At Google Cloud Next 2023, thousands of people gathered in San Francisco to learn about the newest updates from Google Cloud.
A recap of Google’s top announcements and initiatives in 2022.
If your goal is to digitally declutter, Gmail has lots of ways to help you out for the new year.
Last year, as we wrapped up 2020, so many of us looked around and wondered what the world would be like now. Would many people return to the office? Would kids return to classrooms? Would we return to restaurants, concerts, football games? The COVID-19 vaccine helped move many of us in that direction, but as 2021 ends, we’re still grappling with many of those same questions.
On The Keyword, and at Google as a whole, we focused on those questions, too. We shared updates around vaccine equity and the hybrid workplace, but also returned to hosting events like Google I/O — digitally. And we had some fun along the way, too. Here’s a look at what we were up to in 2021.
1. Through 2021, the world’s focus was still on COVID-19, and that was also the case at Google. We announced new tools to support vaccine access and distribution, ways we’re helping get vaccines to more people around the world and technology to improve searches for vaccine information. We also stayed committed to vaccine equity, and equity around health. Within Google, we gave a preview of our hybrid approach to work, and shared several updates about our approach to returning to the office.
2. Of course, hybrid work wasn’t just top of mind for Googlers. The nature of work changed for many people around the world in 2021, and we responded with new products and initiatives to prepare for our “new normal.” We opened up Workspace for everyone, and shared hybrid work tips from our own productivity expert. We provided resources for businesses on the road to recovery, from small businesses to LGBTQ+ spaces. And we expanded our Grow with Google Career Certificate program to help job seekers at community colleges and in the military community.
3. Teachers and students were particularly affected by the pandemic, and we were hard at work improving the virtual and hybrid learning experience. We launched more than 50 new education features for products like Classroom, Meet and Cloud, and launched Workspace for Education to give educators and administrators more flexibility. Throughout the year, we also took the time to give teachers the appreciation they deserve.
4. 2021 marked the return of Google I/O, which went fully digital this year — and was free for everyone. We previewed new software, including Android 12, and new technologies like LaMDA, MUM and Project Starline. I/O also included a glimpse into our new Quantum AI campus, and gave Googlers who attended a chance to finally meet one another in person.
The technology behind Project Starline
5. I/O wasn’t the only time we unveiled new products. This year marked the launch of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, which feature the Google Tensor chip and come in a fresh new set of colors. This was also the year Google acquired Fitbit, which launched the Charge 5 and Luxe and even partnered with Will Smith. We also introduced the new Nest Hub (which required some sleeping on the job), and a new set of Nest Cams and Doorbells.
6. We shared how AI is making information more useful in our second annual Search On event, and showed how AI is redefining what a map can be as well as helping map buildings in Africa. The Keyword spoke to Googler Marian Croak, who brought together our Responsible AI team, after she was honored by the National Inventors Hall of Fame for her work in advancing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technologies. And we spotlighted another Googler who created a crossword puzzle you can play to learn more about responsible AI.
7. Throughout the year, The Keyword highlighted Googlers who do fascinating things, both at work and during their free time. From Chrome OS design to children’s books, from interns to Olympians, the people behind our products stayed busy in 2021.
8. In one of The Keyword team’s favorite posts of the year, a Googler shared his story of communicating with his parents who are deaf using Google products. It was just one of many accessibility updates this year, including how we’re making Android more accessible and testing a new project to make communication more accessible for people with speech impairments. We spotlighted how an autistic Googler communicated with his manager, and a drummer who used AI to build a prosthetic arm.
9. As we make technological advances, we always kept our impact on the planet in mind. On The Keyword, we took a look at a water-saving entrepreneur and previewed our “dragonscale” solar panels. We announced new progress toward our 24/7 carbon-free energy goal, talked about how climate change was the next big moonshot — and used Google Earth timelapses to show just how much work there is left to do.
10. We continued to focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, posting updates on the racial equity commitments we announced in 2020 and launching new funds for Black and Latino entrepreneurs. We made our inclusive marketing toolkit available to everyone, partnered with HBCUs to address the diversity gap in technology and invested in Black-led startups and investment firms. And this focus extended to our products as well: The Pixel 6 comes with a more equitable camera that can better reflect all skin tones.
