Before T was born we always loved the idea of having a baby book to detail milestones and achievements. Not just the big things like walking and talking, but the little things like the first time we went to the park, what the number one song on the charts was, or what the world was like before they arrived!

We enjoyed the thought that T would one day have a look at the book and not only recoil in horror at what the number one was in April 2015 (it was Jess Glynne: Hold My Hand) but have a little smile at the things we got up to as a family and see how proud we were of his achievements – big or small.

Very early on, however, we found that finding a book that didn’t have ‘mummy and daddy’ in it was near to impossible, or certainly not without paying the earth for full personalisation throughout. It’s not that we didn’t want reference to us as parents in it but not with the assumption that all families are made up of a ‘mummy and daddy’. Because they’re not.

Because we wanted a baby book so much we went with one that had the least amount of ‘daddy’ in it, but it still wasn’t the same and to this day it’s barely been touched.

The Baby Files

The Baby Files is a brand new book by Alisa Yingling. Made for all families, it’s inclusion of the word ‘Parent’ is just one of the touches made to the book to include modern day families from all walks of life.

The lovely folk at @ukyankeelife have sent me this gorgeous baby book to #review. A baby book? You ask. T is almost two! Well, the thing is we have a baby book but it’s not quite right. The thing about this baby book is that there’s no “mummy” or “daddy”. It’s made for “parents”. Just parents. I love it so much that I’m more than happy to sit down one evening and go back through the past 22 months just to fill this one in.

A post shared by LesBeMums (@lesbemums) on Feb 10, 2017 at 4:42am PST

As the author put’s it:

I wrote this book as a gift for my brother and his husband when they adopted their baby. The language in The Baby Files is universal- to celebrate families of all different types who believe that Love Makes a Family…

The Baby Files celebrates the diverse face of families in our modern world.

I couldn’t have put it better myself. Not only is the book beautifully illustrated to look less “baby” and “cute” and more “whimsical’ and “fun”, but the language throughout means that anyone can use this book.

Amongst the 50 pages within the book, there are a variety of places to note down events and milestones, such as;

• Where and when your child was born?
• What they liked to play with?
• Date of first smile.
• Date of first steps.
• Favourite foods?

There are also plenty of opportunities to stick photos in as well as place a print of your baby’s foot and hands. At the back of the book is a generous sized envelope for anything else you can’t fit in the book. For me, I’ll probably keep the hospital parking receipt in here!!

My Favourite notes are:

• The first song my parents sang to me.
• What £1 would buy you.
• A letter from my parents.

As you can probably tell, I absolutely adore this book. The pages are of good quality and are thick enough to absorb the fanciest of ink pens. I love the fact that every thought has been put into this book so that most occasions can be recorded and cherished.

I especially like the pages where you can glue photos into the book. The most impressive page (once it’s finished) will be our family and friends tree.

Fancy a Discount?

If you would like to buy your very own copy of The Baby Files, the lovely folks at UK Yankee Life are offering a 20% discount for Lesbemums readers! Just click the link below*!

GET THE DISCOUNT CODE

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