Your Baby’s First Year Guide

Having a little bundle of joy brings so many new celebrations to you and your family. From Baptisms to newborn baby photo shoots, the first year is full of exciting adventures. There are countless fun photo projects you can create from all of the special moments you capture, and Mixbook has hundreds of unique designs to turn those moments into keepsakes you can cherish forever. We’ve put together some ideas to inspire you along the way.

Newborn Baby Photos

Your tiny little bundle isn’t going to stay tiny for long. Over the next 12 months you will want to capture your baby’s milestones as they grow and develop into little people. We recommend getting professional photographs of your newborn done within the first two weeks when they are still very small and easy to pose into curled up positions, then again at 3 months, 6 - 9 months and 12 months. Your baby’s first year is going to go by in a flash of feeding and diaper changes, and these special photos will allow you to look back for years to come and reminisce over how much your baby changed over time.

One creative way to show your baby’s growth over the first year and beyond is to take a photo in the same spot every month with a number or prop that represents the baby’s age. You can use toy blocks, numbers on the baby’s onesie or even large sheets of white paper or a chalk board with details about what is going on with your baby each month.

BAPTISM and CHRISTENING

Some Christian parents decide to celebrate their new baby with a spiritual Baptism or Christening ceremony. This ceremony typically takes place within the first few weeks of the baby’s life, but the timing of this event is really a personal choice. Mixbook offers a number of fully customizable Baptism invitations or Christening invitations.

For a simple, gender neutral invitation with your baby’s sweet smile front and center:

Use a cute close up photo from your newborn photoshoot on the front cover and include all the event details on the back.

Be sure to designate a photographer for the event to help you capture all those special moments. You can start by taking photos of the baby at home, in their outfit or close up shots of their baptism outfit. Try to do some more formal shots, as well as casual shots of family and friends preparing for the day. Also, taking pictures of the inside and the outside of the church, and photos of the actual baptism are great to use in your baby’s year in review book.

Baby Photo Shoot Ideas

The ideal age to have your baby’s first photoshoot done is between 5-12 days. Newborn babies tend to spend a lot of time sleeping, and sleeping soundly, so they are usually easy to work with at this age. There are so many sweet newborn photo ideas for you to either have taken professionally or as a DIY project at home.

Take a series of photos that highlight how tiny your baby really is in comparison to other people or objects. You will cherish these photos years from now when your baby is older and it’s difficult to remember them ever being that small.

A different way to showcase the beauty of your baby at this age is to take close up photos of specific baby parts like facial shots, fingers or toes. You can also position the baby in a number of different ways and take photos from different angles

3 MONTH BABY PHOTOSHOOT

After babies go through their first growth spurt, they start to stretch their arms and legs out and are not as easy to pose into smaller positions. Some three month old babies even have enough upper-body strength to support their head while lying on their tummy. This makes for a really cute next-step photo similar to the newborn picture of your baby sleeping in your hands.

This is a fun age to take pictures of the baby with props or other family members as well. Include shots of the baby with Mommy, Daddy, siblings and pets — get the whole family involved!

6 - 9 MONTH BABY PHOTOSHOOT

Babies between 6-9 months of age grow and develop very quickly! They are starting to sit up on their own, explore movement and have lots of smiles and giggles for everyone around them. These moments happen fast, and capturing photos are a great way to cherish them forever.

1 YEAR BABY PHOTOSHOOT

Of all the photos you have taken of your baby this year, the first year photos could quite possibly be the most special. You can hire a professional photographer or create your own special memories with a DIY photo session.

Baby’s First Birthday Party Ideas

Can you believe it’s been a year?! It’s time to plan a celebration for the big ONE. Don’t feel pressured to go over the top with this party, just make it special in your own way. Remember this party is not only a celebration of all your baby’s important milestones like first words, teeth and steps, but also a celebration that you made it through a year of sleepless nights, dirty diapers and loads of laundry.

