I keep forgetting to share this little book I made for Tuesday on Shutterfly. I had an idea for a little book that would show Tuesday what it was like when she was a baby so that she could get a better idea of what it would be like when the new little baby comes. I came up with this.

I decided to just go with photos from her first year.

Some of the spreads:

Talking about Tuesday in the belly, and how we delivered her at home.

I talked about Tuesday meeting lots of people for the first time, in preparation for lots of people wanting to meet the new baby.

Talking about how she couldn’t sit up, or ride forward in the car. I also have a page that talks about her being carried everywhere because she couldn’t walk.

Cloth diapers. When I pulled them out of storage she knew what they were right away from this book (even though she almost never wore this pre-fold style).

How babies communicate and what they want all the time… mama milk! I have a few more pages that talk about how papa’s funny faces and cuddling made her feel better. And about how she liked to swing and bounce too.

I was being generous here… instead of sleep much I should have said, “AT ALL” but thought that might be a little harsh. I think I worded it in a way that when she looks at this as an adult, she’ll know what was up.

Tuesday has this book completely memorized. From the monitor one day I heard her (at rest time) reading to her Birdy, “I ate apples, beets, bananas, and more!” If you ask her what she ate as a baby this is what she says (word for word).

I really wanted to show that we didn’t just leave her home as a baby but took her everywhere we went. Hopefully I can point to this when/if she asks why the baby has to come with us everywhere (obviously hoping she doesn’t ask this!).

On the back cover I wrote: “All about Tuesday Lee Garrison’s first year, 2009. With love from Mama & Papa March 2012”.
Some thoughts on the book itself. The Shutterfly process could not be easier. And the price was right (I had a free coupon, then just had to pay a little extra for a few extra pages and shipping). I think the quality is pretty good, I mean it works great as a kids book. That’s where we keep it, with all the other books in her room.
And does she like it? Oh my goodness yes. This book was a HUGE hit. Tuesday has a lot of books so she usually rotates through them pretty well, but this one comes up a lot. And she likes reading it to herself all the time. I imagine it will get more play after the baby comes as well. I may end up doing these for each year, not sure.
This really makes me want to get my blog into a hard copy format. I have 7 years to deal with though and I haven’t found a program that lets me do it in any kind of way that sounds fun to me right now. I’d love to look through it in this way though. Has anyone else tried a blog to book thing?