11. Google opened new offices around the world in 2021, from Taiwan to Ireland to New Zealand. We also launched new initiatives to promote the digital future across the globe, including through our Google for Africa event, our Digital Future Initiative in Australia and our partnership with Jio in India. Google News Showcase expanded around the world, and the Google News Initiative’s Innovation Challenge sparked new ideas in the global news industry. And Google.org’s Impact Challenge for Women and Girls, with help from none other than Shakira, backed 34 organizations around the world.
The Blob Opera performs with Tune-Yards at I/O.
12. When they weren’t going on a world tour with the Blob Opera, which made a splash performing at I/O, the team at Google Arts & Culture were helping us match our pets with works of art — oh, and reviving long-lost masterpieces by Gustav Klimt. In other artistic pursuits, one Doodle this year paid tribute to the late DJ Avicii — and another, created by Doodle for Google winner Milo, was all about finding hope and resilience.
13. As parts of the world began to open up again, that meant the return of sports, too. The 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games actually took place in the summer of 2021, and Google was along for the ride. And in the U.S. we announced partnerships with the NBA and the WNBA — and perhaps most importantly of all, looked at the Search trends for the most im-paw-tant sports event of the year: the Puppy Bowl.
This is just a short list of everything Google was up to in 2021. And in 2022, as things (hopefully) move closer toward whatever “normal” means now, we’re looking forward to sharing more new discoveries, updates and stories.
A collection of holiday tips, tricks and tools from Google.
Look around you right now and consider everything that was created by an inventor. The computer you’re reading this article on, the internet necessary to load this article, the electricity that powers the screen, even the coffee maker you used this morning.
To recognize the incredible contributions of those inventors and the benefits they bring to our everyday life, the National Inventors Hall of Fame has inducted a new group of honorees every year since 1973. In this year’s combined inductee class of 2020/2021, Googler Marian Croak is being honored for her work in advancing VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Technology, which powers the online calls and video chats that have helped businesses and families stay connected through the COVID-19 pandemic. She holds more than 200 patents, and recently was honored by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
These days, Marian leads our Research Center for Responsible AI and Human Centered Technology, which is responsible for ensuring Google develops artificial intelligence responsibly and that it has a positive impact. We chatted over Google Meet to find out how plumbers and electricians sparked her interest in science, how her inventions have made life in a pandemic a tiny bit easier for everyone, and what the NIHF honor means to her.
When was the first time you realized you were interested in technology?
I was probably around 5 or 6. I know that we don’t usually think of things like plumbing or electricity as necessarily technology, but they are. I was very enchanted with plumbers and electricians who would come to our house and fix things. They would be dirty and greasy, but I would love the smell, you know? I felt like, Wow, what a miracle worker! I would follow them around, trying to figure out how they’d fix something. I still do that today!
So when you have electricians come to your house, you’re still like, “Hey, how did you do that?”
There was a leak once, and I was asking the plumber all these questions, and he asked me to quiet down! Because he needed to listen to the invisible flow of water through the pipes to determine the problem. It was amazing to me how similar it was to network engineering!
You’ve had a few different roles at Google and Alphabet so far. How did you move to where you are today?
When I first came to Google, my first role was bringing the Internet to emerging markets. Laying fiber in Africa, building public Wi-Fi in railroad stations in India and then exploring the landscape in countries like Cuba and countries where there wasn’t an openness yet for the Internet. And that was a fascinating job. It was a merger of technology, policy and governmental affairs, combined with an understanding of communities and regions.
Then I worked on bringing features and technology and Google’s products to the next billion users. And after I did that for a few years, I joined the Site Reliability Engineering organization to help enhance the performance of Google’s complex, integrated systems. Now my current role is leading the Research Center for Responsible AI and Human Centered Technology group. I'm inspired that my work has the potential to positively impact so many of our users.
Today you’re being inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for your work in advancing VoIP technology. What inspired you to work on VoIP, and can you describe that process of bringing the technology to life?
I have alway been motivated by the desire to change the world, and to do that I try to change the world that I’m currently in. What I mean by that is I work on problems that I am aware of, and that I can tackle within the world that surrounds me. So when I began working on VoIP technology, it was at a time in the late ‘90s when there was a lot of change happening involving the internet. Netscape had put a user-friendly web browser in place and there was a lot of new activity beginning to bubble up all over the online world.
