Baby Pictures and Memories

I know that when you’re holding a screaming infant in the dead of the night that it feels as though the infant stage is never going to end. But what they say is true, the days may be long, but the years are super short and you spend so much of that first year in a sleep deprived haze that it all fades into one brief soggy memory of diapers, sippy cups, and spit up. When your preschooler asks you where babies come from you might catch yourself gazing at this big child in total shock wondering where the milky crusted infant vanished.

Even if your friends warned you about the vanishing memories it’s still hard to remember to pull out the camera and camcorder on a regular basis, and even harder to remember how old the baby was in those recorded moments.I’m here to help! Here are four fun ways to track that elusive first year in a way that will not only keep everything in order, but will also make all your mom friends green with envy that they didn’t think of it too. 

The weekly picturePick a cute stuffed animal, any one of the hundreds you gotas a baby gift will do. Choose a comfy chair and create a sign that reads “WeekX” (X obviously being the number of weeks your little cherub has been alive).Every week, on the baby’s weekaversary prop up the infant, stuffed animal, andsign in the comfy armchair and snap away. Bonus points if you get a few “real”shots of baby crying, laughing, eating the sign, or cuddling with the stuffedanimal.

What you get: Usingthe same props each week will give you a great sense of the baby’s growth andmake for a fun flip book of your baby’s first year.

52 minutes of babyvideoDesignate a special 60 minute camcorder tape or CD and labelit “A year in 52 minutes.” Every week video tape the baby for a whole minute.It doesn’t have to be a spectacular moment; in fact, it’s those every daymoments that you end up missing the most so capture a sleeping infant, a messybaby, or even a tantruming toddler. When you turn on the camera and startfilming be sure to state the date and baby’s age. Start recording each segmentat the very end of the last one and at the end of a year you’ll have awonderful memento of your baby’s first year that you, and she, will never tireof watching. Even if all you do is keep rewinding back to that segment ofsleeping infant over and over again.

What you get: A videotape/CD filled with precious snippets of your baby’s first year.

Keep a JournalPick a cute journal or a plain ol’ spiral bound notebook.Keep it handy, in your purse, in your car, or even in the kitchen. When yourkid says or does something cute, funny, embarrassing, or even unremarkable, jotit down. Your entries can be as short as a one liner “Bobby threw up entirelunch and clapped,” or pages long as you wax poetic about Roxie’s first steps.Encourage your significant other, family members, or caregivers to jot downentries.

What you get: At theend of the year you’ll have a moving tome of memories that you’ll be thrilledto have when that infant sets off for college, and ammunition to say “What goesaround comes around!” when he calls to complain about his own children’santics.

Start a BlogI know. It sounds daunting, but really it’s not! There aretons of free blog hosting sites that will get you up and running in a fewminutes. You can upload pictures and videos and share cute baby anecdotes. Youdon’t have to be a stellar writer, and you most definitely don’t have to shareyour blog with the world, you can password protect your site and only letfamily and close friends in on the fun.

What you get: A dynamicreview of your baby’s life complete with comments from family and friends.

Have fun recording that first year and keep those “it wasjust a sleep deprived haze” blues at bay. And when that first year comes to aclose? Well, no one says you have to stop recording those fleeting moments!

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4. Bringing Home Baby
5. Making Memories with Open House