Apr 12, 2014

Capturing Baby's First Christmas

As a new mom, I find myself in constant awe of just how fast my baby grows. One minute she’s a fragile newborn and I'm scared to even move because I don’t want to break her. Then I blink and suddenly she’s 6 months old and crawling away from me every chance she gets. It’s this realization that reminds me I need to constantly take photos and videos of her. Babies grow up so quickly that you need to capture these memories so not only you but she can also look back on them. Sometimes people ask me why I even bother. Why bother taking her to the park to see the ducks? Why bother bringing her along with you on a road trip to San Francisco? Why bother when she’s not going to remember any of this? For me, it doesn’t matter if she’ll remember or not. For me, it’s getting to experience something with her. I’m excited to do new things with this new member of our family. To start new traditions and have adventures. And this is where taking photos and videos comes in handy. It will help your little one see exactly where the new traditions started and it helps to capture an important moment from your lives to share with her and everyone else. Not only is it important to document your baby while she’s growing and changing, I also make sure to do something special for the big occasions too. When considering photo ops, I always think about what’s important to me or to us as a family. I, being in the costume industry, am way too excited about Halloween, so of course I had to dress up and made sure to document her very first Halloween costume(s).

Our family has also always been big on celebrating Christmas, so I’ve already picked out a couple of things for my little one. I’m anxious to get her into her Santa’s Lil' Helper costume (here) and also a gorgeous holiday dress I picked up during Black Friday. Every family is going to find meaning in different things. Just be sure to have fun and dress baby to be part of the fun!

Santa's Lil' Helper Elf Infant Costume

Of course you can always tell her about her first Christmas, or about the ugly outfits grandma bought her, or how she spit yams all over your face when you gave her her first taste of solids, but it’s much more fun when you can show her these moments and adventures to see for herself. It’s also always fun to relive those memories yourself as well. As the famous photographer, Aaron Siskind, put it, “Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.” Just remember not to live your life behind the camera. Be sure to balance out taking pictures of what’s happening with also actually living in the moment so that can really experience life with your little one instead of only documenting it.

Capturing Baby's First Christmas

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