keeping up

I really mean to have a baby book, or a journal, or something to keep track of all the milestones, ticket stubs, and cute things the kids say, but I'm awful at keeping up. I am absolutely notorious for never finishing most things that I start. I've tried a baby book and journal (Josie), a first-year calendar (Jasper, oops I bought it and never filled it in, so I used it for Adelaide), and a blog (all three). The blog was the most successful, but even that was hard for me to keep up with. Finally, finally, I've hit upon the solution. I think I read the suggestion in Wondertime Magazine, but I'm not quite sure where I found it. A few months ago I bought three notebooks. Nothing fancy (since I plan to fill them up quickly), just single-subject, college ruled spiral notebooks from the office store. I considered composition books, since I love those and you can label the spine, but they won't stay open to a page, and I really needed this to be a single-step process so I can follow through. Blue for Jasper, Purple is Adelaide, Josie gets Red.

I could certainly do better, but I'm so pleased with how well I've been keeping up. At least once a week, usually more, I can grab a notebook and jot down what one kid did or said. Nothing fancy, sometimes just a sentence, sometimes more. Last week I pasted in tickets from a play we went to see, this week it'll be ticket stubs from the art museum and I'll have the big kids draw a picture recalling our visit.

I won't share the contents with them until they're much older, at which point I hope to have a pile of these notebooks filled with random bits from my husband and I for them to read through and see through the lens of adulthood. I truly wonder what they will think of their child selves and the memories we share in the journals. Only time will tell...

Anyway, here's an excerpt from Adelaide's entry for today:

4/21- You love pickles! You watched intently as I ate my burger on Saturday, opening your mouth a little bit every time it went by your face. About the time I picked up my dill spear you were fed up and wrenched it out of my hands with both of yours. You gummed all of the pickle flesh off of both ends before going through one end of Grandma's. You were so pleased with yourself, and delighted to have something to eat at the dinner table! So, we can add it to your list of solid foods: avocado, yam....pickle!
love, mama