When we look back in 25 years, we will marvel that our babies have become adults who drive cars and earn their own paychecks. (Here’s hoping!)
You probably have a baby book to track your bambino’s progress through the first year: sitting up, crawling, first tooth, and so on.
But how will you remember your rookie year? After all, it’s filled with important experiences that will one day make you a veteran mom, capable of coaching soccer, chaperoning school dances, and sending annoying e-mail reminders about unwritten thank-you notes.
Trust us: One day you’ll look back on the early days of motherhood and it will be hard to remember them. We’ve given you this chart to remind you that Mommy’s first full night of sleep is at least as important as baby’s first banana. These classic mama milestones are worth documenting: Rookie Moms Milestones [pdf]
[excerpted from The Rookie Mom’s Handbook by Quirk Books; illustration by Amy Saidens]
I wish I can remember all of that. I simply wasn’t able to document any of them except my baby’s first tooth, his first walk, etc.
I guess I’ll have to try this out next time.
Thanks for sharing this, I’ve just downloaded the file. 🙂
This is fantastic! I wish I’d had this when I first became a mama! Next time around for sure.
I love the idea! Thanks!
DH and I just videotaped ourselves talking to our baby about everything from gas prices to first poop preparations. We didn’t even think about adding milestones like first outside trip or first mom’s night out.
I’m putting this next to our crazy poop tracking chart. This one will be more fun to fill out.
Thanks.
What a great idea! I wish I’d had this back in the day…I supposed there’s always next time ;0)
i love this blog but for some reason i can not open the whole file. is anyone else having trouble with this? i really want to share it with some of my mom-to-be friends!
I love this, you guys! I wish I’d had it when Wyatt was a little nubbin.
Super idea!! I wonder if I can go back and remember these things now…?
I managed to keep a journal the first year and tried to make little list each week of things my son did. Now that we’ve moved into the second year, I’m not doing as good a job.
A friend of mine used to write things on index cards as they happened – also a good idea.
I had that “OHMYGOD! My baby is a toddler” moment when I was cutting his fingernails and he was just calmly standing there letting me do it. His fingernails looked so big and I couldn’t remember how they got to be that size! It’s like they went from being the size of a grain of rice to this! I almost cried. It’s good to write stuff down…
Thank you so much for posting this again. I printed it out for my sister last May when she had her little boy and she loved it. I’ve been searching for it recently but couldn’t find it (alas, my search skills are not what they used to be) – my third baby was born just over two weeks ago. There’s nearly a six year gap between her and her older brother so I feel like a Rookie Mom all over again. Will enjoy filling this in over the next few months and trying your Rookie Mom challenges too.
LOL, this is great!!! I am expecting my first child and trying to get ultra prepared and have all my ducks in a row for this little one.
It’s easy to forget that I need to think about celebrating MY milestones as a mama as well as my child’s! Love the PDF to help keep track of it. Thanks for the reminder!
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