The Baby Plaque
When my children were born I thought their weight, length and the time of day they arrived would be engrained on my brain forever. Fast forward a few years of baby fog and my first born asks how much she weighed when she was born, and my answer was ‘not a lot’!
This reminded me of my mother’s solution for this issue. She had a small pewter plaque/plate for each of us with these details engraved (see photos below). Whenever the question came up my brother or sister or I would pull a chair up to the wall where she had these hanging and settle whatever question we had on the topic. I still remember how much we loved comparing these to the size of new born cousins, and it would almost always inspire our mother to tell us a story about the day we were born…
There is even scientific evidence behind this...*
There is evidence to suggest that babies also like seeing their names written before they can read because it provides them with a sense of recognition and familiarity.
Babies are constantly learning and exploring the world around them, and recognizing their own name is an early step in developing their sense of self-awareness.
When a baby sees their name written, they may recognize certain patterns and shapes that they associate with themselves, such as the first letter or the overall shape of the name. This can be a source of comfort and familiarity for the baby, as they begin to understand that their name represents their own unique identity.
Additionally, seeing their name written may also elicit positive associations with the people around them, who may frequently use their name when speaking to them or about them. This can create a positive emotional response in the baby, further reinforcing their interest in seeing their name written.
Overall, while babies may not yet understand the meaning of words or be able to read, seeing their own name written can be an early step in developing their sense of self and establishing a sense of familiarity and comfort in their environment.
We see this a lot with everything from peg rails, benches and garden swings where young children like to trace the engraving of their names with their little fingers, long before they know how to read.
(*articles from healthline.com and Creative Scholars Preschool writes about this, and it is an interesting topic for a future blog for us...)
When one of our regular customers rang us for suggestions of what to give his new born grandson as a Christening present we set about to design The Oak & Rope Company version of this. Following the launch of this keepsake a few years ago, some of our customers have also added the vital statistics of new arrivals on frames and book ends. This week one of them shared this gorgeous photo when ordering another book end for their second arrival…
We absolutely love playing our part in the milestones of life and are honoured to be trusted by so many to create their heirlooms of the future.
As you can imagine we were moved to tears when these new parents shared this unboxing video with us...
New Born Present - Oak Baby Plaque
For all the reasons mentioned above these make perfect Christening, Naming Ceremony or New Born Presents.