Well, I really thought we had cracked it.

Every time Esther and William see my bare bump they say ‘Hello Baby’ and when I pull my top back down they say ‘Bye Bye Baby.’

The can sign baby beautifully too and love watching the Mr Tumble ‘Baby’ epsiode over and over again.

But it seems there may be something of a misconception as not only do they kiss and talk to Mummy’s baby but they also stroke their own baby and insist on kissing Daddy’s too!

They are only 20 months of age, just 17 months corrected, there is a limit to how much we can do to make them understand.

But I need to try so that when Baby does arrive she does not completely turn their world upside down. I want Esther and William to have some idea of what a baby is and some of the things she might do once she is here.

To help the preparations I have turned to books. We have had the books lying around for a while but I did not want to do too much too soon, but now we are reading at least one baby story everyday. Much to their frustration when what they would really like is Dear Zoo over and over again!

I have bought a range of books for us all to share and right now I would like to share them with you.

There’s A House Inside My Mummy
This is my personal favourite and is a book I have blogged about before. Written by the author of the wonderful Giraffes Can’t Dance you can read why I love this book here.

There’s Going to be a Baby by John Burningham and Helen Oxenbury
I love John Burningham books especially Grandpa and Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present. In this book baby’s arrival comes closer, day by day, question by question. This is a very warm and emotional story of a little boy awaiting the arrival of his new sibling. It gives some insight into what might be going through an older child’s mind as they wait for Baby. I love the style of this book. It is a beautiful read though perhaps too old for Esther and William at the moment. I will treasure it always though as it has made me smile regularly throughout this pregnancy as I wonder what Baby might be like when we welcome her into the world and what all of my children will be like as they grow. A magical tale of waiting for Baby that captures a young child’s passion for questions.

Waiting for Baby and My New Baby by Rachel Fuller
I bought Esther and William each their own copies of these board books. They are very simple with lovely, colour illustrations. They show all the different baby paraphernalia that is starting to reappear in our house.

What I love about these books is that they give you ideas for getting your toddler involved in the preparations for baby’s arrival. They encourage you to talk about the baby growing inside of you, they suggest through the pictures that you let your toddler help to decorate the nursery and sort through old clothes. The books show an older sibling choosing new toys for a baby and helping Daddy so that Mummy can rest. The text is simple and conversational. The detail in the pictures mean there is so much to talk about when sharing this book with a brother or sister to be.

The books also show scenarios that might occur once Baby is here. Toddler having a snack while Baby breastfeeds, exchanging presents when the new baby comes home, posing for photos, singing to the baby and being quiet and gentle.

These are great books for toddlers to share with an adult and then look through and reflect on on their own. Esther and William love these books and can often be found flicking through the pages identifying all the objects that they know.

That’s Not My Baby
We have a whole collection of these Usborne touchy-feely books and so it just made sense to buy the baby one. Again this is a book which Esther and William have a copy of each. William’s is blue and Esther’s is pink. The books are very quick and easy to read and teach some very simple baby vocabulary such as soft hat, mittens, bib, socks and bath. Lovely books for little hands to hold, touch and feel.

Topsy and Tim: The New Baby by Jean and Gareth Adamson
We own a whole series of Topsy and Tim books because of the twin thing! I love them and have read them as a child myself and to classes of children that I have taught. It seems only fitting that now I share them with children of my own. In this book Topsy and Tim’s friend has a baby brother and they get to help out as preparations are made. As with the other books above the text and illustrations show the older children being included in all the activities such as decorating, sorting, changing, feeding and bathing. A lovely book especially for twins.

The New Baby by Anne Civardi
This is an Usborne First Experiences Book and I think that it may be my least favourite. The characters in the book remind me of the card game Happy Families. The book shows many of the same things as the other books but it all feels rather dated. The text is simple for older children to read and understand. The illustrations are clear with lots of things for toddlers to identify and talk about. This book does the job if introducing the concept of a baby and what might happen but for me it is not as powerful as the others.

A selection of books that we are using to help us prepare for Baby. Is there anything you would add to our Baby Book Basket as we prepare to wait our final three weeks?