A couple of people have asked me if Gwen knows about or is excited for the baby. I tell her about the baby almost every day and ask if she's excited. She just looks at me and says, "Baby..." and then continues to do whatever it was she was doing before. Sometimes she'll look around for the baby I'm talking about. Sometimes I'm completely ignored. So yeah, she has no idea what's going on. She points out babies in public places and last week at church she decided to crawl with a baby in the foyer, which was hilarious. She loves the two books pictured in this little photo shoot we had with Photography Hill, and asks to read them whenever she sees them. She tries to feed her baby dolls and give them baths. But when it comes to comprehending that I have a small baby inside me that is going to grow and grow, she hasn't got a clue what I've been talking about, haha. We've got about 6 months to teach her all about that. She'll be 2 years and 2 months by the time the baby is born. She's going to grow so much during that time! I have no idea what she'll be like, then. It's exciting and a little terrifying. Toddlers are hard, yo. Two kids will be harder, yo!
I really like this book pictured above. It teaches kids about attachment parenting. I wouldn't really call myself a full on attachment parent, but I have AP tendencies, especially when it comes to newborns. The book has illustrations of skin-to-skin contact between the parent and baby, breastfeeding, co-sleeping, and baby wearing. I love it. There's another book in the series called Baby on the Way that I definitely need to check out. Maybe that one will help Gwen understand more about this new baby business.
A question to you veteran moms out there: How have you prepared your kid(s) for a new baby in your family? Any advice you have is appreciated.
Posts
These pictures are so beautiful!!! Gwen's little face is so cute!!
ReplyDeleteHey, at least she LIKES babies! haha I've known a few toddlers who avoid babies at all costs so it seems you're in a good starting place. Six months is a long time in toddler time so it will be interesting to see how/if she grows to understand the situation!
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
ReplyDeleteCute pictures!! You are doing so awesome preparing her. People always asked me if Ruby knew she was going to be a sister, and she had no clue! But I think it's better that way, they don't know any different! I tried to tell Ruby how much the baby loved her and how we loved the baby. I don't know if that's good advice, haha! But she seems to be fond of her brother! Also I think it's important not to like freak out if she tries to help a little too much with the baby! Which is hard sometimes because toddlers can be a little rough sometimes but they don't really know any better.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great book, and I bet Gwen will be a great big sister! Love these photos!
ReplyDeleteRachael
www.threadsforthomasblog.com
This is such a sweet post. She looks like she is ready to be a big sister.
ReplyDeleteNightchayde
My son will point to my belly when I ask him where the baby is, but he's only 14 months old, so I'm fairly certain that he really has no idea what that means! I'm eager to see how this works out!
ReplyDeleteAmberly
http://www.aprioritizedmarriage.com
Our little girl is 4 weeks old and her brother is almost 18 months. When she was born, he didn't really want anything to do with her. By the 2nd week we were home from the hospital, he warmed up to her. Now she's his first stop in the morning and after nap time. He gives her sweet little kisses on her head and pats her gently (at least most of the time). Watching them together gets me every time!
ReplyDeleteI will say we didn't do much to prepare him for her. I think he was just too young to understand. He knew his baby sister was in my belly but I don't think he really knew what that meant. Luckily it's all worked out!