Dear Baby...

I'm already going off topic.  This post has absolutely nothing to do with round two.  Well, not really.  But there are some collateral mentions.

Do you keep a baby journal?  I'm not talking about the classic baby book that keeps track of birth stats and milestones and height/weight charts.  Not that there's anything wrong with those, I have one and have taken my documenting responsibilities very seriously.  But, for the moment, I'm talking about an actual journal (think: Dear Diary), but instead of rambling about the highs and lows of your own day, rambling about the highs and lows of your baby's day.  Maybe it's a story about the bully at daycare that pulled her hair or the afternoon that he puked peas all over your comforter, pillow and face.  The memorable stuff.

I'll answer first - Yes, I keep one of these baby journals (in addition to my classic baby book).  Kind of.  I kept a pregnancy journal and wrote very often.  I think my purpose was to release some of the excitement.  As soon as I discovered that I was pregnant I immediately wanted to converse with my unborn child.  Pronto.  So, I wrote to him/her (I didn't know that she was a she at the time).  And then, part way through my pregnancy, it seemed that I was also writing to myself.  I was chronicling the nausea patterns and the first feelings of movement so I would know for the second time because I (correctly) assumed that I wouldn't remember every little detail.

Once my daughter was born I continued to write in my pregnancy journal, which then became this baby journal that I speak of.  It's sort of like a collection of letters to my daughter.  If I'm being honest, I don't write often.  But if something particularly memorable happens or if I spy the journal under the stack of books on my nightstand, I'll sit and take a minute to give an update.

I have a friend whose mother still keeps a baby journal for her.  After 30 some years, her mother still writes about her daughter for her daughter.  Amazing, huh?  I have another friend who writes in one of those "A Line A Day" journals for her daughter.  I love this.  I may steal it for my round two.

Here's the One Line a Day book that my friend uses.
There is also one specifically called Mom's One Line a Day.

My baby journal is extremely basic, it's from Barnes and Noble.  It's not a moleskin notebook, but might as well be.

Here is a sweet one that I found on Minted.com, a website that I love, hence the fact that I've mentioned it in many a post.  They have a ton of baby related (and non baby related) stuff, including a fantastic selection of baby journals, most of which you can personalize with photos or the baby's name.  Great gift.

So, back to you.  Did you keep a baby journal?  Will you?  Do you have one of those milestone baby books?  Were you just as good at journaling/documenting for baby number two as baby number one?