Baby Book Firsts

I'm working on a baby book for some friends of mine who are expecting their first baby. I have many of the pages planned and completed, but this one page has got me stuck.

I'm making a page with a list of firsts. My plan was to list the firsts on the left, and put blank lines beside it so they could fill in the month/date/info. My question is, what are baby firsts? Here is my list so far:

First Solid Food
First Smile
First Tooth
First Time Sitting on my Own (How would you word this?)
First Time Standing on my Own (How would you word this?)
First Time Crawling
First Time Walking
First Word
First Toy
First Outing
First Bath

Any ideas and help would be super appreciated! Thanks a bunch

The list looks pretty good. Maybe also First Laugh.

Rolling over
sleeping through the night
laugh
That's all I can think of....I think you've pretty much got it!

Alison

I've made a couple baby books for a friend, and I tried hard to avoid firsts, actually - I don't want to put her under any further pressure to make sure she gets the first ever smile, the first ever time sitting or walking, etc. I did do first word and first tooth, but you get a little more time to notice those before the second word or tooth come along - they don't go away like a smile does. I did, however, do a page of "favorites", which might be more appropriate for things like toys and foods, and a page just titled "smile", which can be for any smile she wants to use it for.

First bath confuses me too - in addition to actually bathing their first kid for the first time they also have to be sure to make note of it in the scrapbook? I did bath time pages for my friend's baby albums, but with nothing specifying whether it's for the first bath or the hundredth.

I did a first bath page for my daughter's scrapbook. I guess it all depends on what's important to you.

And that's cool, because you chose to do it - but if I'm making a gift scrapbook for someone else to add pictures and journaling too, I want to avoid making them feel like they have to worry about something specific just because I made a page or journaling spot about it.

The OP does say that she is "making a page of firsts"....and that she has many pages already done.
I read that to mean that she is leaving a spot for the mom to write in when these firsts occur, on ONE page....and if you want to get really picky, the first bath usually occurs in the hospital and not everyone gets a pic of it anyway....

I'm actually quite anal myself about that stuff and I kept track of every first, height and weight at every doctor's appt., favourites...all of it! I think a lot of moms keep track of this stuff, especially with their first child.

Alison

I did a book of first for my cousins' first child. Check out my pages:
David's Book of Firsts

Good luck!

I was thinking like you were aquabunny - who gets pictures of all the firsts unless you never take the camera away from around your neck or in your pocket.

Then I re-read it and it says it is a list - she is putting in the event and the mother will add the dates or info.

Both of my kids baby books had a page like that and I added all the dates and things and I'm very glad I did.

My son has a daughter of his own now and he keeps asking me, "How old was I when I sat up by myself, or how old was I when I pulled up on the furniture" and I can tell him exactly.

ALso, when they took her to the pediatrician last month the doctor really scared them. Told her that in the past 3 months (age 6 months to 9 months) she has not put on weight or grown any longer and her head size has not grown.

I told them to be calm, babies grow at their own pace, not what the doctor thinks she should or what the neighbors kids are growing.

I got out his brother's baby book and he did the same thing - stayed at the same weight and lenght for 5-6 months and he is normal sized. Not super tall, but about 5'10" which is fine. He just slowed down for a bit.

When I read the weights and lengths from the baby book they were able to see their baby is following the exact same pattern and that is fine.

She will probably be a very petite little girl and that is fine too. But she is doing everything her uncle and father did at the same ages - some even a little bit sooner.

I don't know why the doctor alarmed them. Then after upsetting them, he told them, "It may be nothing to worry about. She's extremely active and she just may be burning off a lot of calories." Too late. He already alarmed them.

But they have calmed down since they know that she is not the first baby in our family to stop gaining for a couple months at that age.

Wish they would find another pediatrician.

Thanks everyone for the ideas and suggestions! I'll definitely add those firsts to the list.

The page of firsts is just that - 1 page with some lines to make some notes. The notes could be month/date or a little memory/note. (Ex. "You hated the water and cried during your first bath.") There won't be any room on this page for pictures - just journalling and some embellishments.

The actual pages I've made themselves are quite generic -"Bath Time" "Crawling" "Nap Time" "I'm All Smiles", etc. This is because I do think it would be near impossible to have the camera and take a picture of that exact first moment something happens.

Henri - I'm just shaking my head at the pediatrician. I would have personally thought it was quite common for babies to not gain much weight/any weight for a month or so in their first year. The only reason I thought it was common was a couple of my co-workers kids did this.

I don't have any kids though - I just know the stories people have told me.

This mother is going to appreciate having a nice place to write down all these firsts. They mean a lot to a new mom. And just as much to me now, as I referred to them to calm my son and his wife down!

It is very common for babies to go for several months without growing or putting on weight, you are right. Babies grow at their own pace.

There are times when there is a problem - if the baby is loosing weight or if the no weight gain goes on way too long. But a couple months are not normally a problem.

One first my son thought was cool was the first time she drank out of a straw. She was just a tiny thing then. First fed themselves is a good one - that one needs pictures!

First time sleeping through the night is also another big milestone!

Aquabunny mentioned a favorite's page and that is another good page to do with lists and even pictures. That is a good place for favorite toy, as there are usually so many toys when they come home from the hospital, who knows which was first.

I also loved the section that said, "First Visitors" and I started the list with the people that visited in the hospital.

If she has baby showers, a page for baby shower pictures is good. I have those in my baby book.

My baby books had a page to write our thoughts for our new baby and I wrote them each a letter on that page about how much I loved them how I hope they followed their dreams. Corny, but its nice to look back on.

This would require a little addition on your part, but I thought it was SUPER cute! I was just looking at an album my cousin made for her sister, about her son. Anyway! On his birth photos and hopsital pics, she listed his weight and all that. But when she listed his length, she measured out a piece of ribbon to match his length (obviously most babies are under 24 inches)and ran the ribbon along the bottom of the double lo! It was a cute touch! :)It was a great little embellie without like using a measuring tape! lol

That is a cute idea!