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When you were little, were you the kid stacking the blocks up to the sky, or the one knocking them over? If you were the destroyer, here's hoping that you were wrecking your own tower. ;)
Personally, I didn't play with milestone blocks as a child, but I could build an impressive looking 'castle' for my barbies to climb.
Whether you were the builder or the wrecker (or maybe both), we all know there's more than one way to stack and destroy when it comes to blocks.
Fast forward a few years and here we are as parents, arranging, balancing, and fiddling with blocks with our own babies. When it comes to baby milestone pictures and the photography shoots we plan for, some parents prefer to keep their blocks in a consistent arrangement. From week to week, or month to month, the blocks are used as a marker to measure against baby's growth.
But what if we break out of the box and add a hint of chaos (with our photo props of course, intentionally disturbing baby is grounds for punishment).
There still may be tears when the blocks come out - not because they tumble - but because of the sheer joy in seeing your beautiful babe grow as you mark the milestones. That and the fact that the photoshoot you so meticulously created lasted for only 15 seconds.
Before we jump into the list of different ways you can style and use them, make sure that you have your milestone blocks on hand (you can shop them here!).
Now, let's take a look at some of our favorite ways to arrange milestone blocks, courtesy of some of our amazing new parents.
Stack them up straight, align the edges and wha-la! This classic arrangement is a crowd pleaser that you won't regret. It clearly shows how old your baby is, and can be used as a size reference as your baby grows. Are her little legs bigger than the blocks yet?
Add a name block for your little one and take the photo from above, looking downward. I can almost hear this mama making silly songs to draw her daughter's attention upward.
To the left, to the right, although this may sound like a line-dance, try mixing up where you place the name or the number block. Styling your milestone blocks this way gives variety to your photos, and lets you squeeze them into spaces or places where they might not fit stacked so perfectly. Live dangerously!
Using the worded block as the base, prop the name milestone block at an angle and adjust it until the slant works for you. *Disclaimer alert - your success with this method depends upon baby toes and hands being far enough away to avoid knockage. We don't want any tears!
I love how this mom placed the blocks closer to her camera, while snuggling her newborn in the background. The tricky part though is to make sure you and your baby are still in focus.
Anything goes here, so long as baby cooperates once you place the blocks and doesn't try to fib about her age. Let your baby get their hands on the blocks, feel around, and play a little. Watching as they explore what's in their surroundings can make for some beautiful candid moments.
This arrangement starts to work once your baby's tummy muscles are ready to help keep them upright. Sit your little one next to the stack of milestone blocks and start snapping away. This style works best if you hunker or kneel down to take the photograph so you're closer to baby's eye level.
If you're looking for something different, something a bit more playful, switching up the direction of your worded block can add a unique touch to your baby's photo. The number blocks in our milestone sets stack together to be the same height as the worded block, so this style still lets you keep straight and clean edges.
As moms we try sooo hard to get balance in our lives, whether it's a work-life balance, balancing time with kids and a partner, or balancing our milestone blocks! But sometimes we can all use a little break, so with this setup, we're letting one of those number blocks take a breather.
Looking at the photo below, normally I'd love to stick a zero in front of the five, but by only including one number block, we get to see a little bit more of the sweet baby.
Just remember though that if you're trying to keep your arrangement consistent from month to month, this will only work for your single digit months (1 through 9).
Now that you have a variety of ways you can arrange or style your milestone blocks, if you notice words or numbers showing up in your pictures, and it's driving you bonkers, here are some tips to help hide things you don't want to see:
We hope you take away some new ideas on how you can incorporate milestone blocks into your next baby photo shoot. And speaking of photo shoots, I have a FREE GUIDE you can download HERE that will walk you through how to take beautiful milestone photos right in your very own home.
