Preparing for a Sibling

Folks, still no baby news, but I loved Jen's guest post so much, I couldn't wait until after the baby to post it. Happy reading and have a lovely weekend!

Hi Scribble Pad readers! I've posted here before and am back as Shannon and I both are finishing up our second pregnancies. Here I am with my hubby, AJ, and my son Drew, who is right around Behr's age.

When I was about to give birth to Drew my biggest thoughts and worries were how in the world was I going to do this... I felt so clueless. Now I'm finding myself really thinking about how to make the transition easier for Drew. And not just easier but fun. We've constantly been talking to him about Baby and how he is going to be such a great big brother. He'll often want me to pull up my shirt so he can hug Baby but then he says "cold" (because obviously she is getting chilly without my shirt covering her) and he'll get a blanket to put over my stomach. It is precious. And he's calling her "Sissy". :)

Here are some ways that we have tried to make this transition easy and make Drew feel special amid the changes:

Recently we went up to Portsmouth, New Hampshire for a night and spent some time at a great children's museum there that Drew loved. It had a gigantic train table and a pseudo restaurant. That night we made sure to go out to eat at a kid-friendly place (Flatbread Pizza Company) and we ended the day in the hotel pool where he could jump and play to his heart's content.

When working on Drew's "big boy room" I was very careful to incorporate many of the same elements from his nursery so that it wasn't like too many changes were happening at once. We added in more grown-up elements like a twin bed that he can use when he's ready but we aren't pushing it.

 

Drew loves looking at photos of people he knows so I made a book for him from My Publisher. We plan on presenting him with this book once he meets Baby Girl. In the book I really tried to reinforce who Drew is and what he loves. Often we'll ask him what he is going to teach his baby sister and he responds with one word "cars" (except he pronounces it like a true Boston-ian and says "caws"). I made sure to put photos in the book of people and things he recognizes and loves. At the end of the story we affirmed how Drew was going to be such a fabulous older brother and how we loved both Drew and Baby so much.

On the day my sister, Kim, was born my parents had her give me a slide. Immediately I loved Kim because she had given me such a great toy (even though she was about 10 minutes old and didn't have a clue what was going on). :) The other day I found a cement mixer at Home Goods and picked it up for Drew to be a gift from Baby on the day she arrives. This boy loves his cars and never stops talking about the cement mixer at the gym where he plays.

I emailed my friend Danielle and asked her to bring Drew a little token like some candy, a little Matchbox car and a balloon to the hospital when visiting the new baby so that he wouldn't feel left out. She's all over it.

  

So, tell me, what are YOUR secrets for making your firstborn comfortable and happy with the changes? Okay, well, as comfortable and happy as possible when someone invades their life? :)

I'd love for you to come by Migonis Home and visit for a while. And drop me an email while you are at it... I just love meeting people (even if it is just through email)!

Find Jen on 

her blog // facebook // pinterest