A Year in the Life

Before I had kids, I wanted to be one of those moms who made awesome scrapbooks. When I was pregnant with my first child, I routinely watched a TV show that demonstrated all sorts of tools and techniques to make gorgeous pages. Inspired, I bought a scrapbook and a bunch of paper and got to work. Eight years later, it hasn’t been updated beyond my baby shower.

When I was pregnant with my second child, I got inspired again and bought another with the intention of finishing my son’s and starting one for the new baby. Three years later, the book is still in its shrink-wrap.

By the time I got pregnant the third time, I had faced the reality that I would never be a scrapbooking mom. It just takes too much money, space, and (most important) time. I did want to do something, though, to commemorate the first year of my last child’s life.

Some of my friends take monthly photos of their babies sitting next to the same stuffed animal in order to have a visual record of their baby’s growth. I liked this idea, but we didn’t have any stuffed animals that seemed worthy the task, and I sure didn’t want to buy a new one just to be a photo prop.

After some brainstorming, it hit me: The car seat! Each month, I could take a photo of my baby in my beloved Coccoro. It was genius! (As it turns out, some other people from car-seat.org had gotten the same idea prior to my brainstorm, so my idea wasn’t necessarily unique, but I didn’t know it at the time.)

My baby boy turned 1 the other day, and I snapped my last monthly photo of him in the Coccoro. Without further ado, here is the closest thing Oliver will get to a scrapbook:

A couple days old, about 8 pounds, 20.5″ 

 

 One month

 

 Two months

 

 Three months

 

 Four months

 

 Five months

 

 Six months

 

 Seven months

 

 Eight months

 

 Nine months

 

 Ten months

 

 Eleven months

 

 One year! Approximately 18 lbs, 30″