A grumpy baby’s photo shoot goes viral and the internet coos, “Is he serious?”

The only thing cuter than a baby is a baby that makes silly faces.

Cincinnati-based photographer Lauren Carson might know a thing or two about this, considering she’s been taking professional newborn photos for a decade. One of Carson’s baby portraits recently went viral, attracting the attention of thousands of people who visited her Facebook page to see the adorably grumpy baby for themselves.

“I have been photographing newborns for ten years and have photographed hundreds of babies who have given me so many wonderful facial expressions. But none, and I mean NONE, compares to the looks this lovely guy gave me,” Carson wrote.

Since it was first published on May 15, the post has garnered over 150,000 reactions and nearly 20,000 comments. Many people in the comments cooed at the baby or joked about his rather serious expression.

“It’s not his first life, he’s like, ‘Seriously? I’m back again? » – wrote Megan Genevieve.

“It reflects what many of us feel.”

The response Carson received last week was overwhelming, with supportive messages and calls in the comments from parents interested in having their children photographed, Carson told USA TODAY on Wednesday.

“It was great to read the comments. They are hilarious. People love these facial expressions. I think this baby just kind of reflects what many of us are feeling right now. So it was a lot of fun,” Carson said.

Carson says the baby’s mother calmly deflects attention from the post and describes her as “very chill.”

“She thinks it’s pretty funny too. It was a lot of fun talking to her. The numbers continue to grow and you can see what people are saying,” Carson said.

A typical photo session, minus all the expressions

While the newborn’s facial expression may seem a bit unusual, Carson says it was a session like any other. The baby was wide awake when he arrived at the Sharonville studio, which meant the photo session would be preceded by a session in a swaddle.

According to Carson, newborns are usually “pretty happy” when they are swaddled because they are nice and cozy wrapped in their little blankets.

“So we wrapped him up and were about to take some photos when he started making all these faces. “His mom and I were just cracking up, laughing at the intensity of his look and eye contact,” Carson said.

It didn’t take long for the little boy to get tired, as newborns don’t usually maintain “long eye contact.”

Carson said that after they fell asleep, they were able to take more traditional newborn photos.

It’s great fun to capture your child’s personality and quirks

Carson knew these photos would be popular because they are cute, but she didn’t expect them to be this popular. She said the best thing about taking newborn photos like this is knowing that “these little people” will grow up and become whatever they want.

“There’s so much potential in this tiny, tiny person, so seeing the little personality quirks and being able to appreciate them is just so much fun,” Carson said.

As Carson’s children (ages 9, 12 and 15) grow, she appreciates the little ones more and more.

“In our house, we’re so far removed from the situation where we have tiny babies to cuddle and little kids full of attitude that now that I’ve been through this side of parenting, I appreciate it a lot more,” Carson said. “I also know how fleeting these stages are, and being able to capture these moments for my clients is really important to me.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Grumpy Baby Photo Shoot Goes Viral: Here’s the Story