I was part of a team that was also very interested in doing testing and prototyping of voice communications over the internet. There were some existing technologies but they didn't scale and they were proprietary in nature, so we were thinking of ways we could open it up, make it scalable, make it reliable and be able to support billions of daily calls. We started to work on this but had a lot of doubters telling us that this wouldn’t work, and that no one would ever use this “toy like” technology. And at the time, they were right: It wasn't working and it wasn't reliable. But over time we were able to get it to a point where it started working very well. So much so that eventually the senior leaders within AT&T began to adopt the technology for their core network. It was challenging but an exciting thing for me to do because I like to bring change to things, especially when people doubt that it can happen.
What advice would you give to aspiring inventors?
Most importantly, don’t give up, and during the process of creation, listen to your critics. I received so much criticism and in many ways it was valid. That type of feedback motivated me to improve the technology, and really address a variety of pain points that I hadn’t necessarily thought of.
What does being inducted into the NIHF mean to you?
Well it's humbling, and a great experience. At the time I never thought the work that I was doing was that significant and that it would lead to this, but I’m so I'm very grateful for the recognition.
What does it mean to be a part of a class that sees the first two Black women inducted into the NIHF?
I find that it inspires people when they see someone who looks like themselves on some dimension, and I’m proud to offer that type of representation. People also see that I'm just a normal person like themselves and I think that also inspires them to accomplish their goals. I want people to understand that it may be difficult but that they can overcome obstacles and that it will be so worth it.
In this post: Rich Jones, who works in people operations at Google, is the host of a personal finance podcast called "Paychecks & Balances." He hopes his show can help people learn from his mistakes — and now he's helping others start podcasts, too.
Several years ago, Rich Jones was on the hunt for personal finance podcasts. But none were right for him. “It felt like every podcast that I listened to either made me feel dumb, or made me feel like I was being lectured by an old white guy in a suit,” he says. “Or it just was really boring.” So he decided to create his own.
These days, his podcast, “Paychecks & Balances,” has been downloaded more than two million times and recently won an award from the Plutus Foundation, which highlights excellence in financial media. He often records episodes from his Mountain View home in the early-morning hours, then logs on for his job working in People Operations at Google.
For years, Rich has turned to the internet to express himself. But even though his name is, well, Rich, he didn’t first think of money as a topic to talk about. In fact, he had first blogged about relationships for several years, and then co-hosted a podcast called “2 Guys, 1 Show,” that was about more general topics, including money.
Rich realized that if he felt lectured by finance podcasters, other people like him — and possibly younger people learning about money for the first time — likely felt the same way. So he and his co-host decided to focus on finances and rename the podcast “Paychecks & Balances.” They wanted to reach out to younger versions of themselves — and Rich also wanted to represent people like him as well as reach them. “Even now, you won’t find a whole lot of Black men in the personal finance space in particular,” he says. “I think it’s important to be out there as a Black male and show a perspective that you might not be getting elsewhere.”
For the current season of the show, Rich is hosting the show solo, and he’s continuing to share his own financial progress while also teaching others. When he started the show, he was grappling with credit-card debt after treating his cards like “free money.” Because of his experience, he knows to talk about money in a way that’s relatable and simple, for people just starting to manage their finances. “I don’t call myself an expert,” he says. “Podcasting is a medium for me to talk about my experience. And not just my successes, but the mistakes I’ve made along the way as well.”
It felt like every podcast that I listened to either made me feel dumb, or made me feel like I was being lectured by an old white guy in a suit.
Rich is constantly surprised that he keeps getting the same questions over and over — like how to balance a budget, or why not to sign up for a credit card in exchange for a free T-shirt. And over the past year, he’s seen friends fall prey to get-rich-quick scams and even try to sign him up. Rich says this is a symptom of a lack of financial education. “The interesting problem to me is: How do we close that gap where this information feels accessible to everyone, and people are accessing that information a lot sooner?” he says.
With the growth of his podcast, Rich says people have come to him asking for advice on starting their own podcasts. So this month he launched a YouTube page, The Show Starter, which breaks down advice for people who might not have a technical audio background. “It’ll be a combination of tutorials, reviews and some motivational content, but not the cheesy, corny kind,” he says. “It’s very similar to the approach I take with personal finance topics, where I try to simplify things as much as possible and take out the jargon.” He hopes to one day expand his work into a multimedia company, with multiple brands under the “Paychecks & Balances” umbrella.
