New parents find out quickly just how fast time can pass with a baby. Once at home with a new arrival, it seems like the day and night blends into one, punctuated by dirty and wet diapers and (if you’re lucky) a nap or two.

While there’s no way to stop or turn back the clock, there are a few things you can do to savor the moment, no matter how sore, tired or sleep deprived you might feel.

• Take photos and/or video. It goes without saying that your cameras have been busy – probably even before baby arrived. Remember to take a picture and/or video as often as you can to document everything. You – as well as any family or friends you share it with – will be glad you did.

• Write it down. Keep a baby book to jot down your baby’s results from pediatrician appointments, keep track of vaccinations, and other details.

• Journal. When my daughter was born, I started a journal, chronicling every day with her. While it began as an everyday task, it soon became once or twice a week, and sometimes just a sentence or two noting something new she might have done that day. You can also keep an online journal right here at Babies Online. It’s fun to look back on it now and read about what she was doing in her infancy and babyhood – and to compare her notes with her little brother. Plus, someday when they are older, our kids will be given the books as their own keepsakes.

• Start a memory box. For each of our two children, I have a plastic bin where I stash any little keepsake items I want to hold onto, be it an outgrown outfit, invitations to their first parties, birthday cards, or other items. Each year I will start a new box for them, with the intention of putting together a scrapbook of their childhoods.

• Relax and try to savor the moment. Stop thinking about everything you need to do, haven’t done, or wish you had done and just enjoy the time you are having with your little one. It sounds trite, but he or she will never be this little again; enjoy it.

Finally, remember that those first few weeks will soon be past and things will get a little better. Baby (and you!) will sleep for longer stretches of time, your soreness will heal and you will begin to really appreciate your time with your new baby. And when you look back, you’ll be glad you took the time to document those crazy first few weeks – and beyond – with your little one.

Maybe it’s due to sleep-deprivation, or maybe I’m just not very good at remembering landmarks. I know that my daughter’s first intentional smile took place at approximately four weeks, but I don’t remember the circumstances or the exact date. I also know that I should have written it down in her baby book while it was still fresh in my mind.

I recall telling my husband, “I think Ashley smiled today, while I was changing her clothes, but I’m not sure.” Thinking back, I’m sure it was a smile because she loves putting on new clothes and usually smiles the whole time.

That first smile is a bit foggy, but a few other smiles remain indelibly imbedded in my memory.

-    I remember the first time she smiled after nursing, lying her head on my breast and smiling with her whole face. It’s hard to know, when you’re nursing, if the baby is getting enough food. Weight gain, of course, is an indication that she’s eating enough. But this smile showed me in a way the numbers on the scale never could that she was satisfied after nursing.

I remember rubbing her back and leaning over to kiss her tiny forehead, and she smiled again.

-    My husband and I had been at a wedding until well after midnight. Our daughter was asleep in her bouncy chair when we returned home. She was fast asleep, but she smiled when she heard my voice, and again when I approached to give her a kiss.

-    I remember the first time she smiled at a toy. I hung a little Baby Einstein puppy from the toy rail on her bouncy chair, replacing the original toy that had been there since she was born.
I squeezed the dog and it barked. Her eyes got wide with surprise, and then she grinned. I continued making the dog bark and she continued smiling. I think she even giggled, but, like that first smile, I can’t be sure if it was an actual laugh or just a random sound.

As a full-time freelancer, my days used to be filled with lengthy to-do lists that involved interviews, transcriptions, and writing. I still keep a to-do list, but it is significantly shorter… and if I complete only one or two of the items on the list, I consider my day a success. But the true benchmark of a good day, now, is a day when I can keep my daughter smiling.

I’d love to hear other mom’s stories of their baby’s first smiles – or any other significant smiles in their infant’s lives.

My kids have always been voracious readers, even when it amounted to little more than them gumming on books and squealing in delight at the pictures.? I’m always on the lookout for clever books to give to babies because it seems like everyone I know is getting ready to have another baby, but that’s another story entirely.

Recently I got to take a peek at a really cute baby book: Messy Face by Elizabeth Caunter.? It’s simple, but brilliant; she takes photos of an adorable smiling baby and puts little dobs of baby food on the face, then adds text like “Peas on your nose!”? I know my kiddos would have loved this book when they were babies because – as we all know – babies like to look at other babies.? The fact that this baby is smiling and has food all over her face, well, that’s a winning combination for making other babies laugh.

