From big sister to little brother

How do you prepare your first born for a sibling? I've heard horror stories, but also stories full of love for the new baby. I wanted Emma to be as ready as possible. The whole pregnancy, we tried to talk to Emma about this new baby that was going to join our family. We put her in her big girls bed and after she was used to it, told her that the new baby was going to sleep in the cot. We went through all the tiny clothes together and she helped me put them in the drawers. She got her own baby for her birthday that she has practised putting a nappy on and practised comforting a baby and putting it to sleep. (Don't stress, she won't be doing these for her brother, but she does know now what you do with a tiny baby). Of course we've also talked about the belly and how the baby is there, she has talked to the belly and blown raspberries.

All these things have prepared her very well, but I wanted to do something else. Something that would be totally from her to her new baby brother. So she could give him a gift and show how much she loves him.

Rattle was a perfect gift I thought. She got to paint as much as she wanted (fabric paint). She chose orange and I chose yellow to go with it, as I'm not a big fan of orange. Then when she was finished painting, I looked at the pieces and saw a lion. Yes I stepped in a bit and drew a sleepy lion on the other side and awake lion on the other. She didn't mind.

The little man couldn't care much for his new rattle yet, but it was very important for the big sister to give him his new toy.