Forget traditional baby books decorated with ribbon and full of pictures, important dates and a lock of hair – blogs may well be the baby book of modern day parents.

“A lot of parents joke that it is the new rite of passage: it is the new baby book for parenting – writing about your kids and publishing it online,” said Leanne Shirtliffe, a local Calgarian who has developed a healthy following for her parenting blog, Ironic Mom.

Shirtliffe isn’t alone either, may Calgary parents have begun chronicling their adventures in parenting through blogs.

Shane Byciuk, known online as Calgary Daddy, said he keeps both a traditional baby book and the blog. “They are complimentary.  The baby book is limited to milestone dates but the blog is an expansion of that theme because I can post pictures and video,” said Bysiuk.

Gillian Ranson, a sociology professor at the University of Calgary, sees value in the tone of these blogs. “I think any kid would like to look back and see that their parents were having fun.”