Rich says both his podcast and his YouTube channel have the same goal: helping others. “While the podcast is about money, for me this has never been about the money,” Rich says. “I love seeing people achieve freedom in their lives, whatever that means for them. I think continuing to focus on that is what has kept people along for the ride.”
When my daughter Ruth was born this January, she was a handful. Literally. In the early months of her life, she refused to be put down, fussing and screaming unless we were holding her, walking up and down the hallways of our home. I became a sleep-deprived zombie, shuffling around with one arm free to get some much-needed coffee. And that was on a good day.
I needed all the help I could get. And for me, some of that help came in the form of Google Assistant. Thanks to the Google Nest devices around my house, I was able to get things done a little easier by saying, “Hey Google, turn the temperature down” or “Hey Google, play some soothing music.”
If you’re thinking about the frazzled parents in your life this holiday season, there are a variety of Nest products that might be just right for your gift list. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.
Whether your kid blisses out to classic rock or gets hyped up to the umpteenth playing of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” music is key to getting a little bit of peace in the house. The new Nest Audio can play songs via your favorite streaming music subscriptions with a simple voice command. Plus, it features Media EQ that automatically adjusts the volume based on the background noise in your home. Want to play white noise to soothe your crying baby while you get her bottle ready? It’ll be loud enough to hear over all that whining.
In our house, the temperature can fluctuate depending on what time of day it is. That makes it tough to make sure Ruth is at a comfy temperature for naps and nights. Luckily, the new Nest Thermostat offers Quick Schedule, which lets you set a custom temperature at different times of the day. That way, we can make sure Ruth’s nursery is at the right temperature at night, but our office isn’t stiflingly hot during the day. Plus, the thermostat is simple to use and at an affordable price, which makes it an easy fit for many families.
With the COVID-19 pandemic making families stay home more than usual, that means it’s extra crucial to find shows everyone agrees on. Thankfully, the new Chromecast with Google TV gives you personalized recommendations based on what you like to watch. And its new remote lets you control your smart home using Google Assistant.
We have various Nest devices throughout the house, and we use them to communicate with one another. If I’m feeding Ruth in the nursery downstairs and she’s hungrier than I expect, for example, I say, “Hey Google, broadcast to Kitchen Display: ‘I need another bottle,’” so my husband can bring down a bottle. And when tracking how much she drank, we’d ask the Assistant to convert milliliters to ounces, or just do basic addition and subtraction when we were too sleepy to calculate how much she had to eat. Data-loving parents like me can also use a list to track feeding amounts and nap times via Keep, Docs or other note-taking apps.
My daughter was born in the months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, so we were lucky to have family come by and help out until she was about two months old. But by March, we were quarantined, leaving the grandparents sorely missing their granddaughter. With our Nest Hub Max, we can make hands-free video calls on Google Duo—and when the baby naps, we can quickly decline a few overenthusiastic calls from Grandpa’s Nest Smart Display or smartphone app. And the Hub Max’s camera angle moves with us throughout the room, so we can get chores done (or just keep Ruth happy) while we keep in touch.
These days, Ruth can handle being put down. (Well, at least sometimes.) But I know that Nest will keep being a helping hand as she gets older—and especially when she asks me to play cartoons on repeat.
When my daughter Ruth was born this January, she was a handful. Literally. In the early months of her life, she refused to be put down, fussing and screaming unless we were holding her, walking up and down the hallways of our home. I became a sleep-deprived zombie, shuffling around with one arm free to get some much-needed coffee. And that was on a good day.
I needed all the help I could get. And for me, some of that help came in the form of Google Assistant. Thanks to the Google Nest devices around my house, I was able to get things done a little easier by saying, “Hey Google, turn the temperature down” or “Hey Google, play some soothing music.”
If you’re thinking about the frazzled parents in your life this holiday season, there are a variety of Nest products that might be just right for your gift list. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.
Whether your kid blisses out to classic rock or gets hyped up to the umpteenth playing of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” music is key to getting a little bit of peace in the house. The new Nest Audio can play songs via your favorite streaming music subscriptions with a simple voice command. Plus, it features Media EQ that automatically adjusts the volume based on the background noise in your home. Want to play white noise to soothe your crying baby while you get her bottle ready? It’ll be loud enough to hear over all that whining.
