The First Year

Babies change fast – from newborns into infants, from infants into babies, and from babies into toddlers. Yet nothing feels truer than the adage that the first couple years are the “longest shortest time.” The day-to-day hours with a child can feel endless, even if happily so. Waking up with a pre-verbal little human staring at you, who seems to be asking, “How will we fill the next twelve hours?” can be daunting.

Unless you have a game plan.

Which I mean literally: a plan of games. With my son, I used two game books – Gymboree: 365 Activities You and Your Baby Will Love and Jackie Silberg’s Games to Play with Baby – starting with the day he came home from the hospital. A couple of “games” a day (sometimes as simple as bubble blowing or learning a new lullaby!) helped guide my early days as a parent and gave shape to what would otherwise seem an endless string of nursing, napping, and crying.

As I embark on motherhood with my second child, this is the landing page for a baby “curriculum”. Don’t at all feel as though you need to do the activities in the same order I did, but rather choose what works with your baby’s schedule, mood, and life on any given day. As always, remember the key is to enjoy.

0 Months Old

1 Month Old

2 Months Old

3 Months Old

4 Months Old

5 Months Old

6 Months Old

7 Months Old

8 Months Old

9 Months Old

10 Months Old

11 Months Old

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