My co-workers recently surprised me with a gift, a childhood Promptly Journal for my upcoming baby. They know me so well. I’ve been an active documenter since I was young, which probably explains how I grew into being a full-time blogger. I have scores of journals at my parent’s house detailing the (I’m sure boring) details of my life growing up. It was a time without Internet and social media so everything was written by hand and looking back, it was quite therapeutic and a great way to capture my thoughts and close out the day. Not a single day would go by without writing at least “too tired to write tonight. more tomorrow”. At least it kept me consistent!
Though I’ve been out of the loop of actively handwriting my thoughts in a journal for quite some time now, no doubt thanks to this here blog, I’ve recently taken it up again now that I’ve got a major life change ahead with the new baby next month and all the adorable baby books are too cute to pass up. With the journal from my ladies, I’ve also come across a few other baby books and journals for baby/mommy that I’m also stoked about and I thought you might also be interested in some beautiful and practical ways to document your little one. Take a look at them below!
Best Baby Books
Baby’s First Book
I came across Baby’s First Book with typography by Arne Jacobsen in Paris in October at a lovely shop. Arne Jacobsen is a great mid-century Danish designer who designed the typography, which steals the show. The book comes in pink, turquoise, and black. I LOVE the simplicity of the book along with the various pull out features starting with birth and heading out a year.
You can find the book here (and it’s on sale right now!) 
Stories for My Child
Samantha Hahn is the mastermind behind Stories for My Child. The prompts feature specific questions about the mother’s life so that the child will get to know the mother better. I love this idea and can’t wait to dig into it.
Stories For My Child is available for sale here
Mom’s One Line a Day
I’m a big fan of the One Line a Day memory books from Chronicle and this one, Mom’s One Line a Day, is perfect for the person who doesn’t want to spend so much time on it. All you have to do is commit to ONE LINE! Genius. I bought this in the early stages of my pregnancy and it’s been a great way to document the micro-phases of the pregnancy and every day life. I can’t recommend this one enough.
Mom’s One Line a Day is for sale here 
Childhood Promptly Journal
This is the one I was gifted and I love it! Like the name says, it’s a prompt journal that documents the pre-natal and post-natal stages and then continues on through childhood until the age of 18. That’s right! It’s snippets of documenting childhood. The questions are general enough so that you can elaborate as much as you want, and specific enough to trigger some good thoughts. Plus, how rare is it to find a book documenting up through the years!
Childhood Promptly Journal is for sale here
I know what you’re asking, “that’s a lot of ways to document a child”. Listen, I’m not saying you have to do them all. Personally, I plan on doing each one because I love journaling (#nerdalert !) and each one offers something different. There’s the micro-observations like the One Line A Day to the macro with Promptly Journals. If you’re not a journaling nerd, choose one that you think you’ll be able to commit too. Baby’s First Book is simple and clean, while Stories for My Child might feel more innate to people who want to gift their own stories to their child. There are so many options!
If you have any others to add, I’m all ears!
Baby’s First Book | Stories for My Child | Mom’s Line a Day | Promptly Journal