Documenting Your Baby's Life

If you're a new parent or will be expecting a little one soon, it's so important to document every new milestone and development of your child's life.

When you register for your baby shower, it's equally necessary to ask for photo albums and baby books.  Of course a baby bathtub and a pack of washcloths is essential to register for too, but you'll have a baby book and photo album for life.

I have a baby book that I started writing in when Scarlett was born.  I brought it the hospital with me and I remember having the nurses ink her feet to put her foot prints in the coordinating section of the book.  Those little feet grow so fast that you won't believe your child's foot was ever that small! My book had questions in it to fill out for the year she was born like price of gas, popular movies, etc.  There were also sections to fill out for information regarding her birth, my delivery, our reactions, etc.  

I'm very detail orientated, so I love to write down everything in full detail as soon as possible to remember the early days by.  The key to baby book success in my opinion is to fill it out as the event happens.  Did your baby smile on a Monday night? Record it as soon as the milestone happens.  If you wait to write down the information, you'll forget and it won't be as accurate.  If I didn't record the important events of Scarlett's life, I would probably not remember that she smiled at 6 weeks or sat up at 6 months.  It's never a good feeling to not 100% remember those special times.  Thanks to your baby book, you'll never have that issue.  

I've filled out my book up until 12 months.  The next sections are for two years old, three years old, and beyond.  All of the key milestones and developments have been recorded including sitting up, rolling over, crawling, first words, etc.  I love to go back and read her first or second month.  It feels like so long ago! Scarlett will love reading everything and having her questions answered when she's old enough to appreciate her book.

As for the photo album, get the largest one possible.  We started off with a small album that held 100 pictures to begin with.  That album has the first 6 months of her life documented in it.  On the back of each picture I wrote the location (if we were somewhere other than my house), the date, her age, and what was happening in the picture if it was something important.  My favorite pictures are her first baby gym class, her first time on the swings, and her first time tasting solid foods.  

In my opinion, there's nothing like having as much information as possible for pictures.  I don't want Scarlett to ask me how old she was in a picture or where she was and not know the answer. 

We've recently moved onto a larger album that holds 500 pictures.  This has her life from 7 months old going forward in it.  I routinely look through it and can't believe how small she was in some pictures.  It seems like she was 7 months old yesterday!

I can't wait to have many albums in the future containing a multitude of pictures of Scarlett.  I know we'll love to look back on it in 5 or 10 years.

Create memories now and for the future for your child.  A baby book and a photo album is the key to everlasting memories.