In our house, the temperature can fluctuate depending on what time of day it is. That makes it tough to make sure Ruth is at a comfy temperature for naps and nights. Luckily, the new Nest Thermostat offers Quick Schedule, which lets you set a custom temperature at different times of the day. That way, we can make sure Ruth’s nursery is at the right temperature at night, but our office isn’t stiflingly hot during the day. Plus, the thermostat is simple to use and at an affordable price, which makes it an easy fit for many families.
With the COVID-19 pandemic making families stay home more than usual, that means it’s extra crucial to find shows everyone agrees on. Thankfully, the new Chromecast with Google TV gives you personalized recommendations based on what you like to watch. And its new remote lets you control your smart home using Google Assistant.
We have various Nest devices throughout the house, and we use them to communicate with one another. If I’m feeding Ruth in the nursery downstairs and she’s hungrier than I expect, for example, I say, “Hey Google, broadcast to Kitchen Display: ‘I need another bottle,’” so my husband can bring down a bottle. And when tracking how much she drank, we’d ask the Assistant to convert milliliters to ounces, or just do basic addition and subtraction when we were too sleepy to calculate how much she had to eat. Data-loving parents like me can also use a list to track feeding amounts and nap times via Keep, Docs or other note-taking apps.
My daughter was born in the months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, so we were lucky to have family come by and help out until she was about two months old. But by March, we were quarantined, leaving the grandparents sorely missing their granddaughter. With our Nest Hub Max, we can make hands-free video calls on Google Duo—and when the baby naps, we can quickly decline a few overenthusiastic calls from Grandpa’s Nest Smart Display or smartphone app. And the Hub Max’s camera angle moves with us throughout the room, so we can get chores done (or just keep Ruth happy) while we keep in touch.
These days, Ruth can handle being put down. (Well, at least sometimes.) But I know that Nest will keep being a helping hand as she gets older—and especially when she asks me to play cartoons on repeat.
The next time you hear a popular song on the radio, listen to the beat behind the lyrics. Usually, a high-powered production team came up with it—but in the future, that beat could be created with help from artificial intelligence. That’s what Googler MJ Jacob predicts, as he combines his job as an engineer with his love for writing and performing rap music.
Usually based in Google’s offices in New York City, MJ is working from his Manhattan apartment these days as a customer engineer for Google Cloud, helping companies figure out how to use machine learning and AI to accomplish their business goals. But in his free time, he’s writing lyrics, producing hip-hop tracks and creating YouTube videos detailing how he does it all.
MJ has balanced an interest in technology with a love for hip-hop since he was a 13-year-old living in Virginia. His family was struggling financially, and he found rappers’ rags-to-riches lyrics to be inspirational. “Almost every rapper I listened to was broke and then they made it,” he recalls. “These rappers had very hard childhoods, whether it was because of money, parental issues or anger from insecurities, and all of that is what I felt in that moment.”
His favorite rappers felt like personal mentors, and he decided to imitate them and try rapping himself. He recorded songs using the microphone on his MP3 player; he says they were a crucial way for him to vent. “From when I was 13 until today, being able to write about my life and how I’m feeling, it’s the most therapeutic thing for me,” he says.
Around the same time he discovered hip-hop, MJ became fascinated by technology. His family couldn’t afford a computer, but someone at his local church built a computer for them, complete with a see-through CPU tower. MJ first used it just to edit music, but always loved looking at the computer parts light up. One day, he spent six hours taking the tower apart and putting the pieces back together. “It was very overwhelming but exciting the entire time,” he says, “and I think that’s a similar emotion I feel when I make music.”
Most recently, he posted a video showcasing how he used AI to create a hip-hop beat. He collected instrumental tracks that he and his producer friends had created over the years, and uploaded the files to Google Cloud. Then he used Magenta, Google’s open-source tool that uses machine learning to help create music and art. (Musicians like YACHT have used Magenta to create entire albums.) Based on how he identified “hip-hop” in his dataset, the machine learning model created entirely new melodies and drum beats. MJ then used those new sounds to craft his track, and wrote and performed lyrics to go along with it.
