The first year of your baby’s life will go by in a flash, which is why it’s important to collect memories of all the big ‘firsts’. Laura Bury looks at some interesting ways to record your little one’s first year

They grow up so quickly’ has more truth to it than you may believe and it is soon something you’ll feel as well, making it essential to keep a record of your baby’s first days, weeks and months.

It doesn’t have to just be first tooth, first crawl, first step; by putting your own unique spin on your log or memory book or box, the more fun it will be when your child looks back on it.

Picture this
First and foremost, you will need a digital camera. This is by far the most vital tool in recording your little one’s development. A picture says a thousand words, and until your baby can say their first, you should be getting snap happy. Digital cameras will let you view, upload, amend and print your photos, giving you versatility when using the images. You can keep a photo album on your PC, print out pictures for a scrapbook; you can even upload your photos to Facebook, an online album or online baby book. Also, most digital cameras will have a video setting, letting you record those moments when a picture just won’t do – like baby’s first steps!

Scrap it
A novel way of recording your child’s first year is to keep a scrapbook. For every milestone you feel your baby has reached, you can have a photo, date and journal log. To get the best out of your scrapbook you should try to keep a diverse range of memories, which could include the first lock of your child’s hair, their first tooth and even the wrapper from their first present. Think outside the box: take the wrapper from their first solid food and keep with a picture of them being spoonfed for the first time!

You don’t necessarily need to keep your scrapbook in chronological order. Why not theme each page? You can have a ‘bath time’ page with a picture of your little one’s first bath, along with pictures of their first or favourite bath time toy and a cutting from their first sponge! When you’re taking pictures for the scrapbook, try to take shots of them when they’re not expecting it, and when they’re making a mess or looking a little messy themselves... so the little rascals can look back on themselves in their true habitats!

Mummy’s little artist
Get messy with some paint and paper for a fun, and very cute, keepsake. Pop your baby’s hands in paint and impress them on a piece of paper (we can’t guarantee that this won’t get everywhere but the paper!) and then do the same with baby’s feet. Once this dries you can pop it in a picture frame with your child’s name and the date it was made. This will look wonderful on your mantlepiece. If you don’t want to put it in a frame it could make a great addition to a scrapbook.

Here’s a list of some top ‘firsts’ to try and capture
• First haircut
• First crawl
• First bath
• First tooth
• First word
• First step

Day by day
Keep a diary of everything that your baby does, write in it daily for the first year and then write a letter to your child on their first birthday recording all your thoughts and feelings on the year and how proud you are of all the progress he/she has made, then keep it for your child until they are older. It will be something they’ll certainly cherish.

You can also buy a themed baby calendar and write every milestone on it, from the first time your baby holds her head on her own to your baby’s first laugh and the first time they feed themselves.

As bold as brass
When you buy baby’s first shoes your first thought is how tiny and adorable they look and how you’d like them to have those miniature feet forever! Well now you can at least have the shoes forever. Once your baby grows out of their first shoes, have them brassed. There are many ways you can have this keepsake – brassed, put on a wooden stand where you can have your baby’s name engraved, or even on a stand along with a picture frame so you can have a picture of your baby wearing the shoes too!

Keeping up with technology
The internet is a veritable sea of information, but it also contains many ways to keep your baby’s memories digitally. Online baby books will give you your own personal space on the internet for your little one. These baby books will give you an opportunity to keep a blog on your baby’s progress, let you upload videos, keep a growth chart as well as giving you space for photo albums for your little one and your family. They are easily editable so if you wrote the wrong date on a milestone, simply go back and change it – without the use of tippex!

MiBaby
The iPhone has given us plenty of applications to play with, but Baby Milestones for the iPhone is perfect for parents. You can document your little one’s firsts, add pictures to each entry, plot the height and weight of your baby on graphs, and even keep a timeline for your baby’s developmental and speech entries so you can see a chronological list of your baby’s first year. It also has a desktop companion so you know your precious moments are backed up.

With the many and varied ways to keep your child’s first year in the forefront of your mind, there is nothing that can’t be recorded – no matter how embarrassing for them later in life!