I think the camera got to go lower in terms of its angle. Afterall its a cute little kid and its impt to catch its eyes i believe. Go up close too, its alittle too wide at this range. Its quite lacking of a subject in this picture, the boy's glance doesn't make up for the lack of it.
Maybe just a framing of the boy looking and him holding the mother's hand can convey the message better. A picture of a curious boy?
a lower angle, so that the kid doesn't look so pet-like.. would be more flattering for your subject
eye contact is not absolutely necessary, but when there is no eye contact the subject's pose has to be interesting.. here i do not find it as such
perhaps going closer (not very easy if you do not know the kid/parent, i know) might be better too, can throw the background out of focus more, right now the bokeh is not enough and it is still quite distracting.