Roughly outline the pages of your baby book in a notebook. What will you include? What will be on each page, and in what order will the pages go? Which pages will have photos and mementos?
You don't have to start your baby book on the day he is born. You could also document your pregnancy or your family history. Here are ideas on what might come first in your baby book:
Pictures of your positive pregnancy test
Pictures of you in various stages of pregnancy
Ultrasound photos
Your baby shower invitation and pictures of the shower
A family tree to show where your baby fits in
Family photos of you or your parents as children to show family resemblance
Other ideas to include:
Baby's first photo in the hospital
What was happening in the world on the day your baby was born, including newspaper clippings
Birth certificate
Mom and baby's hospital bracelets
Birth announcement
Religious celebration, such as christening
Lock of baby's hair
Copies of your baby's footprint and handprint
Health record, like immunizations and allergies
Milestones like first bath, first haircut, first smile, first Christmas, first Halloween costume, first tooth, first birthday, first words, and first steps
Growth chart to record baby's height and weight
First day of school
Use a glue stick and photo corners to attach photos to archival paper.
Attach mementos. You can buy self-adhesive photo pockets from a scrapbook store or use scissors to remove a photo page from an inexpensive 4x6 photo album. Attach the photo pocket to the page with archival-quality double-sided tape and store things like a lock of your baby's hair in the photo pocket.
Write the captions with acid-free markers or pens.
Put the finished pages in a scrapbook or binder.