Those first sleep-deprived months of your baby’s life can feel like years. But before you know it, you’ve got a tween at the table who wants to know, “Mom, what was my first word?”

“Today when I see young mothers with their little babies and looking haggard, I offer them the same advice I got – ‘Enjoy this time, it goes by too quickly,’” says Jennifer Covello, Norwalk mother-of-two.

“But I know they won’t listen – I didn’t!”

What Jennifer did manage to do as a new parent was to keep a journal of sorts, first for her son, then her daughter. Now practically ...