The author also pledged to donate a portion of the profits to Project Cuddle, which is an organization that offers crisis intervention services to pregnant women.? I don’t know exactly how much of the profits are donated, but you have to applaud someone who is willing to give up some profit in order to help other people.

I give this book a big thumbs up for the vibrant colors, beautiful photography, and the model baby who made me smile too.? I only saw an electronic version of this book so I can’t tell you if the printed version is as?appealing, but my guess is that it is.? I like the colors used for the backgrounds of the photos and I think the text works well with the whole concept.

Bottom line: This book will make babies laugh, and maybe older kids too.? My guess is that babies will also enjoy staring at the pages for extended periods of time…or at least as long as a baby’s attention can be held.

I finally got enough courage to get a “real” haircut for my son. I admit, I was having a difficult time letting go of those precious baby curls! We got him a haircut a few months ago, but I refused to let the barber cut off the curls in the back of my son’s head. My husband said he looked like he had an 80’s style mullet!

Over the weekend, I took a look at him and realized that he looked a mess! His curls were long and unruly and his hair was hanging in his face. It was time for a proper haircut.

I know that some cultures have traditions about hair cutting. My friend’s husband shaved their daughter’s head when she was a certain age for “good luck and good health”. Another friend’s husband insisted that they wait until their son was a year old for his first haircut. Even though he still didn’t have much hair, they dutifully took their child to the barber to continue the family tradition.

My husband took our son to his barber and asked for the same haircut that he has. I had no clue that barbers don’t just trim the hair! This barber had a suction machine which sucked up the hair as he trimmed it. Luckily, I’d cut off a few precious curls before taking him to the barber.

The barber let him sit in my husband’s lap which seemed to help and we let my son hold onto his security blanket. Nevertheless, there were a few tears–both my son and I shed a few.

After his haircut was done, the barber gave him a certificate and a lollipop! What a lucky little kid!

My son’s curls are gone and I’m adjusting to the fact that he’s growing up! It seemed like just yesterday we brought him home from the hospital with very little hair on his head. Now, the barber is trimming his hair to look like his father’s haircut.

I’ve learned that it is important to do some homework before taking your child for his or her first hair cut. Does the shop take walk-in clientele? Must you make an appointment? What times of the day are less crowded?

Some shops just cut children’s hair, and others have clientele of all ages. Which would you prefer? Another thing to ask is if they have certificates or other keepsakes for the first haircut. After you pick out the shop you want, ask for a kid friendly stylist. You want someone who won’t be rattled when or if your child has a tantrum!

The first haircut is a milestone to be cherished. Enjoy!

It snowed in the South this weekend!

I know. I know. Those of you who live in the North are yawning right now. Snow down here is such a rarity, that the event is viewed as a wondrous thing met with much rejoicing. Being as I am a Northern transplant myself, I find the whole thing hysterical. Not so hysterical is the incredible amount of traffic accidents that happen during such wondrous events.

My older children fondly remember playing in snowfalls that were larger than themselves, having snowball fights, sledding, and making snow angels with the dog. In fact, the snowfall issue is the only reason they cite when asked if they miss living where we used to live. Winter doesn’t stay around long down here. When our baby arrived in early March of last year, his arrival was accompanied by 80 degree temperatures. His older siblings mourned the fact that he would never play in the snow. How sad.

I have to admit I did not mourn at all, nor did I see the fact that he would miss out on experiencing a significant snow storm as a great drawback either. I suppose I shoveled way too much snow in my lifetime and that leaves me very jaded. This weekend, when everyone was preparing and getting excited about the snow, I was contemplating a move farther south.

Then it happened! It snowed! Well, the Southern version of snow anyway. We bundled up our infant son and took him outside to watch the flakes fall and to show him how to catch the crystals on his tongue. Amidst the giggles and laughter and squeals of delight, my dreams of moving farther south were soon forgotten.

By that afternoon, what little snow had accumulated had vanished and my son’s first snowfall was just another memory which I recorded in his baby book. Now that’s the kind of snow I like!