Capturing the Growth of a Baby

I'm packing away a lot of little baby things...bouncer, clothing, spit up cloths, receiving blankets, swing...all things we don't use anymore. 'Tis true-- babies do grow quickly (even my little peanut!)

When my baby girl was first born, I counted her age in hours: 2 hours old....7 hours....23 hours...
After she was one day old, I counted her age in days: 5 days old....9 days old....14 days old...
After about two weeks, I kept track of her age by week: 4 weeks old...10 weeks old...16 weeks old....
When she was about 4 months, I counted the months: 4 months....7 months...8 months

And she is now 8 months old!

We've celebrated a lot of "firsts": first plane/train/rental car ride, first time going to the zoo, first time going to the park, first time rolling over and sitting up, first taste of solids, first Mother's day... I am not very good at keeping track of all of the "firsts." I might just have to think of this entire year as her "first" and be done (and hey, it is her first year).

What I need is perspective because each day seems so exciting and new. Each moment with a new baby seems scrapbook-worthy and notable. In the digital age where mothers share and show-off creative and unique memory-keeping ways, it's easy to feel like a "bad" mom. Am I depriving my daughter of a beautiful babyhood by not documenting every moment? Despite my feeling that I am....no! We are living life and enjoying her babyhood...and it's alright that I didn't photograph every moment or write down the exact day she smiled, rolled over, or could sit unassisted. I don't keep track of her age in hours anymore...and I don't need to. 

But, I do wish I had thought of taking consistent pictures of her in specific poses to get a visual for her growth. Sometimes this just happened...like in the following pictures:

First month...

...just before 8 months

So a word of wisdom to soon-to-be new moms: think of any "stages of growth" pictures you want to take before you give birth...and be consistent. You'll be thankful that you did [smile].