Most kids LOVE to look at pictures of themselves when they were younger. I know the mums who went to SPACE class with me thought I was a little nuts for putting so much effort into our memory book- but I had the advantage of knowing that Auggie would want to read it again and again to re-live his experiences. Recently Auggie has been showing a lot of interest in a picture I had of me pregnant, so I made him a book of pictures from the first few days of his life. Including gory pics of him being pulled out of my tummy! He loves it and we read it multiple times a day at the moment. You can tell, as he corrects Jon when he dumbs down the word ‘umbilical cord’ 😂😂

WHY DO THIS??
Aside from following Auggie’s interests, I know that looking at photos is really good for him developing a sense of self and a sense of belonging. Old photos are also great for learning how to retell stories using past-tense language , e.g. “I was in Mammy’s tummy”, “Granda cuddled me”. I have a couple of pregnant friends currently so being able to talk about where babies come from is the first step to him understanding what will come next. This will hopefully set him up really well for when Jon and I expand our family.

HOW?
Dig out your old photos. Show your little one some pics of you pregnant or from when they were just born. Tell them about their birth and everyone who came to cuddle and love them. I had some select photos printed into a photo book - any physical or online shop that prints photos will make these. I also have a book from our SPACE class and a standard ‘baby book’ that I started and never properly completed (must get onto that). The words don’t really matter - I didn’t write anything in this one and we just tell the story each time. The photos are the most important bit. Note: i plan to be completely transparent and honest with him if he asks how babies are made. It’s a natural process that shouldn’t be shrouded in shame and stupid concepts like ‘a stork brought you’ 🤨

Try it. You might be surprised by your little one's response!

Watch Jon go through the photobook with Auggie here