How to document your baby's first year without it becoming a second job

How much is enough?

Two or three memories a week, with a sentence each, produces well over a hundred entries by the first birthday: more than enough for a rich book. Aim for variety over volume: one photo, one voice memo, one note per week is a good rhythm. The first year journal that gets finished is the one with a low bar.

A month-by-month plan

• Month 0: the birth story (write it while it is raw), coming home, the first night, visitors. Photograph the hospital bracelet and cards.
• Month 1: what settles them, the noises, a letter at one month, the first smile if it comes.
• Month 2: the first laugh (record it), tummy time, the routine as it is right now.
• Month 3: finding hands, first outing somewhere real, how they look at you.
• Month 4: rolling, babbling (record it monthly from here), first proper giggle fits.
• Month 5: reaching and grabbing, favourite toy, reaction to the mirror.
• Month 6: first food and the face, sitting up, half-birthday letter.
• Month 7: teeth, the first “word-like” sound, what makes them cry now.
• Month 8: crawling or scooting, stranger reactions, the book they demand.
• Month 9: pulling up, waving and clapping, first trip or holiday.
• Month 10: cruising, pointing, first word candidates.
• Month 11: standing, the game they invented, how they show affection.
• Month 12: the first birthday, first steps if they have come, a letter about who they are at one, and the growth record.

Why Everkeep suits a first-year journal

Everkeep’s Archive is organised into chapters by month and age, so the plan above maps directly onto the app: open “6 months” and you are looking at that month. Photos, video, voice memos and notes all live together. Everything is on your phone, with no account and no feed, and it works in the hospital with no signal.

At the first birthday, Everkeep Pro exports the year as a PDF memory book with a cover and twelve chapters, and a memory movie for the video and audio. That is the first-year keepsake, done.

How to keep a first-year journal in Everkeep

Set up before the birth if you can; otherwise start today and backdate.

1. Create the profile with the birth dateInstall Everkeep and enter the birthday (or due date, editable later). Chapters and ages are calculated from it.
2. Write the birth story earlyTap Note and write it in the first days, while details are sharp. Add photos and a voice note if you like.
3. Capture two or three moments a weekPhoto, Video, Voice or Note from the home screen. Follow the monthly plan loosely.
4. Record babble monthlyOnce a month, tap Voice and record 30 seconds of sounds. This series becomes one of the best parts of the book.
5. Log growth at check-upsAdd height and weight in Growth records so measurements appear in the right chapters.
6. Export at the first birthdayUnlock Everkeep Pro ($9.99 once) and export the PDF memory book and memory movie. Back up the ZIP as well.

First-year journal FAQ

I'm starting late. Is it too late for a first-year journal?

No. Import photos from your camera roll and set their real dates; Everkeep files them into the right month chapters. Write what you remember of the early weeks as a single catch-up note. The book will not show the gap.

Can I include pregnancy in the first-year book?

Everkeep supports pregnancy-scan keepsake labels for memories before the birth, so scans and bump photos can live in the journal as a prelude to year one.

Can I keep going after the first year?

Of course. Chapters continue by month and age indefinitely, and you can export a new book each year or one big volume whenever you like.