Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Baby keepsakes

I put together a box of keepsakes from Callum's babyhood. I will add anything else to it as I think of it, but for now it contains:
  • My positive pregnancy tests (yes, I know, gross, pee, etc., but they're in a ziploc bag and they're meaningful so I kept them).
  • My pregnancy journal (which includes photos of me throughout my pregnancy, as well as hospital bracelets and a birth announcement).
  • A printout of the playlist we listened to on repeat during my labor.
  • The newspaper (Denver Post) from the day he was born.
  • All the cards people sent before and after he was born.
  • The purple foam "goggles" he had to wear while he was on the biliblanket for his jaundice.
  • A baby hat from the hospital.
  • The "welcome to the world" card signed by President and First Lady Obama.
Is there anything else memorable or significant that should go in there that I'm not thinking of? For you parents out there, what keepsakes have you saved from when your kids were very little?

14 comments:

  1. Do you have the little card they put in the bassinet? I saved all the bracelets and the itty bitty blood pressure cuffs but I am nto sure I have the bilirubin goggles.. I am almost sure I chucked the ones that my 3rd used.. and also never took any pics of him under the light (we were so upset/mad at the time due to the way they treated us)

    I still have the playlist on my ipod - it's most of the reason that I won't give the ipod to my daughter and ended up buying her a new (used) one instead! haha. I should print it out though, thanks for the idea.

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  2. My parents saved the newspaper from the day I was born (like you did), and then got one of those year booklets (1974) where it lists the price of stuff (how much a house sells for, how much stamps were, etc., what movies/TV shows/music were popular, who was president, etc... I found that SO interesting as a kid.

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  3. Do you have a baby book where you have footprints/handprints? I also kept locks of hair. My mother did this, too and it was fun to see how the color changed.

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  4. The outfit he wore when he came home from the hospital? I only saved the outfit and the hospital bracelet because I'm not really a memento person. We wanted to get a newspaper. but we didn't think of it until after B was born, which was late at night, and the papers were all sold out because it was the day Obama was elected.

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  5. I have a box a little bigger than a shoebox for my kids, and I kept adding to it throughout the year--I put in one or two of my favorite outfits, a stretchy crib blanket that we used to swaddle him with...um...and other things...apparently I haven't looked at it for a while.

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  6. I was also going to mention the outfit he wore coming home from the hospital. And oh if he has a swimsuit? I loved looking at my tiny swimsuit when I was a kid. Also some people may or may not find this creepy but some of his hair? I dunno.

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  7. I have the pee sticks too :) The hat and receiving blanket from when he was born, the hospital bracelets we both wore, the card with his name from the bassinet, the paper I wrote down my contractions on, the paper from the day he was born, and while I saved the outift he wore home from the hospital, it is stored with the newborn clothes because I'd like our next one to wear it too!

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  8. oh and Michael saved the shirt he was wearing. When he held O for the first time, something (who knows what haha!) stained his shirt. It left an oil-like stain and while it's kind of gross, he said he could never get rid of that shirt because it holds a piece of Owen. I think it's sweet :)

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  9. Aww, sweet. I have a box like that too with many similar items. I also have in the same box our hospital bracelets and the card from her bassinet, the (yes, stolen, I guess, whatever $30K operation!) blanket they first wrapped her in, the sleeper she came home in, and one (unused) newborn diaper because MAN but I cannot believe she was EVER that tiny. Just last week my mom added her binky (pacifier) that she FINALLY gave up. I keep her baby book in the box too (it's a good-sized box). I also want to add letters from her dad and I, thanks for the reminder. :)

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  10. I have that stuff too, plus the outfit they wore home from the hospital... A copy of their birth stories written by my doula... Also a lock of their first haircut (so blond and curly!). And other stuff, I'm sure... if I think of other significant things, I'll come back.

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  11. I saved the little ID bracelets (theirs and mine), too---but I don't know if I'd go so far as to recommend saving them. It's not like I take them out and moon over them. Though...I do like them!

    And I saved photos of the room we stayed in. And a few magazines (People, Time), but I can't remember if I decided to save the issues that CAME OUT the week he was born, or if I saved the ones that COVERED the week he was born. All I remember is the huge amount of fretting and back-issue-ordering I did!

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  12. Along with those things (except the newspaper, dangit), I saved the little napkin wraps they put on the biliblanket, hah. Also, a shower invitation, her little shirt from the hospital, a NB diaper, the first onesie she outgrew, the balloon my parents gave us, and my Fall Risk bracelet because it me made me laugh!

    Thanks for the reminder to order the greeting from the White House. I did our senators because they had online forms, but just haven't gotten around to the other one yet.

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  13. My Mom saved locks of hair & ID bracelets from all 5 of us. She also saved the body cast I wore from the broken neck I received as I tried to make my grand entrance :-)

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  14. Nice write-up,
    I just love your posts. You are always so informative.
    Thanks for sharing such a nice post on gifts for babies.

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