Baby's first year keepsake calendar

Here's an idea to keep track of your baby's little firsts. I wish I had thought of it sooner, but we just got the KLAW's in the mail (he's three months old.). My mom mentioned she had a calendar to record my brother's "firsts" and I thought it was a neat idea to keep track of all the little developments along the way. One of the things I've enjoyed most about the KLAW over the last three months is watching him develop and learn in tiny increments. Most baby books only have blanks for the big milestones, but being with your baby daily means you will pick up on little things, like when they notice their hands, hold their head up, etc. Having a reminder to fill in a daily activity or development is a quick, easy way to keep track of your baby's first year. I know that I will reference this in the future - maybe when spawn #2 comes around, as a reminder of what to expect. Plus it will be a treasured keepsake when the KLAW is older.

Right after your baby is born order a calendar of your kiddo's first year. I used Shutterfly, which allows you to choose a background theme, different photo layouts, and even put photos on notable dates (your child's birthday, your anniversary, etc). You can set the calendar to start the month of your child's birth. I didn't think to do this, but you could also write text in the date boxes to count the weeks after your baby arrives to keep track (after about 8 weeks it starts getting a little hard to remember). Use pictures from the first days to personalize the calendar. (Alternately, use any old calendar you like!)

If you're new to Shutterfly, use promo code BCCALENDAR4 through January 31, 2014 to get a free calendar (just pay shipping).

Now I need to go back in and fill in the last three months - luckily everything is documented on Facebook!