A baby milestone checklist worth journaling
Development checklists from paediatricians are for health tracking. This list is for the memory book: the moments you will want to reread.
0–3 months
- First time home; the first night
- First real smile (who got it?)
- First bath and how they took it
- Holding their head up; finding their hands
- The first laugh, ideally as a voice recording
4–8 months
- Rolling over, sitting up
- First food and the face they pulled
- First tooth
- Babbling that sounds like words; record it
- Favourite toy, song or book of the month
9–18 months
- Crawling, standing, first steps (the whole story)
- First word and what they meant by it
- Waving, clapping, pointing
- First birthday
- Funny mispronunciations; keep a running list
Beyond
- First sentence, first joke
- First haircut, first shoes
- Starting daycare or preschool
- Growth records: height and weight at each check-up
How to record a milestone so it is worth reading later
Use a simple formula for each entry: what happened, where you were, who saw it, how everyone reacted. Two or three sentences is plenty. Add the photo or video if you have one, and if the milestone has a sound (a laugh, a word) record a voice memory too.
Everkeep is built for this. A first gets a page of its own, with the photo or video, the recording and the story, stamped with your child’s age that day. Mark it as a first and it is pressed with a foil seal and takes its place on the wall of firsts: first smile, first laugh, first tooth, first word, first steps and more, plus any first of your own. Growth sits beside it as pencil marks on a door frame, with height, weight and head size.
Looking Back (Everkeep Pro) brings pages back on their anniversaries, which is how you notice that the first smile was a year before the first “mama”.
How to keep a milestone in Everkeep
It takes about thirty seconds, which matters when the milestone just happened and the baby is still wobbling.
- Keep the momentPress + and choose a photo or a video if you caught it on camera, or a note if you did not. For a laugh or a word, choose a voice note.
- Write the storyGive it a title (“First steps”) and two or three sentences: where, who, how it felt. This is the part that fades fastest.
- Mark it as a firstTurn on “This is a first” and choose which one. The page is pressed with a foil seal and goes on the wall of firsts.
- Fix the day if neededIf you are keeping it later, change the day so the page lands in the right chapter with the right age. If you are not sure of the day, choose about how old your child was.
- Add a mark for growthAfter a check-up, open Growth and add a mark: height, weight and head size. The marks go up a door frame, newest at the top.
- Look at the wallThe Firsts tab shows the firsts you have kept and the places still open. Touch one to open its page.
Never forget the story behind a firstEverkeep stamps every page with your child's age. Free on Android and iPhone.
Baby milestone journal FAQ
Does Everkeep tell me which milestones to expect?
No. Everkeep is a memory book rather than a developmental tracker, and it does not give medical guidance. The wall of firsts has no checklist to complete and no expected-by dates, and a first that is not for your family can be put away. Use your paediatrician’s checklist for health; use Everkeep to keep the story.
Can I log milestones for twins or siblings?
Yes. Each child has their own book, with its own chapters, firsts and growth. One book is free, and Everkeep Pro adds a book for every child.
Can I record the milestone's sound as well as a photo?
Yes. A page can hold photos, video and a voice recording together, so the first laugh can be heard, not just described.