Layla joins the work force at 16 weeks.

I submitted this photo along with a few others to a talent agency looking for a baby for the 50th anniversary print campaign of Johnson & Johnson (Philippines), Inc. Her ninang's brother was the photographer, so we figured, why not?!

This was 2 weeks ago and she was chosen to be the backup baby, meaning if baby #1 doeasn't do so good, she takes the pot. So I met with the casting agent from Model Shop and signed a contract with J&J and went to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Manila. Layla was considered a working baby and I kind of felt odd signing her application for a working permit at 3 months. At the same time, it amazed me how many laws [are supposed to] protect children. For one, I must open a bank account for her and deposit at least 30% of her talent fee or else DOLE will hunt me down and imprison me.

There were important details such as working for 4 hours max, and the set must be ready by call time so that the baby can work right away and for the least number of hours possible. I will write about the shoot next time when I get the pictures, but all I can say for now is that if anything goes wrong in a shoot like this, I'm definitely running to DOLE for help.

A talet agent also offered to take Layla as a client and get her VTRs galore, but after the shoot, I realized that I didn't want that kind of life for Layla on a regular basis. Once in a while is cool, of course...I dunno, we'll see. Right now Poppy and I are her only agents. We're stage parents that way...more of strict parents actually. What do you expect when both parents are directors? :)