Does this count as a book review? I think it should, because well, Lord knows I have not been reading anything lately.

When I was pregnant, I spent a decent chunk of time looking at baby books. There were specific things I was looking for in a book to document the first year of my child’s life, and it seemed that a lot of the baby books out there did not fit my vision.

For my pregnancy journal, I had this same problem, and decided to go with a blank book so that I could make it my own. Well, I failed miserably at that. (Although I did keep up with weekly blog posts on the subject, so at least I documented it all in some way.)

So for a baby book, I knew I needed something more structured in order to make sure, you know, I actually filled it out. I wanted something with questions and other prompts for my writing. I wanted something with enough space to write little memories and personal things, but I didn’t want too much space–I don’t have time to write a novel about every little thing. I wanted all of the milestones to be things that I actually consider to be milestones. I wanted sufficient space for photos and keepsakes.

I found all of those things in My Baby Book: A Keepsake Journal for Baby’s First Year by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.

The book is broken down into three sections.

The “My Arrival” section allows you to share some memories about the pregnancy, including things like how and when you found out you were pregnant, who you told and how, etc. There are spaces for ultrasound photos and questions about whether you found out the sex, how you were feeling, and more.

Then there are pages to record information and memories about the birth itself. How long you were in labor, the birth stats (date/time/place), the baby’s stats, doctor’s names, etc. And of course, there is space for a photo and then a couple of blank pages for things like hospital bracelets, name cards, additional photos… whatever you want.

There are also a few fun pages that provides info about the zodiac symbols, the birthday flowers, and birthstones. Pages for footprints and handprints. Pages to document a Baptism or other religious ceremony.

The “My First Year” section provides a page for each month milestone.

There is a space for a monthly photo, and then it asks the same questions for every month–the date, baby’s weight/length stats, and other milestone info.

Every three months, there is also an additional page for an “interview with baby.” The questions for this vary, but it’s a way to provide more information about what baby is up to at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months.

“My Gallery of Firsts” is everything you would expect a baby book to be. First smile/laugh, first bath, first tooth, first haircut, etc.

There are also pages for first winter, first spring, first summer, first autumn so you can provide a snippet of something baby did in each season.

^ Personally, we can’t wait to fill these pages out! :)

In the end, I feel like this is a book that can easily be kept up with when you put a little time aside for it every few weeks. I like it because I think it’s thorough enough for a child to really enjoy reading when he/she gets older, but it’s not so thorough that there’s no chance for you to complete it. I want to get the same book when we have additional children so that they each have their own!