Preparing to be a Brother

Dylan has spent nearly 18 months as an only child and has been spoilt in the process. I spend my days doing activities specifically designed around him.  He has kisses and cuddles whenever he wants them, we went to baby groups when he was little and now go to toddler groups designed speciically for his age group.  We see friends with children his age and at the weekends he has both mummy and daddy wrapped around his fingers.  There has been no doubt since the moment he entered this world who was in charge!

He is going to be in for a shock when the new baby arrives and he has to share my attention all day long.  There will be times when I am busy feeding a newborn and cannot help him with his puzzles.  There will be days that I am too tired for early morning groups and he has to make do with an extra dose of cbeebies.

How on earth do I prepare him for this change?

Still my baby!

He will only be 18 month when Squish arrives and although I have tried to talk about the baby as much as possible, he doesn't really seem to get it.  No matter how much I tell him there is a baby in mummy's tummy - when I ask him where the baby is, he looks around confused that he can't see a real baby.  

I think he knows things are going to change as his behaviour certainly has these last couple of weeks.  He has developed a very clingy side and doesn't want to be out of my reach.  Suddenly I cannot leave the room for a second without a full blown tantrum!  We have the moses basket in the living room already and when I mention that it is for the baby,  he brings his football over and puts it in.  He has a bit of a thing for pushing the football round in his pushchair though so maybe it is his baby?

I am trying to make the most of these last few weeks when we have whole days together, just the two of us by going for walks without the pushchair, knowing I can carry him when he gets tired, and doing lots more drawing and crafty bits that involve giving him my full attention - unfortunately it won't be so easy next month!

I would love to hear how you helped prepare your children for the arrival of  brother or sister and any tips for these last few weeks to make things easier on the little dude?!

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34 Weeks Pregnant

With only 6 weeks to go bump is feeling rather large although I am sure I was bigger first time around! I am hoping this means a slightly smaller baby, but I am preparing for another chunky monkey anyway.  Here is the 34 week bump -

On the Outside

I think my bump is rather low but I have felt like this throughout the entire pregnancy so I don't think it has dropped yet.  With Dylan I could feel his bum up by my ribs but this baby is either smaller or lower down - I am blaming weaker stomach and pelvic floor muscles!

I do feel big, but not too big and I appear to be measuring about right or only slightly over for dates now so I remain optimistic that the little one will fit into newborn clothes when he arrives.  The midwife is happy with his size and growth and I have another appointment in two weeks - much more frequent than in my first pregnancy!

Movements have definitely changed and I don't get so many kicks now.  What seems to happen is he does twists and turns which completely distort my belly and you see it moving around like there is a party going on in there! He is definitely running out of space though and I can always feel the outline of his body where my tummy is hardest.

On the Inside

I think the tiredness may be beginning to kick in this week as I have been practically falling asleep as I play with Dylan some days.  I do find that if I am out all day or have people over that I seem to have more energy but sitting on the living room floor all I want to do is lie down and have a snooze!

My back is not suffering like it did in the first pregnancy but I do get some groin aches, especially on the odd occasion I sit down for more than ten minutes and then try and get up again.

Still no cravings, nausea or heartburn and I am hoping I have been lucky enough to get away without any of the awkward symptoms yet again! I am still managing to sleep through the night with no insomnia or toilet trips and hoping this continues!  I don't really feel like pregnancy is restricting me yet and am still crawling around on the floor playing trains and dinosaurs like I did before I got so big. 

I have lots of plans for the last few weeks of pregnancy including numerous trips to London so taking it easy is certainly not an option. I am not on maternity leave until 2 days before my due date as well so really pushing my luck!
 Although we still are nowhere near ready for the little guy to arrive, I do now have all the essentials for the first few days and I am happier knowing that they are sorted.  I have bought some newborn nappies and the dreadful but all too necessary maternity pads.  We have some tiny newborn clothes and today my gorgeous new Moses basket from Shnuggle arrived.  It is so white and beautiful and has really got me excited about the impending arrival! I already know exactly where it is going to go and I will write a full review once the little man is here and sleeping peacefully in it, but until then you can admire how prepared I am and forget about the fact Squish's room is still full of boxes that have to be unpacked before we can carpet and paint his nursery!

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Change

Sometimes I sit back and realise what a beautiful, smart and wonderful child I have created.  I may be bias but to me he is perfect.  He cries, he tantrums and there are days I am counting down until bed time, but all in all he is such a happy and content little boy and I know I have been blessed.

With another baby on the way, I cannot let myself believe we will be lucky enough to have two children like this.  Whilst we do have only the one and all our time and energy to focus on him, we are making some transitions now to prepare him for toddler-hood.  He has always transitioned so well; from milk to solids, from breast to bottle, from crib to cot bed and from feeding to sleep to self soothing.  We have never had struggles or battles and he has done everything in his own time.  There are still a couple of changes we wanted to make though and it feels right to do it now before we have our hands full with two.

We are in the process of cutting out bottles.  There seems to be so much conflicting advice on how long to keep milk in bottles for, but eventually they must all move on and the time feels right for Dylan to start having his milk in cups.  He only has milk twice a day - when he wakes up and at about 5pm so we have already changed one feed over to his trusty cup.  Turns out - he isn't too bothered!  As long as he gets his milk he is happy whatever the vessel.  Next week we will drop the morning bottle in favour of a cup as well.  It feels sad to lose another 'baby' thing, but whilst he can transition so easily it seems silly to keep the bottles.

Our next challenge is moving from sleeping bags to a cot duvet or blankets.  He is 13 months now and old enough for proper bedding.  We have decided not to introduce a pillow until he is older, but are going to see how he goes with pajamas and blankets rather than sleepsuits and gro-bags.  He still manages to migrate around the cot at night, so we have started this now whilst it is not too chilly to see how it goes.  I know you can buy sleeping bags for children up to 3 years, but I love snuggling under my duvet and I am hoping he gets used to his before it gets chilly.

My little baby is growing up far too fast, but I am so proud of how well he copes with change.  He is becoming an inquisitive, talkative and adorable little boy and I really hope that any future changes are met with such ease and smiles.

How have you found making changes in your child's life?

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