Three Hundred and Sixty Five Days Later…
Whew! I did it. I took and posted one picture for (almost) every day of the twins’ first year. (I didn’t take every single picture—Rachel took probably about a third of the daily photos. And we’re missing Day Four, sadly: it was our second-to-last day in the hospital, and the night before had been pretty rough, and I only ended up taking a total of two blurry pictures that day.)
Two obvious questions came up time and again about the daily photo project. First, why would I do such a thing? Rachel and I always wanted to have two children, although we didn’t plan to be quite so efficient about it. Knowing that this was our only trip through baby-ville, I wanted to make sure it was well-documented. Having these pictures is going to be wonderful. I threw them together into a slideshow for their birthday party, and it was really great to watch all 728 of them go by.
The second question was, how long would I keep up the daily pictures? My stock answer was, “Until they stop me.” I was planning on taking a photo a day of each child indefinitely. One year in, I’m not so sure. The project has been great: I love having the pictures, and I think I’ve acquired a somewhat better photographic eye over the year, and it’s been frankly fun to have a daily reason to put something up on this blog. At the same time, taking, post-processing, and posting a photo a day is grueling. There were definitely times when it was a chore, rather than a fun project. The days when I said, “Oh, crap, I have to do the pictures,” definitely outnumbered the days when I said, “Ooh, let’s do the pictures!”
I haven’t decided yet whether I’ll continue. I plan to keep taking pictures this week, and if I’m enjoying it, I’ll post them. I think it’s most likely I’ll start posting pictures weekly, throwing up a post each weekend with a sampling of good photos from the week. Thank you so much to all of you who’ve followed along, and I hope you’ll enjoy whatever I manage to pull together in year two.
16 Responses to “Three Hundred and Sixty Five Days Later…”
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Baby efficiency! That’s why I always believed that having twins was a good thing.
this project has really inspired me to try the same thing when our tiny schmoo is born – it was so neat to be able to see the first pic, and how much they’ve both grown! and those monthly shots in the chair, too – it’s just so awesome to see a progression like that.
you and Rachel have both totally got skillz with the camera, Matt! I hope you both keep taking lots and lots of pics, because it’s been so much fun following along.
I will miss seeing photos of the kids every day, but as long as you know that stopping the project won’t mean you’ll lose the will to ever take and post photos (and I can’t imagine that happening), I think it’s a good thing to allow yourself to be finished with the daily obligation. Impressive and fabulous that you kept it up for a year. You’ve really become a great photographer!
I don’t know, you guys. I’m all for you having less stress in the evenings. But I really, really love seeing the daily photos. I look forward to that small moment in the day, and everyone so often I’ve clicked back through, trying to pinpoint the moment where they changed, turned into the Julian and Eloise that I know and love due in no small part to the photos I’ve seen every day. So, selfishly, I guess my vote is for you guys to continue. But I think I’ll manage to survive with the weekly glimpses…
An addendum: I just went back and looked and I figured it out! It was February, definitely February, when they started looking like themselves. Also re-read Matt’s simultaneously hilarious and touching post about the night you gave birth. Sniff. sparveys.com has been a great gift for everyone, for Julian and Eloise and your friends and family as well, if I may speak for the audience at large.
I have loved every photo and every post, you guys! And Julian and Eloise will get such a kick out of it all someday, too. Thank you for sharing this site with us! xo, M.
The picture of the Twins Camera Crew is an instant classic.
I’ve soooo enjoyed your pictures over the year. . . I think once a week would be fun, but especially the monthly ‘birthday’ shots on the seat. . . I would love to see the montlies for this year and maybe next, then a yearly shot on/around the seat. That’d be incredible. Thanks for taking us through their first year of life with you!
One more small comment – the last picture is reminiscent of Planet Earth’s Behind the Scenes – love it!
I always love my daily dose of Julian and Eloise and selfishly hope you’ll continue. Whether it’s daily or weekly, I’ll always be thrilled to see their beautiful faces.
I know it was a lot of work, but it’s so great that you did this. I have so few pictures of our boys’ early days that I just want to cry.
Happy first birthday (belated) to all of you! I hope toddlerdom is fab!
Congratulations!! As I’ve said, written and Twittered before, seeing the mugs of your darling munchkins was a highlight for me this year, a daily viewing habit just before heading to sleep each night. I know it’s grueling and certainly appreciate that you achieved your goal and are now going to take a break! I’ll find another pre-bed ritual (heck, perhaps reading a book. How novel. Er, pun intended). You continue being the amazing parents you are! Love to you all! xoxoxo
So fun to have followed their growth and yours
Love that you were able to see it through to one whole year! Julian and Eloise are just too cute to not continue…although can totally appreciate all the hard work that goes into posting anything on a daily basis!
Much love, J
Matt & Rachel, thanks so much for giving me a wonderful year of enjoyment watching your beautiful babies turn into absolutely gorgeous toddlers. I will miss your daily inserts, but if you could continue the monthly sitting pictures that would be perfect. Maybe at least until they start school, what do you think? All kidding aside whatever you can manage to post will be very precious to those who have been following this whole year. Your wit and humor has been most appreciated and I give you all the credit in the world for this year long accomplishment. Good luck with those adorable little children, you are truly blessed. Judi
I have had so much fun watching the babies grow up this year. You have done such a wonderful job of capturing their little personalities with this project. I look forward to whatever glimpses we get from here on out.
I love the daily pictures of the twins, and I’m sure they’ll love it too. I was good about taking photos of my daughter for her first year (only cheated once with a picture taken of her sleeping at about 12:04 AM for the previous day!), but I wasn’t so good at posting them on her blog… I need to get on that, though, as I’ve received several hints that a book of 365 photos would make a *great* holiday gift for two sets of grandparents (using one of those blog-to-book websites it should be doable).
Keep up the photos whenever you feel like it – not a chore, but fun! I’ll always enjoy seeing them.
Hey – now, THAT’s the ticket! You finally figured out the solution to the photography dilemma. Clearly, they are smart children and they’ve had the opportunity (i.e., been forced to) watch you take pictures every day of their lives…and so, duh, they are ready to take over. Play Baby Mozart and give THEM the camera. Cheers, and thanks for a year’s worth of documentation well done.