It’s easy to let major milestones fly by that first year. Those first few months are a blur – you get your newborn pictures done, and then when the fog starts to lift your baby is sitting up! As a mom of three, believe me when I tell you that time only speeds up from there.

That’s why I love when moms book milestone appointments. Your baby changes so much, from a naked little babe to a 12 month old digging into cake. There are many milestones in the months between, but here are a few that I encourage moms to book appointments for.

 

The “sitter” session.

Your little one is sitting up all by themselves! It’s the perfect time to schedule a photo shoot to capture those glorious rolls and gummy smiles. These appointments are some of the smoothest ones. Your baby is loving sitting up but isn’t mobile yet, so it’s easy to snap some amazing photos of your little one.

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The “standing” session.

Now they can stand!

Even if it’s only holding on to something, once your little one can stand you can have a milestone shoot to capture it.

Before too long she’ll be running too fast to slow down for a photo.

At this milestone (which varies – not all babies are standing at the same time!) your little one likely has developed quite a personality. I do my best to capture that in your photos.

 

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The cake smash. 

The quintessential milestone appointment happens when your babe is just about 12 months old. These are so much fun because often it is the first time your little one is interacting with cake! But it doesn’t always work out the same. Some babies love it and dive in. They throw cake around the study and are absolutely adorable slathered in icing.

But then there are other little ones who refuse to go near it! That can actually be just as cute. You can lean into it and have photos with the cake in the background. Or you can also bring a back up accessory, like one mom did. Her daughter ended up with a one-of-a-kind Dr. Pepper photo shoot!

 

 

The actual item you use in the shoot doesn’t matter. The important thing is that you will forever have a photo of your child at that age, smiling and playing in cake – or Dr. Pepper.

 

Of course, milestones don’t end at one. You can keep going, and I highly recommend having annual photo shoots for your little ones and your family. I try to, though it doesn’t always happen!

It’s so true, mamas. This is the longest shortest time, and before you know it, the baby years are over. Invest in some milestone photos so you’ll always have beautiful pictures of this time.