Today little baby Sasha turns the big ONE. Where did the time go? I feel it was yesterday when I held this tiny screaming baby in my arms and all the nurses commented rolling their eyes: "She IS loud". My heart was aching and I was thinking that my undisturbed nights of sleep are long gone. I feel it was yesterday that I tried to swaddle her tight which never work, either because my skills weren't nailed yet or she loved her freedom too much. Where did the time go? That all has gone. Now she is a little troublemaker that runs around checking every corner and all new objects that gets on the way!
From the moment she was born I knew I wanted to document her first year in style. 15,000 everyday pictures on the phone weren't enough and I decided to make something special. I like the idea of taking pictures in the same place, with the same objects and see how baby changes compare to things around.
Let me show you how I documented Sasha's first year month by month.
Cute, right?
Here are some tips that I've learned along the way.
[ 1 ] Make your own toy
Handmade items always have more soul and make in my opinion the best presents. I always wanted Sasha to have a toy that I made myself, something special that she can cherish for her entire life. I even have a video of me pregnant making it. One day I'll show it to my daughter and hopefully, she will appreciate the effort. I chose to crochet this adorable giraffe. It is very easy to make and took me probably 3 evenings. It turned out better than I expected!
[ 2 ] Choose a natural background
Very important when choosing a background to keep in mind the size of it and the size of your baby in 12 months. I found this great white rustic wood backdrop on Amazon and it would be perfect if only I chose a bigger size. Mine is 3' x 4' and was great till 6 months, but after that Sasha was too active and just refused to lay still for a picture. After struggling with taking a monthly photo of her, I had to use a plain white background and have her in a sitting position.
[ 3 ] Chalkboard
You could use any kind of board to write down your baby's milestones. I've seen a lot of variations of this idea, where people used
I was struggling with fitting everything I wanted to say on one board. I'd recommend getting a bigger chalkboard. Every month there were things that stayed constant, like weight and length. I also tried to be creative and draw some cute ornaments, but I quickly realized I'm not much of a drawer.
[ 4 ] Cute matching outfits
I've seen so many cute matching outfits with numbers or even wearing the same onesie from 1 till 12 months ( those look particularly hilarious), but I chose for my pictures completely different pieces of clothing, mainly what I liked that month or whatever was clean haha
I think there are so many inspirational months by month pictures. If you are not yet inspired, please, check out my Pinterest for more ideas and tips. Overall, I'm very happy with how Sasha's pictures turned out. I'm planning to do it every year from now on. I'm thinking of a red dress theme. I think Sasha looks extremely gorgeous in red.
How did you document your baby's first year? Send me some ideas and comment below for the next one 😉
Also, if you are looking for a cute prop for your month by month pictures, check out how to make this adorable American Eskimo hat. It could be a great way to show how your baby has grown over the year.
xx,
April
Leave a Reply