Sometimes I miss the smallness of a new baby. In the haze of the early days of parenthood, sleepless nights and chaos of a new routine, it is hard to take that time to appreciate the moment and to commit those details to memory: the softness of their skin, the little movements of their lips as they sleep, the weight of their head resting on your chest, the littleness of all their features. Those early days were a challenge but there was a simplicity to them as well. Wrap them in a blanket and hold them tight and you felt like you could keep them safe and protected.
When my first daughter was born, I started making photobooks with the intent to do one for each year....let's just say I'm a few years behind on that project. Nevertheless, I like to look back on those books with my girls and they love to hear some of the stories of what life was like when they were babies. When I look back at the books for the first year I'm struck by two things:
1) I'm surprised by how many photos of sleeping babies I have. This does give the impression that babies sleep a lot...which was not actually my experience. Perhaps my subconscious wanted to somehow preserve that sense of calm when it did happen.
2) I have a terrible memory - while most of the photos in the books are of simple, everyday moments, these are the photos that help me to remember not just how much my kids have grown physically but also what those moments felt like. These are photos that are meaningful to us.
Big moments and steps are important but don't forget to capture some of the everyday routines - those are some of the moments that are easily forgotten but that tell the story of your family.
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