Record Books ...

Riley has been doing a couple of new things in the past week, which I thought I should record somewhere in his record book; I'm usually so bad at remembering to update it! So I though I would share some of the pages from his record book on my blog. We have Eric Carle's Very Special Baby Book which retails at £12.99, however we got ours form Amazon for just £7.26, with FREE delivery! This is a lovely hardback book that comes in a presentation box, to keep it looking nice. The illustrations in the book are bright and are taken from different Eric Carle books. 

The front of the book has a little window where you can attach a picture of your little one. 

The book has several different sections and though it doesn't have everything I wanted in a record book (month by month pages for example), it was the closest to what I was looking for. I think so many books have too many sections. This book is comprised of the following sections; 

1." Before you were born", which has pages for all about Mummy/Daddy, Mummy's family and Daddy's family, waiting for you, thoughts and feelings. 

 These are some of the pictures I put into this section of myself and James in the years before Riley was born. 

These pictures are of both of our graduation ceremonies in 2010 ... little did we know we would be pregnant with Riley a couple of months later!

Some pictures I took of Riley's scans. 

2. The next section is titled "Welcome"! and has pages for your child's birth story along with space for both Mummy and Daddy's version of events! There is then some space for pictures, hand and footprints, birth announcements and an envelope to store hospital bracelets and other keepsakes. This section ends with a page to document what was happening in the world. 

 These are a couple of Riley's first pictures. 

 Riley's footprint.

Riley's hospital wristband x2 and belly button clip. 

3. "Coming Home". This section has space for, "Bringing You Home"; where you can record what baby was wearing and what you did in that first week. There is picture space for family, and a page to document visitors in those first few days. 

This is Riley's Bringing You Home page. 

4. "Your Firsts & Favourites". There is a page for firsts including; sleeping through the night, smiling, rolling over, sitting up, waving, crawling, standing, first words, holding a spoon, holding a bottle and first steps. There is also a first haircut page with an envelope to store a lock of hair. There is then a page for favourite things like toys and plenty of photo space in this section of the book. 

This is a picture from Riley's first football match and kit. He was only 11 days old for the Champions League Final. 

Riley's First's page.

4. "Playtime". Favourite friends, toys and picture space for playtime with both Mummy and Daddy. Bathtime rituals, bedtime rituals, favourite stories and toys baby sleeps with. 

5. "Special Days". Holidays; this is an American book, I realised, so Holidays means Christmas, Halloween, Easter etc. There is some space for pictures, though with the amount I have, I don't think the picture space is adequate! A first birthday page, with plenty of picture space. 

6. "Milestones". An age, height and weight chart. A keeping you healthy page, with space for recording first doctor visits and immunisations etc. Teeth, so you can record which ones come through and when. Finally there is space for letters from friends and family. 

I love this record book and think because of the quality of it, it will be lovely to look back at in years to come. This would make a great present for someone you may know who is expecting a baby ... I would have loved to have received something like this as a gift. 

Do you have a record book? Which one? Why did you choose that one?