves, Laura decided to do something a little different.Outside of her new mom life, Laura is a professional photographer who specializes in taking photos of couples, weddings, families, and kids. Secondarily, she was blessed with a daughter who's an incredibly heavy sleeper.
So she decided to put her photography skills and her daughter's sleeping skills together to create some adorable works of art to commemorate Joey's infancy and ultimately unwind from the stresses of new parenthood.
1. She's been a tourist on Hawaii.
2. And won a gold medal in her sleep.
So how does Laura do all this without waking her baby? Simple, she does the arm flinch test to make sure Joey's totally out, then, ever so carefully, starts to put props around her.
"The most important thing for me is not to disturb her sleep or make her feel uncomfortable at all," wrote Laura in an email.
She does pop music icons like:
3. The fierce Beyoncé.
4. Sia in her famous eye-hiding wig.
5. Slash from Guns and Roses.
And she does spot-on fictional characters, too.
6. Furiosa from "Mad Max: Fury Road."
7. The lost, but not forgotten Barb from "Stranger Things."
8. Leia from "Star Wars" with her dad.
9. "It's Wayne's World! Wayne's World! Party time! Excellent!"
10. The Princess Bride "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to ... (snores)."
11. "The hills are alive..."
At the end of the day, parenting can be exhausting. If you can find a way to smile or laugh through it, you're doing pretty great.
"I've found joy in slowing down and watching her grow," wrote Laura. "With these photos, playing with Joey, watching her slowly drift to sleep and dressing her up in hilarious outfits showed me that parenting can be fun and enjoyable."
It's all about finding a special way to bond, whether or not that includes props and wardrobe changes.
This article originally appeared on 09.14.16
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."