Mom goes viral for photos using pizza to track baby's growth

“I knew I wanted to do a monthly milestone project for Lorenzo,” the mom and photographer told The Daily Meal.
(Courtesy of Dani Leigh Photography)

This is the cutest and the tastiest way we have ever seen someone track their baby’s growth. Professional photographer Dani Giannandrea photographed her son Lorenzo next to slices of pizza every month for a year to show his milestone progression.

“I knew I wanted to do a monthly milestone project for Lorenzo,” she told The Daily Meal. “When brainstorming with my mom, she said that I really should do something Italian as an ode to his name.” The Maryland-based mother of two chose to use pizza. “I had tossed around a few ideas but ultimately decided if we were going to do this right, we may as well also get dinner out of it each month. So, pizza for the win!”

She may not have known that it would at the time, but her pizza idea really blew up the internet. The photos of her project she posted to social media went viral and received thousands of comments and likes.

“I guess we have to have another baby so I can do this...” commented a mother on the Facebook post, tagging her husband. “I just love this. My dad and uncles own pizza places. My little guy is due in 10 weeks, maybe I’ll start at 3 slices,” wrote an expectant mom.

“I think millennial moms are always looking for new and creative ways to document monthly growth and milestones with their newborns. And what is better than pizza and babies?” Giannandrea explained as to why she thinks her fun project for her son went viral.

“I think most people are just excited to see something different. The blankets and the blocks and cards are cute, but they don't get you dinner once a month!”

All of the pizzas Giannandrea used in her shots were from il Forno Xpress in Frederick, Maryland. She used slices of their pizza bianca (a white pizza that that she told The Daily Meal is her personal favorite) as well as the restaurant’s meat lovers, Margherita, Hawaiian, barbecue chicken, and shrimp and pesto ‘zas. We wonder how il Forno Xpress’ pizza stacks up against Inferno in Darnestown, Maryland — one of whose specialty pies is our choice for the best pizza in the state.