How to set up your baby book calendar pages
Shortly after our son James was born, I was visiting my mom and looking through my own baby book. It was neat to compare the way James was growing to the way I did and checking out all the milestones she had written down. I vividly remember the calendar pages in the book and liked the idea that you could track as little or as much as you wanted when it came to milestones, memories and more. Little did I know this visit would stick with me and would be a pivotal moment in the development of our baby book. So how do you set up your baby book calendar pages? Let's learn how.
We structure each baby book with a month by month section so you can see how your little one grows and learns throughout their first year. Each month has a spot for a monthly photo, space to record special memories, favourite things and learnings and a calendar page so you can record as little or as much as you see fit. “First swing ride”, “First trip to the store”, “First time visiting Grandma’s house”, whatever it may be. James is a year and a half old and flipping through these calendar pages now is always such a heart melting moment.
“But Laura, very few babies are actually born on the first of the month, so how do you structure your calendar?” - Let me tell you. There are two ways to do it, 1) Following calendar year or 2) By baby’s birthday.
How to set up your baby book calendar pages
By calendar year
Choosing to follow the calendar year would mean each calendar page would be associated with a particular month such as September or October. You would write the name of the month at the top of the calendar and then fill out the days just as they appear in a regular calendar.
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This format works really well if your baby is born at the beginning or end of the month. For example, if your baby is born on October 3, your month one section would have an October calendar. This is the format I followed in our son’s baby book. He was born on August 26 and I started his month one section as a September calendar page to capture the majority of his first month on that page.
Using the calendar year format can be easier to structure but you won’t necessarily capture each day of the baby's month (unless they are born on the first of that month).
By baby’s birthday
Choosing to go by baby’s birthday would mean each calendar page would only include the days between baby’s “month” (Ex. October 15 - November 14). Write the two months at the top of the calendar and then start the calendar on the week they started the new month.
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This format works really well if your baby is born in the middle of the month so you can capture all their details for “their month” on one page. For example, if your baby is born on October 15, you would start your calendar on that week and it would carry through until November 14.
Following baby’s birthday can be harder to structure and wrap your head around (trust me - I don’t do math), but it is a sure way to capture everything related to “baby’s month” on one page.
I hope you find this how-to helpful and that I haven’t made it more confusing. That was a lot of math and more technical thinking than I like to do - wine time.
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