Guest Post: Babbling with the Bogles

Hello Love, Lipstick and Pearls readers! I am a long time follower of Kristen’s blog myself. I just enjoy keeping up to date with her and her adorable family’s life together! Plus, I have gotten some amazing recommendations on beauty and baby products from reading along. I have a blog myself- one that I have admittedly neglected from time to time, BUT if you’d like to know a bit more about me and my family, head over to Babbling withthe Bogle(s). 

 This is us... Troy, Emma and I!

Let me start off by saying that I am an early childhood educator turned stay at home mom. This might help you understand what I want to share with you all today. Like Kristen, I am expecting my 2^nd babe. Sometime between December 25^th and December 30^th we will welcome another sweet member to our family. This go ‘round we didn’t get a due date, we got a due range. I have no idea why, either.

As soon as I found out, I moved into planning mode. One of the first things I considered obsessed over was the best way to get Emma ready for the new kid on the block. Emma was only about 15 months old when we found out we were having another, so really, how would she understand what is going on? I don’t even think she will understand when she is 2 and we have a new baby in the house. To be 100% transparent, I don’t think my husband and I fully understand either.

I immediately started looking for books that could help us introduce the concept of a new sibling. Emma loves books- reading them, handling them, sticking her foot in them and smooshing her toes between the pages. I did quite a bit of research, looking for durable books with simple, engaging messages. I wanted to share some of my finds with you today. I figure it might be a nice resource or starting point for mama’s and families as they are expanding.

I have broken down what I have found into 2 categories: books to prepare for baby and books for after baby is born. Most of the books I have purchased are through Amazon, because I am obsessed with Prime. Again, these are mostly board books, geared for toddlers. There are so many additional resources for older children out there!

Books to prepare for baby:

Hello In There! A Big Sister’s Book of Waiting

This is such an amazing book. The only downside is that there isn’t a version for a big brother. It is a lift the flap book and the pages are nice and durable for a rough and tumble toddler. The mommy’s tummy grows throughout the book, as does the baby. Emma loves lifting the flaps and saying “Hello, baby!”

Waiting for Baby
This book is short, sweet and to the point. Even better, it is under $3! It is a board book so it is perfect for little hands. It is not super rich in content, but it is intriguing and you can certainly interact with it to expand the content. The little child in the book is ambiguous, so it is a perfect little book for a boy or girl!

Global Babies
This book isn’t specifically focused on preparing for a new baby, but it has been a long time favorite in our house. Since starting to read our preparing for babies books, Emma interest in babies has really peaked and she has been wanting to read this book a lot more. I love this book for its simple message and the pictures of diverse babies. If you love this book as much as we do, you can expand your collection to include the Global Baby Girls and Global Baby Boys books! I highly recommend books from The Global Fund for Children!

Families (Babies Everywhere)

This is another book that we already had in our library, but have been pulling out to read more often. This book states common things families do together, like go swimming or share snacks, and then provides a picture of a human family and an animal family doing such things. It is simple and engaging and Emma loves to practice ‘reading’ this one to us!

Books for after baby is born:

I have chosen to save these books to share with Emma, after our new baby is here. I figured she might make more connections with the content as she is experiencing it herself.

My New Baby

This is by the same author as Waitingfor Baby. The formatting is very similar- short, sweet and to the point. There are other books in this series, however these are the only 2 I have purchased thus far

I Am a Big Sister

I love this author! She writes simple books with engaging pictures and lyrical text. This book is no exception! I haven’t been able to find a big brother version of this book, however, I haven’t really scoured too hard.

I’m a Big Sister

This is a book from the perspective of a new big sister. It doesn’t just focus on all the positive aspects of having a new sibling, which is what I like most about it. However the central message is sweet and true- mommies and daddies have a lot of love to give to their families. There is a boy version of this book, as well, although I have not checked that out.

I’m a Big Brother  
We aren’t going to find out if we are having a boy or girl. We held out on our first pregnancy and it was really the best experience and surprise! Since we won’t know the sex, I have been limited in buying some books for after the baby is born. Here are some other books that I am considering purchasing once we have the new baby:

Brothers

Sisters

You’re Getting a Baby Brother

You’re Getting a Baby Sister

And FINALLY, if you have stuck around this long, hooray! I have saved the resource I am MOST excited about for last! If you haven’t checked out Twigtale, please, please do! It is a website in which you can personalize pre-written stories (written by child development experts) with your own pictures!!

I ordered the book Becoming a Big Sister for Emma and WE LOVE IT!! One thing I should mention, is that these books are not board books. My Emma is quite rough with her books and I believe in letting her explore and handle the books. The first book didn’t last long before a couple of pages fell out. I contacted Twigtale and they had a new book printed and in the mail for me the very next day. They followed up with an email and I told them about how much I LOVE the content of the book but worried about how long it would last us and they sent us another free book! Needless to say, their customer service is AMAZING.

So now I have 2 copies of the book. I put one aside for Emma to read and look at when she is older. In the other book I used my top secret book reinforcement process. It is really fancy people, I put plain ole’ clear packing tape in the spine of each page. This copy is the one I let Emma interact with. She loves looking at the pictures of herself. I plan on personalizing the I Have A New Sibling book once our new baby is here!

Those are the books that we have or plan to get for Emma once the baby is here. Seriously, this is just a small fraction of what is available out there! If you have any sibling book recommendations please share them with us!

Thank you so much Amanda for your guest post! I love all these suggestions and have bought I’m a Big Sister,  My New Baby, and Big Sisters are the Best! and we really enjoy reading them. Ellie loves to have them read to her repeatedly each night and point out things for the baby in the books. I think it's really helped her grasp the concept of big sister and baby a bit more. We'll have to snag a few more of these books for after the baby is here! Good luck with your little ones!