Friday, January 28, 2011

Measuring A Baby's Growth From Year to Year

I remember being pregnant with Sophia and buying clothes for when she turned a year because they were on sale at Target (gotta buy stock in Target). And the cashier happened to notice I was buying clothes ahead of time and said to watch out cause it says 12 months but they may be wearing it at 6 or 9 months. Huh? I thought. What the heck is she talking about? If the baby is 12 months obviously she should be wearing size 12 months. WRONG!!!!

Some parents (and family members of those kiddos) have it easy if their child actually fits into those clothes at the monthly markers. Sophia, however, was nothing like that. She was usually a size or 2 ahead. In fact, right now, some of her 3T's are getting tight or riding up. I actually bought a couple of pairs of 4T pj's and they're baggy but they fit and hopefully will fit next winter which was my plan. But then again, this is Sophia.
So my question to all you mom and dad's out there, how do you measure the growth of your child? I'm so glad I thought about this before Sophia's birth (due to my friend Donna). Because I started taking comparison photos early on and boy has she changed.

But I actually have a couple of ways I chart/measure how much she's changed and grown.
One way is making a stepping stone. Around her birth date, we make an impression  of her feet/foot and place them on the side of the house.
The first year we were able to get both feet on (I think she was a size 3).
By her 2nd year, we could only fit one foot comfortably (around a sized 8 1/2).
We might have to get a bigger mold based on the rate of her growth!



Another way we measured her growth was based on a friend of mine, Donna, who I believe got it from Martha Stewart. Basically you buy a 12 month outfit and each month, on their birthday-versary, you put it on them and photograph their progress. I have to say, I think this works best with a 2 piece top/pants set like I have so you can really see their growth lengthwise.


I also used a play mat that came with her tummy time play set to lay her on.


3 months

6 months

9 months (helmet time)

12 months (hanging onto that paci)
Another idea I had was shoes! Save your favorite pairs of their shoes, one from each shoe size, or in Sophia's case, every other shoe size. Line 'em and photograph them. It's important to turn off the flash for this so you might want a tripod.



And finally, we planted a tree for Sophia during her first year. Then on her first birthday, we took a photo of her beside it. The idea is that the tree will grow and so will the child and you can compare the two. However, the dang wind broke our tree in half before her 2nd birthday. And we have yet to replace it. We're waiting for Spring. But the idea was nice, right?

So how do you measure your baby's growth? I'd love to see pics! Please post some if you have them.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Erin, I love it! You are so creative. I simply made marks on a wall starting when Isaac was 6 months and we mark and date it every 6 months. It is amazing how fast they grow. You are such a wonderful mommy. Sophia is going to love all her scrapbooks when shes older...oh and by the way I dont think clothes size ever fit the child at their particular age. Who came up with that? Brenda

Anonymous said...

Too cute, Erin. You are so creative. David bought Callan a teddy bear when he was born and every month I tried to remember to take a picture of him with that teddy bear. It lasted until he was about 18 months and then I couldn't get him to stand still long enough to get a picture that wasn't blurred. I totally think I am going to take pictures of Kamdyn and her shoes. I know my daughter will look back and appreciate these types of things more than my son one day! --Jennifer

Unknown said...

I am doing the show picture ASAP. We did a tree for mike and a bush for addy, but then moved and I still have the stepping stone kit i bought when i saw yours a long time agao- i better get on this. I do alot of hand print stuff and have plans to finish out family growth chart... hmmm ASAP now! Great post!

Allison said...

You've seen all of my monthly pics of Emily... that is mainly all I did. I did have a rose bush but it died and I did have a stepping stone (not from a year but I was going to do it for Father's Days) but Emily dropped it. Hmmm...
Totally agree with you on the outfit thing. From the first month I had wished that I got a pants outfit for the comparison pics. I told my brother and SIL when they were going to start theirs!
Oh... I guess Daddy's birthday banner is another way I have to watch her grow... adding pics every year and not switching them all out so there will always be at least one from every year.