Preparing a Toddler...

...To becoming a big sister

It's no secret that Bubba is hoping that in this bump there is a kitten or a puppy or a bunny.

She likes talking about her 'new baby brother' and telling me about all the toys we can buy him. I'm unconvinced though because at preschool she is learning about pets and as she is a huge animal lover (obsessively so) she is convinced it should be a kitten rather than a baby.

So I'm going to try and prepare her for the noisy ones arrival.

First up is this book

We already had the potty training book which she enjoys reading. This book covers all the subjects swiftly and easily from an always crying baby to feeding and spending time with mummy and daddy.

Bubba was less than impressed by the first reading (although this was just after an almighty crying fit because I'd woken her from a late impromptu nap). She read it again with daddy and it got a slightly better reception and she also took it out to show nanny but she does lose interest in it fairly quickly. I'm hoping it's a slow burn type of book and she can take snippets from it when her brother arrives.

Next on this list is putting together a box of goodies (as my lovely baby shower friends suggested) for when I'm otherwise engaged with the blue one. I have no idea what to put in at this stage to impress her (& keep her occupied for a while). She isn't really into colouring or the like and prefers using her imagination to pretend she's a cat or dog or horse. I think I might go down the dvd and stickers and normal books route, throw in a few treats of chocolate and I'm half way there.

Bubba has an aversion to dolls and anything baby and although she has a toy pram, she throws the doll out and pushes an empty pram around or stuffs loads of animals in. The offending pram is now in the garage and she hasn't missed it at all, so I'm not going to get a doll for her to change at the same time as I change the baby (although I may get a toy dog or something because I'm sure that'll go down better).

It's definitely going to be interesting once he is here...any ideas what else I can do?

Dinotastic - Parragon Book Buddy Review

We have been sent our latest Parragon Book buddy set. Much excitement from Bubba as it's all about Dinosaurs.

"Ah me love all these things" bubba aged 2 (almost three).

Although these books are aimed at older children (6+), Bubba got stuck in straight away with the stickers and I explained what we needed to do and where each one should go. We spent a good 30 minutes talking about it and sticking away. 

She also likes the stretchy dinosaur that comes with the book.

"Me lucky, me love my new toy" whilst stretching the green stretchy dinosaur.

The story behind these books are focused on four young dinosaurs with superpowers and they have to protect 'New Dino City'. There is a range of books from stickers and colouring to a doodle book. 

There is more of the range available at: www.dinosupersaurus.com and can be purchased from the main retailers.

For more info visit Paragon Books