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.

Babies grow and change so fast. When you least expect it, they suddenly aren?t babies anymore. Commemorate those early days of their life and beyond with these ideas.

• Take monthly (or more) photos. Take a monthly photo on the date of your child?s birthday. Consider purchasing a plain 12 month sized onesie, and dress your son or daughter in it each time and take a picture. You?ll be amazed how he or she grows into it over his or her first year.
• Share Photos. While you?re snapping away at your new arrival, it?s important to keep those photos organized. Keep a small photo album, sometimes referred to a ?brag book,? and insert the prints chronologically inside of it. Once it fills up, start a new album or move the photos to a larger album. You could also use a photo sharing Web site such as Kodak Gallery or Shutterfly to store photos and share them with friends and family members.
• Make handprints. Kits are available at most craft supply stores with clay molds and easy instructions, or you can simply take a sheet of paper and trace your baby?s hand. Each month, trace his or her hand again, use a different color of ink to form multi-colored concentric handprints on the sheet.
• Journal. A journal or diary, whether on paper or online in the form of a Web site or blog, can be a good way to record your thoughts and the details of each day with baby. Each night, jot down a few notes, such as what the day was like, what your baby did or what you did together, etc. It?ll be great fun for both you and your child to look back on!
• Start a growth chart. Even if your baby isn?t yet standing up on his or her own, you can still mark baby?s length on a yardstick or with hash marks on the wall or door frame.
• Keep a keepsake box. A keepsake box is a great resting place for hard-to-throw-out memories, such as baby and mom?s hospital bracelets, greeting cards, and the birth announcement. Toss them in a box and make sure to mark the year on it. When baby?s first birthday has arrived, start a new box for the next year.

Do you remember a time when households had to borrow a camera from a neighbor or an aunt just so the latest addition to the family will have his picture taken? And do you remember a time when pictures are taken only during special occasions like birthdays and the Holidays (you know, those classic poses behind a birthday cake or in front of a Christmas tree?).

Well, in this digital age, that time is no more. Even cellphones can capture a baby’s everyday smiles now. And babies nowadays have hundreds of pictures taken even before they reach the age of one.

So what to do with these pictures?

Well, aside from uploading them to the internet to share with friends and family from afar, or posting printed copies on your ref, bulletin board, door, or bedroom wall, you can also use them for personalized souvenirs and giveaways for special occasions.

Babies Online’s Personalized Gifts section offers so many ways. First, there is the tie-up with Clark Color where registered members can get 15% discount on photo gifts. Now you can paste that sweet face on mugs, teddy bear shirts, buttons and many more. Choose a really great picture and have it printed as a mouse pad, which all your friends are sure to use. For my son’s christening, I had his picture printed on a mug and asked the recipients (via a note inside the mug) to use the mug as a coin-tainer for loose change.

Other personalized gifts offered by Babies Online include Personalized Books and Music CDs. These are sure to tickle your baby pink to hear his or her name read or sung out loud!

And then there’s my personal favorite, The Birthday Chronicles is a must for every scrapbook and would be a brilliant giveaway for christenings and dedications. It would also be lovely to have it framed and every child you have to have one. It’s the best easy reference for how the world was like when you were born. It’s even a perfect birth announcement.

Sure, you can still give cupcakes and pies or knitted and cross-stitched somethings. I’m just saying that you might want to maximize the photos you have painstakingly taken (and with babies, it sure is not always easy to get them looking at the camera!). And there really is so many ways now to personalize gifts, it’s crazy.