Average Price: $12.95
Availability: Available online from various merchants
Rating:
Product Link: 1000 Days Baby Journal

This 128 page “baby journal” is unlike any other baby journal that I have ever seen before. Its pages are largely left wide open for you to write, draw, paste a memento or a picture, or celebrate your baby in whatever creative way you feel most suitable. Traditional “baby colors” and “baby art” are wonderfully absent from this baby journal. Instead this journal is characterized by muted colors and simple elegant illustrations.

The illustrated pages are wide open for writing about your and your baby’s first experiences. The suggestions for what to record are gentle sentences at page bottoms rather than page after page of tightly cramped “fill in the blank” questions.

“The Story of Your Birth” says one set of pages, a beautiful illustration of a pregnant mother and baby on the opposite page. “The first time I touched you and saw your face.” says another page. It leaves ample room for you to record the first two years- month by month, in any way you choose. Drawings, written mementos, pasted photographs, pressed flowers.. After the first two years is another section “Beyond”. “How you spend your days. Your many adventures” reads one page, “First Friend, First Steps, First Ocean” reads another. And then comes a section for remembering the special times with your baby- “The Songs We Sing”, “The Games We Play”.

Parents will especially enjoy the last part of the book, with “Our Dreams Wishes and Hopes for You”.

Unlike traditional baby books which are primary or pastel-colored mad-libs style “fill in the blanks”, this book encourages you to record your memories in any way that suits the moment. Finger paintings, handprints, jotted notes, sketches, photographs… The author leaves it to your imagination. This is truly a keepsake item for your child to take with them into their adult life, and not simply something to look through briefly and say “Oh. I walked at 10 months old. How interesting” before putting it back on the shelf.

The blank pages can be intimidating when you’re not feeling creative. The pages of this book are almost too beautiful to write on. I frequently felt as though I was defacing a piece of beautiful artwork with my less-than-wonderful handwriting as I recorded my child’s milestones and composed letters to him.The sentiment is really what matters, though, and this book will be far more personal than almost any other baby book on the market. It is a truly lovely gift for your child when they’ve grown up as well as when they are still small. It’s my new favorite shower gift for friends.