Even though it was made with the help of machine learning, the finished product still sounded like his music. And that’s the whole point: MJ wants to show that AI doesn’t take away the human side of his art—it adds to it. “AI never replaced anything,” he explains. “It only assisted.”
Authenticity is important to MJ (whose musical alias is MJx Music), because he sees music as an important emotional outlet. His most popular song, “Time Will Heal,” which has more than a million streams, is inspired by his sister, a survivor of sexual abuse. The lyrics are written from her perspective. “She taught me so much about what it means to be a strong human, to go through hell and back and still be able to make it,” MJ says. “We decided it would be a cool opportunity to not only share her story, but also help anyone who’s ever been abused or felt they’ve been taken advantage of.”
Next, MJ is hoping to take his experiments with music and machine learning to a new level. In fact, he’s so inspired by the combination that he’s looking to create a three or four-track EP co-produced by AI.
“Both music and tech are so fulfilling for me that they have the ability to intertwine so well,” he says. “Now I’m pushing myself even more musically, and I’m pushing myself even more technically. It’s cool to be able to contribute to a new concept in the world.”
When the going gets tough, the tough bake sourdough bread. Or take up knitting. Or just really get into a new video game. In the months since the COVID-19 pandemic left many of us working from home and social distancing cut down on our calendars, we’ve had plenty of time to pick up a few new hobbies here and there. Others have spent time figuring out how to adapt their passions to the inside of their homes. And that’s the case for Googlers, too, who are still playing in orchestras and working on arts and crafts in quarantine. Here are a few inspiring projects Googlers are working on in their spare time, from home.
Last year, a group of 20 San Francisco-area Googlers got together to compete in a local dance competition. They called themselves Incognito Mode and won second place. Since then, they performed in showcases both inside and outside the office, but the pandemic put a stop to performing in person anytime soon. Instead, they recorded a dance video from their homes, dodging friends, roommates and pets in the process. Each of the 18 participants choreographed a portion of the routine, and they later edited the footage together. “We faced new challenges of dancing together virtually, but it also allowed us to connect in ways we wouldn’t have otherwise,” says Jason Scott, head of Google’s U.S. startup developer ecosystem and one of the group’s creative directors. “Many of our members now live around the country, but remote dance projects have let them continue dancing with us.”
In the summer of 2016, around 30 Googlers picked up their instruments and played in The Googler Orchestra’s very first concert. Ever since then, they’ve rehearsed weekly and grown in numbers, with their last in-person performance featuring 80 Googler musicians. After Googlers started working from home, one orchestra member posted a call to get people to play together virtually. That started the Googler Virtual Orchestra, which has increased the group’s membership; their third recording will feature more than 100 musicians across three countries.
Members each individually record their parts and then edit the footage together into one track. “It’s a logistical challenge,” says Colton Provias, the group’s lead audio engineer and a software engineer based in Sunnyvale, California. “It takes about three months from first discussions of what piece to play through the released video.”
The group intends to continue their work-from-home performances, and potentially adding other instruments or even a choir. “It speaks to the many talents that Googlers have, not just in the workplace, but outside of it too,” says Derek Wu, the orchestra’s founder and a software engineer based in Palo Alto, California. “The orchestra, for myself and others, allows everyone to unite together and create music that as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Gao Fang, who works in information security from Google’s Singapore office, had never drawn a comic before she started working from home in March. “Before the pandemic, I could roam around and sketch landscapes,” she says. “Then the lockdown happened and there was only that much I could sketch in my apartment. My hands got itchy for things to draw, and since I would like to keep a diary of this historical event, it's a natural step to record my days with some drawings.”
Adam Stoves, who works on the Real Estate and Workplace Services team in New York, has been working from his 600-square-foot apartment alongside his wife and their toddler. Back in May, on a whim, he bought a pack of Play-Doh to entertain his daughter, but it ended up entertaining the parents, too. He and his wife started crafting miniature sculptures, which they now share online. They’ve created miniature foods, animals and even a teensy face mask. “Our daughter will pitch in from time to time, but her true talent lies indisputably in being the cutest hand model ever,” Adam says. “We have a limited window where she remains attentive, so we do a little chant: Big flat hand! Big flat hand!, when it’s time to photograph. It helps sharpen her toddler focus.”
