Recording "firsts"

Many parents set out out do a baby book when their first child is born. Usually, a baby book is a record of “firsts” --- the first time he rolled over, the first time he crawled, the first word, the first haircut, ect. Yet many good intentions fall to the wayside after a few months, and many parents don't do one at all for subsequent children. So why don't they take a minute or two to write down these events during their precious one's fleeting childhood? My theory is that they get bored. A date is just a number, and numbers by themselves are boring and devoid of meaning.

That's why I try to elaborate just a little, telling a simple story about these important, though inevitable events. It's more fun for me and will be more interesting for my children to read later on. This also helps remind me to get photos of the firsts (though for motor skills, the actual picture may be of the second, third, or fourth but you get the idea).

I snapped a few pictures as my husband cut my son's hair for the first time. I tried to make the title look like a sign that you might see at a barber shop. I just grabbed a generic looking barber shop logo from the internet and added the name above it. Here's the story:

We had decided that your hair had gotten too long when we could barely see your ears. It was kind of a spontaneous event, actually. Your daddy was playing with you in bed and decided to trim "just around the ears." Of course, that turned into a full haircut. Surprisingly, you hardly squirmed at all! In fact, it looked as though you enjoyed being groomed (look how patiently you are waiting in the photo on the left). The only sad part is that you don't look like such a little baby anymore. I kind of miss the whispy ends that you only see on a new head of hair. You definitely have the little boy look now. The cut ended up a little high in the back, but it wasn't bad for the first try. Besides, there is always next time. If your daddy does all your haircuts for the next 17 years, we'll save enough money to send you to college!

Now isn't that much more interesting than just a date? If nothing else, it motivates me to keep a record the firsts, which is what we are supposed to do anyway.