This year I’ve been devoting one week a month to a themed blog series, with daily blog posts. I’ve talked all about project life, shared some ‘wish someone told me sooner’ parenting advice, written about ways to preserve your memories/photos, revealed our favorite things in West Seattle, taught a few easy photo editing tips & celebrated my third birthday. This week, I’m sharing fun & easy ways to document childhood!
fun & easy ways to document childhood
Let’s start at the beginning of childhood: the first year. SO MUCH HAPPENS. It’s insanity. Newborns morph into babies who magically turn into toddlers. It goes by in a groggy-sleep-deprived flash. And, often, you’re in survival mode for the bulk of this first year and it’s tough to see the big picture.
But, even in the trenches, you’ll be able to take one photo a month. If you’ve visited my blog just one time in the past 3 years, you’ve probably seen one of my children in a numbered onesie. My cousin, Bridget, made these monthly onesies when I was expecting Colin and I’ve had so much fun putting them to use with both kids.
tips for taking monthly photos of your baby
Now that I’ve done 24 months of these milestone photos, I have a few tips to share:
- Shoot in the same room at the same time of day. It’ll help with consistency in lighting so when the full year of photos is combined, everything blends well together.
- Open all the blinds in the room to get as much natural light as possible.
- Place baby on the floor so that the window is on their left or right side. This will be the most flattering light on their face and help you get catch lights in their eyes.
- Take the photo after naptime while baby has a full stomach. (Aren’t we all more cooperative when we’re fed & rested?)
- Before baby is mobile, play peekaboo behind the camera or blow raspberries on their tummy to get smiles. After baby is mobile, try holding up a toy they have never seen before to get their attention. Then snap quickly!
download a set of monthly baby photo signs
My cousin used to sell these onesie sets on Etsy, but has since closed her shop. Lucky for you, she was generous enough to create a FREE DOWNLOAD of these designs so that you can use them too! She’s included newborn through 12 months in a pdf file- you can print, cut out & simply use the paper circle to document each month (tape it on a white onesie, place it on the blanket next to the baby, etc) OR if you’re more talented than me, you could even press your own onesies to keep forever.
Click here to download —–> FREE MONTHLY BABY PHOTO SIGNS
Looking for a fun way to display the photos? We have this gorgeous frame for each child and I LOVE THEM!
More fun ideas for documenting childhood (of various ages) are coming all week long! If you’d like to receive a summary in your email inbox at the end of the week, enter your email address here!
