12 precious baby moments you just can’t bottle

How many photos do you have of your baby’s first smiles or videos of his first wobbly steps? In this day and age of mobile photography we are able to record pretty much everything. Except we actually can’t. Every mum knows that the best bits of motherhood just can’t be bottled.

These are the ‘my heart might explode’ out of my chest feelings that you know are precious, but also fleeting. They are the moments that make you want to hit pause so you can bask in them forever (while we are wishing for things it would also be good to be able to delete all the sucky mummy times too!).

If only we could.

So in celebration of these unrecorded baby moments, and also in the hope that by mentioning them here you’ll find a way of storing them in your ‘must not forget’ files, here are some of my favourite.

1. Breastfeeding pats 

Nursing your baby in the dead silent of night is such an intimate thing. As he gently taps your breast or nuzzles into you as he feeds from a bottle, you wish you could record the feeling, but know you can’t.

2. Towel snuggles

When you place your freshly bathed, smells divine, bub in a hooded towel and snuggle him into you to get dry you’ll wish you could bottle the feeling of closeness and love. 

3. Swimming koala   

There’s nothing lovelier than taking a dip with your baby in a warm heated pool. Not only is he mesmerised by the sensation of floating in water, but he’ll cling to you like a koala, because you are his everything.

4. Knowing looks

When your babe gives you a long, ‘we are one’ look while you feed him. That ‘this is the meaning of life’ feeling isn’t really something you can capture.

5. First cuddle

Your labour may have been intense but the moment you first cradle your slimey newborn brings on a rush of new emotions. All the videos and photos in the world can’t capture that feeling of sheer elation and exhaustion.

6. First connection

It may have happened to you when your newborn was first placed on your chest or it may have occurred some time later, but whenever that first bonding moment happened to you, the deep, instinctual love you felt for your baby will have knocked you for six. 

7. Peach fuzz newborn hair

You just can’t bottle how soft your newborn’s hair truly is. It’s like rubbing your cheek on a peach, only not quite. Oh, how I wish I could record THAT sensation.

8. Middle of the night ‘conversations’

Ignoring the fact that baby sleep is a thing of great struggle for one moment, how beautiful is it when your bubba wants to babble chat with you when it’s just you, him and the crickets outside?  

9. Sloppy kisses

The moment your baby plants a slobbery ‘kiss’ on you and smiles with such pride at his accomplishment is a ‘I just died from the cuteness’ moment. The fact that he felt compelled to show affection in the way you have shown him is everything.

10. Pot belly softness

Baby skin is soft and smooth but nowhere more so than on your little one’s cute protruding belly. Stroke your hand over his tum and you’ll wish there was a way to scan and record just how soft it felt.

11. Sleepy wake ups

Even if you don’t co-sleep there will come a time when you doze off with your baby. Maybe it’s when you pull out a mattress to sleep on her floor or when you nod off together on the floor after a feed. Whatever it is, there is something special about waking up with your little one with sleep still in your and his eyes.  

12. The first ‘thank you’ from your baby 

He may not be able to talk but you’ll know the moment your little one wants to show you his love for you in the form of a ‘thank you’ cuddle. Not to be confused with a ‘I need comfort or attention’ cuddle, a thank you cuddle comes after you’ve done something for him that he loves, like read him his favourite book or made him roar with laughter from a tickling session. It’s moments like this that prove your ever growing bond. Try not to forget them!