Here are some stress-free party planning tips to help you ensure the day goes off without a hitch:

• Pick a time for the party that is after your baby’s nap time so they are well rested and not fussy • Babies get overwhelmed easily — limit the party to a few hours so it is not too much for them • Babies don’t need a lot of entertainment, just a safe area where they can get down on all 4’s and play • Have fun activities planned for the older kids attending the party
• First birthday party Themes

If your baby has a special stuffed animal or favorite character, choosing a theme around one of their ‘favorites’ is a great way to celebrate their 1st birthday. A zoo or animal theme is a great option for little animal lovers. Or you could go with a favorite book, toy or character. A fun idea is to continue the theme from your baby shower through the first birthday. If your baby shower was book themed, you can focus on one specific book like “The Cat in the Hat” or “Curious George”. Use your baby’s books as decorations for the party and create themed food options like banana splits or decorated cake pops. You might even be able to convince a friend to dress up as a character and make a surprise visit to the party. Imagine the look of surprise on your baby’s face when the character from the pages of his book is standing in front of him. Can you say photo op?

If your little pumpkin enjoys playing with big tractors and trucks, a construction themed party is the way to go. You can use their big dump trucks as bowls to hold treats, serve mac and cheese wheels for lunch and use food as construction themed decorations like safety cone rice crispy treats.

Baby’s First Birthday Party Invitations

Whether you’ve decided on a theme or not, it’s always a good idea to get your baby’s first birthday party invitations out 3-4 weeks before the event to ensure your guests have time to plan accordingly. One of our favorite baby’s 1st birthday invitations, offers a beautiful display of the month-by-month photos you took of your baby’s growth over the last 12 months. It can be customized in either a beautiful teal or vibrant maroon color to suit either gender and works for most party themes.

Another option that can be customized to work with either gender is “1st Birthday Celebration”. This adorable invitation has a large "ONE" to showcase a photo of your little boy or girl. It features birthday balloons in soft neutral colors that would work well for any birthday party theme.

If you are looking for something a little more outside the box, try our “Year of Firsts” invitation. It has all the regular party invitation details, but also allows you to share some fun baby facts with your party guests like your baby’s first word and the date of their first step.

BABY PHOTOGRAPHY

There are so many fun photo ideas for the day of the birthday bash. Many parents choose to hire a professional photographer to take these special photos but you can also have a friend with good photography skills help you out so you don’t have to spend the day behind the lens.

Whatever you decide, having the photographer actively move throughout the party and casually capture candid moments from a distance pairs well with the more organized photo ops.

Your baby probably won’t be overly interested in sitting and opening all the presents at one time. They are more likely to open one gift and then want to play with the box it came in. Just go with the flow on this one, and try to snap a cute photo or two when you get the chance.

Take time to get some photos of you with the guest of honor. With all the excitement of the day, sometimes this special photo gets forgotten. And remember to also get photos of the baby with as many guests as possible.

Be sure to take some photos of the decorations and the food. It’s easy to forget to capture these little details, and they can be forgotten years down the road, as we are busy snapping photos of people.

The photo most parents want to have of their one year old is the popular “let them eat cake” or “cake smash” photo. This can be a super fun and messy photo shoot, so be prepared for some clean up afterwards!

Baby Thank You Cards

The last of the cake has been scrapped off the walls and floors, and it is now time to write thank you cards to everyone who took the time to come and celebrate your baby’s special day. It’s customary to have the thank you cards sent out within a few weeks of the party date, but don’t stress if it takes a bit longer as you are now spending a lot of your time chasing after a toddler. Be sure to include a short, personalized note on every card thanking people for helping or attending and for any gifts received.

Mixbook offers a ton of sweet thank you cards that can be customized just for this occasion. You can go with the very simple “Year of Firsts” card to match the ‘Year of Firsts” invitation and include one of the awesome photos you took the day of the party.

One of our favorite thank you cards for baby’s 1st birthday is the “Four Photo Monogram”. This card allows you to include four photos from the day of the party or from the first year, and can be designed using either a pink or blue motif.

Post-Baby Year in Review

Where have the past 12 months gone? It’s hard to believe your baby is one year old. You have a year's worth of memories, photos and stories that you now need to capture into a book for you and your baby to enjoy for years to come. Mixbook offers many fully customizable Baby’s First Year photo book themes that are designed just for you. Be sure to include photos from all your monthly photo shoots, as well as photos of important milestones like sitting up for the first time and eating solid food. It’s also fun to add all of those funny stories, feelings and memories so they are never forgotten.

Our baby photo books range from a gorgeous spectrum of themes and designs. Cuddly woodland critters, modern geometric shapes, bold magazine spreads, or crafty chalk illustrations.

Mixbook wants to provide you with the easiest way to cherish your baby’s first moments forever. Our photo products turn your memories into keepsakes that you can enjoy again and again. From baby invitations to First Year In Review books, we have something as unique as your new addition.

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