Our youngest turned 11 months old this week, and it still feels like she was born yesterday.
Sheโs going to be walking in a matter of weeks and all traces of babyhood are vanishing fast – which got me thinking just how quickly the first year goes.
Iโm desperately trying to savour every moment, but I swear the more kids you have the faster it goes.
With that in mind Iโve been thinking back over our first year and come up with a list of things I think all parents should do in the first year โ at least once.
10 things all parents should do in the first year
1. Stay in bed on a weekday. Admittedly this is one you can only really do when youโre on maternity or paternity leave, and if youโve got older ones they need to be out of the way too. But oh my, itโs priceless.
2. Have a photoshoot. Snaps on your phone are one thing, but getting a professional to capture your newborn really is worth every penny. This one we had done when Littlest B was three months old is one of my favourites.
3. Make imprints of their hands or feet. I have footprints of all three of ours at two months old, and theyโre probably the most precious thing I own.
4. Make a piece of pottery. Apart from being lots of fun (thereโs nothing quite like fannying around in a pottery painting cafรฉ with pots of paints when the rest of the world is doing serious stuff) just like the imprints youโll have a lasting reminder of how tiny they once were.
5. Go swimming. Thereโs nothing quite like swimming with a newborn in your arms, and baby swimming lessons with a newborn are even better.
6. Go shopping just for the hell of it. They might not need anything, but with so many gorgeous baby clothes to choose from you might as well indulge them โ and you.
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7. Dress them in a silly outfit. Because you canโt beat an orange tutu, and the older they get the less likely you are to get away with it.
8. Put your head in the folds of skin on their neck and inhale. Because that newborn milky gorgeousness smell is disappearing. Fast.
9. Watch them sleep. The rise and fall of their chest, the hands flung back in repose, their snuffly twitches and squeaks โ the traits only really new little people have.
10. Savour the little things. Even the things you think you hate. Like the lovingly prepared meal they gleefully chuck all over the floor, and the highchair you loathe wiping down over and over and over again. Because one day youโll do it for the last time.
Did you do any or all of these things in your babyโs first year? Is there anything youโd add to my list? Iโd love to know what it is!
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A great list. I love that newborn smell, wish they could bottle it! #familyfun
Fab list lovely! Funnily enough I’ve posted something similar on my blog today, great minds haha xx #familyfunlinky
I didn’t do any of the photoshoot or pottery stuff, it just didn’t appeal to me (especially after a Christmas mini-shoot at a playgroup where mine looked like a small, angry Poirot because I’d dressed her in a little bow tie). All the other ones yes!
I do think getting walking in, either with a pram or a carrier, is underrated but so beautiful and peaceful.
My little one is five now and I was a bit worried I’d read this and find a load of things that I had missed out on but I’m pleased to say I did them all! Lovely list. Make the most of the early years, they go so fast! *sob* #familyfun
These are great. I loved lazy mornings in bed, but since my 8 month old has become more active and tries to throw herself off the bed, those mornings have well and truly gone! #TwinklyTuesday
This is a great list! We are talking about having another baby and I don’t think #3 will get any all day in bed days. Those are the best!
Oh these are lovely- I really wish I’d done the footprints though! Oscar is 16 months now and I still shove my nose in his neck and sniff it #TwinklyTuesday
I was worried about opening this list and finding loads of things that I didn’t do. But fortunately that’s not the case! I haven’t ticked all of them off (we never got any professional photos *sobs*) but the rest I have! Lazy mornings and swimming were my favourite maternity leave activities! #twinklytuesday
Such a great list. That baby smell definitely disappears far too fast, and watching them sleep is so precious.
Thank you for joining #FamilyFunLinky x
Just reading this has made me ache a little for that first year. There’s nothing else like it and I’m so glad I’ve done most of these. Thanks for sharing and linking up with #TwinklyTuesday x
Oh those newborn days are just the best! What a shame they pass by in a blur of nappies, bottles, muslins and sleepless nights. Reading the words on the page about breathing in their milky scent transported me back in time and I realised Dex hasnt smelt like that for the longest time. So sad.
#KCACOLS
I love the smell of babies. Also, silly outfits must last until they’re big enough to say no to them. #kcacols
With a 3.5yo and a 4 week old, Iโm the perfect person to read this!
1 – I have a PJ day with my littliest booked in for Friday. I am refusing to make plans on this day other than getting my son from pre-School so me and Little Miss van slob out.
5 – Did Waterbabies with my son and planning to do it again with our girl. Loved it
8 – Our daughter is a little chunk and has soooo many rolls – no newborn delicious smell though…more bellybutton
The hand prints I never did when our son was uber small because I couldnโt get his hand to not clench for long enough! But we did manage a footprint! #KCACOLS
Oh I love this post. Will definitely be referring back to it in a few months when Bub number 3 arrives! #TheListLinky
Ah I loved smelling our daughter’s head! And I still love snuggling into the nook of her neck and kissing her beautifully soft cheek. I hope her cheek stays that soft way beyond 8 years old! #TheListLinky
I love this post ๐ I miss the baby stages, they seem like a lifetime ago, especially with my teenage son! Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time
The first year with my younger son was filled with hospital appointments, his body in a special harness and his legs and feet in plaster casts. Eleven years on and I still feel that we missed out on many of the things which others take for granted, but we made the best of our different start. Every moment is precious and this is a lovely list. #KCACOLS
This may have made me ever so slightly broody! I really miss those baby days, and really love everything on this list, especially breathing in that gorgeous newborn smell. x #KCACOLS
One thing I regret not doing when my kids where babies is having a proper photoshoot done. So this would me my number one. #KCACOLS
Ah yes!! I love the staying bed. I did that so much in the early days – it was so lovely #KCACOLS
I wish I had Baba hand and feet prints done but we missed that one. Love the ‘go shopping for the sake of it’ That I did a lot for sure while on maternity leave lol #KCACOLS
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