After nine long months, your baby has finally arrived. The nurses take and clean the baby while you move to another room. If you’ve had an epidural your legs feel like they are encased in cement. Relaxing in the hospital room, you both await the arrival of your squeaky clean newborn.

If you are breastfeeding, the lactating nurse will accompany baby to show you what to do. Breastfeeding enhanced the bond between me and my son. Those little gums felt like a grip at first, but the pain was manageable enough for the chance to bring nourishment from my own body to feed my baby.

Baby Picture Ideas:

Put daddy back to work. Take a picture of the nurse as she wheels your child into the room. Baby will probably be asleep so take the opportunity to snap a few pictures. As baby feeds for the first time, keep taking photos as long as it doesn’t disrupt him/her. Let mom fix her hair first, though. Ask the nurse to take a picture of the three of you.

Get pictures of daddy changing his first diaper. The look on his face will be priceless.

Family and friends will stop by with balloons and flowers for mommy and baby. Photograph all the gifts and then each visitor with mommy and the baby.

When the baby’s doctor makes a trip to the hospital, be sure to get pictures of that, too.

Baby Scrapbook Ideas:

Save everything from the hospital: wrist bands, door sign, bassinet sign, and a copy of baby’s footprints. Everything can be used to create lasting memories in your scrapbook. Use a picture of baby alone as the centerpiece of your scrapbook page.

Since baby’s birth is a blessed event, use baby shower confetti to decorate your scrapbook. Take a glue stick and make a few wavy lines down both sides of the page. Sprinkle the confetti on it and pour off the excess.

Your little darling has made it into the world. Now the fun begins!

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“Open up. Here comes the airplane. Zoom! Zoom!” We’ve all played that game with our children. Now that a bottle is not enough for baby, the doctor will tell you that you can add a bit of solid food like cereal, fruit or veggies to their meal to fill them up. Using a small coated spoon, scoop up some cereal and touch the spoon to their lips. If they open up to accept it, baby is ready to have solid foods. Now the fun begins.

When my son could sit up on his own, I fed him from a high chair. He liked the freedom of being able to look around. A few times I made the mistake of leaving the bowl of cereal or strained fruit on the tray while I answered the telephone. Imagine the mess I found when I got back. Sometimes he would smack the bowl and more food ended up on me than in him. Keep a wet dishcloth handy.

Baby Picture Ideas:

Feeding time is always fun time when baby starts on solid food. Buy yourself an apron if you don’t already own one. Mommy and daddy should take turns feeding and photographing baby.

Don’t forget to snap a picture of baby’s messy face and your messy apron. Every time you introduce a new food into baby’s diet, take a picture to capture the faces he makes.

Baby Scrapbooking Ideas:

Find cute stickers and foam decorations of fruits and vegetables to use for your scrapbook page. Try to find scrapbook paper with a bib design. Glue the food randomly around the page.

Crop your pictures in the shape of the food baby is eating in the picture: a box of cereal, peaches, pears, sweet potatoes, etc.

Baby has moved on to solid foods. Now it’s time for teeth!

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On some mornings, I would find my son completely turned around in his crib. I’d ask him how he did it and he’d just smile at me. If we were relaxing in the living room, I’d lay him on a blanket in the floor. At first, he’d hold tightly to the blanket and flap his legs like a fish out of water. As the weeks passed, he could get one leg underneath himself enough to stick his butt in the air, but then he’d collapse onto the blanket.

When your baby gains enough strength to lift up on one knee and then the other, you’ll hold your breath in an effort to keep baby from getting distracted by the sound of your breathing. Then, when baby moves their legs and starts to crawl for the first time, you’ll let out a squeal.

Picture Ideas:

Snap photos of baby rolling over, and trying to bend each knee. Once baby learns to crawl, they will leave the comfort of the blanket and set off in search of adventure. When baby crawls around the house, follow and take pictures. Place their favorite toys on the floor and take pictures as baby crawls over to them.

Also take pictures of baby crawling over to pets or siblings. And, pictures of baby crawling over Mommy and Daddy.

Baby Scrapbooking Ideas:

Decorate your page like a treasure map. You may be able to search out scrapbook paper designed like a treasure map complete with a broken line trail and an “X” to mark the treasure location. Or, create your own map.

Draw several large squares along the treasure route to represent the rooms of your home. Place a picture of baby crawling in a particular room inside each square and label the squares. Connect them all by a broken line to create a trail.

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