Your journey to parenthood has just started, Congratulations!
It’s an amazing time and you want to capture every single second because it’s true what they say; babies change so fast.
And the funny thing is, as I reach my own daughter turning one, is that I never really noticed. Occasionally one morning I would think ‘Oh she’s got more hair’ or ‘Oh she seems fuller in her face’ but it’s hard to see unless you keep a record. And there are so many ways!
So here are my top 7 ways to record a baby’s first year and which ones we chose to do too.
1) Milestone Cards
These are great for the early months and are super cute. What I would say is once you get past around 6 months, forget it. They will eat them, throw them, and generally, it all goes into a bit of a shambles. So definitely perfect for the early ones, not so cute when they’re sucking on a bitten off part of ‘Today I got my first Tooth’
2) 1 Second EveryDay App
We have started doing this for 2021 as we didn’t do it for Charlotte’s first year, but I wish we had.
Several of my friends sent theirs and it really is a lovely watch. Although it’s not a photo record, it’s great to see just one second of your child growing. We only have up until now to look back on (almost 2 months) but already I’m loving seeing Charlotte change and hope it will be a great momento of her ‘boddler’ months.
3) Lay-on Milestone Mat
Very much like the milestone cards, these look gorgeous for the early months where they lie there not moving. I like that it has the same backdrop each month and you move some sort of marker or hoop around the mat showing what week or month they are in. But again, I would give it up once they decide crawling is more fun.
4) Memory Box/Book
We have a little memory box where we’ve kept all the usual bits like the hospital tag etc. but I’ve also heard of people writing little notes and a photo for each month, either in a box or a book.
I think this is really lovely to look back on and it will make a lovely keepsake to have something tangible.
5) Family Photo Every Month
A lovely friend of mine gave me this suggestion and I’ve really enjoyed it over the last 12 months.
She said ‘take it on the first of the month and don’t worry where it is, what you’re doing, it just has to be you three’.
And that’s what we’ve done. My friend has done hers now for years and it’s so touching when she’s shared memories of relatives who are no longer there, family pets, holidays, etc, but the rule is that the 4 of them are always present, whilst the world around them changes.
In our 2nd photo (April) Mark had shaved his beard off for work due to the pandemic starting, in July we’re taking our first walk to the beach as we hadn’t wanted to drive for a walk and the list goes on. Little moments that we probably wouldn’t have captured showing how all 3 of us have changed together.
6) A private social media account/ online photo album
I completely get that not everyone is happy sharing their child online with everyone, so a private account or a sharing album with only certain people allowed to view, means that photos can be uploaded quickly and seen by all the family members at the same time. We do this with the grandparents so I don’t forget to send one photo to one set and not the other, and they leave little comments about how they’re getting on. We also have a niece who is 5 months older than Charlotte and I love to see her changing almost daily.
7) A journal or email account
I love to write and would have loved to do this, but I’ve heard people say about opening up an email account and sending thoughts and emails to it over the years for them or their child to read as a memory. I’m sure Charlotte would be bored to tears from me doing that, and in some ways, this blog and my Instagram remind me a lot of how the first year has been. Where we have (or most likely haven’t) been, what we’ve eaten and what has made us laugh.
I hope this gives you a couple of ideas.
I think most importantly, just soak it up and jot it down. Because you think you’ll remember, but you forget, and you just remember when someone else says what their baby did and you think ‘wow, that time was crazy wasn’t it!’
Let me know if you have any other ideas, I’d love to know xx
