Our 4 Year Baby Photo Project Is (FINALLY) Complete

Those of you who have been reading here for a while may remember how when Essley was born, we decided to take a photo of her every week for her first year. It was fascinating to look back at how rapidly she changed, so once she turned a year old, we couldn't quite give it up. We decided to continue, but to take just one photo each month until she turned two.

Then, a week after Essley turned two, Emmett was born. We decided we'd do the same with him (weekly photos), but only for a few weeks (because the project admittedly felt like a chore after a while, if we're being totally honest here). Once those few weeks passed, we realized we wanted to capture him changing the same way we did Essley. So once again, we took 52 weeks of photos, followed by 12 more in his second year. Even when he was going through the Infantile Spasms diagnosis and on medication that made him bloated and miserable, we took the weekly shots (because it was part of his life and our lives and reality is reality). The photo you see above is the last one. It was taken Monday, and after four years and 128 photos, our project is complete. (The rest of the photos in this post show 1. Emmett's first photo at 1 week, 2. Emmett's photo at 1 year, 3. Essley's first photo at 1 week, 4. Essley's photo at 1 year, and 5. Essley's final photo at 2 years.)

I eventually stopped sharing the photos here on the blog because this just didn't feel like the right space for them. While this is a lifestyle blog and I do include the kids in many of my posts when it's relevant, this project felt more personal, and I decided to just share with family and friends. But now that the project was done, I wanted to revisit it here once more.

If you're pregnant, adopting, or have a little one, and want to visually capture their growth, I have to say, this is a really great way to do it. I don't think I realized how powerful it was until I looked back at every single shot earlier this week. It's a pain in the ass, yes, and trying to photograph a staged toddler in a chair with a chalkboard sign is a special kind of torture. But it was so worth it.

All of the cliches about time going fast when you have kids are spot on, man. It's completely mind boggling. Thank you Essley and Emmett for allowing us to do this for the first two years of each of your lives, even when you didn't want to cooperate. We promise (fingers crossed) you'll be glad we did it someday too.

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