Our youngest turned 11 months old this week, and it still feels like she was born yesterday.

She’s going to be walking in a matter of weeks and all traces of babyhood are vanishing fast – which got me thinking just how quickly the first year goes.

10 things all parents should do in the first year

I’m desperately trying to savour every moment, but I swear the more kids you have the faster it goes.

With that in mind I’ve been thinking back over our first year and come up with a list of things I think all parents should do in the first year – at least once.

10 things all parents should do in the first year

1. Stay in bed on a weekday. Admittedly this is one you can only really do when you’re on maternity or paternity leave, and if you’ve got older ones they need to be out of the way too. But oh my, it’s priceless.

2. Have a photoshoot. Snaps on your phone are one thing, but getting a professional to capture your newborn really is worth every penny. This one we had done when Littlest B was three months old is one of my favourites.

10 things all parents should do in the first year

3. Make imprints of their hands or feet. I have footprints of all three of ours at two months old, and they’re probably the most precious thing I own.

4. Make a piece of pottery. Apart from being lots of fun (there’s nothing quite like fannying around in a pottery painting cafΓ© with pots of paints when the rest of the world is doing serious stuff) just like the imprints you’ll have a lasting reminder of how tiny they once were.

10 things all parents should do in the first year

5. Go swimming. There’s nothing quite like swimming with a newborn in your arms, and baby swimming lessons with a newborn are even better.

6. Go shopping just for the hell of it. They might not need anything, but with so many gorgeous baby clothes to choose from you might as well indulge them – and you.

7. Dress them in a silly outfit. Because you can’t beat an orange tutu, and the older they get the less likely you are to get away with it.

8. Put your head in the folds of skin on their neck and inhale. Because that newborn milky gorgeousness smell is disappearing. Fast.

10 things all parents should do in the first year

9. Watch them sleep. The rise and fall of their chest, the hands flung back in repose, their snuffly twitches and squeaks – the traits only really new little people have.

10 things all parents should do in the first year

10. Savour the little things. Even the things you think you hate. Like the lovingly prepared meal they gleefully chuck all over the floor, and the highchair you loathe wiping down over and over and over again. Because one day you’ll do it for the last time.

10 things all parents should do in the first year

Did you do any or all of these things in your baby’s first year? Is there anything you’d add to my list? I’d love to know what it is!

Linking up with these fabulous blogs!