Everyday Us: Being a Big Sister

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A couple of weeks after Arlo arrived I got a bit gushy on Instagram about how proud I was of Athena and how well she’d taken to her new role of ‘Big Sister’. A few weeks down the line that still stands. So far there has been no hint of jealousy, even when I am sat on the sofa with him for a marathon feeding session! She doesn’t get upset when things take longer to do because Arlo is involved, and she doesn’t mind that he has taken over her place as being the baby that gets ‘worn’ in a sling or carrier (though it helps that she has a lot more stamina for walking these days!)

I think the smallish age gap of 21 months means that she doesn’t really have the capacity to be jealous yet, and she probably doesn’t really remember much of the times when it was just her keeping us busy!

She’s happy to help change his nappy, whenever I start the procedure she lays out a muslin on the rug then patiently waits for me to give her anything that needs to go in the bin, and disposes of it for me! Sometimes she’ll try and put her finger or thumb in his mouth to stop him crying, and she’ll always give him his blanket when he’s in his bouncer (although sometimes this goes over his face so I do have to watch that!)

Whenever she’s eating a snack she’ll offer some to him as well as her stuffed toys (again, I need to keep a careful watch that nothing actually goes in his mouth!) and the sweetest of all is when she likes to have him sat with her when she gets tired on the sofa. She puts on arm round him and puts her thumb in mouth and sits quite happily with him.

To help to congratulate on Athena on becoming an older sibling (much like a certain other big sibling named George) Ella’s Kitchen sent her a lovely box of goodies for her to enjoy! In fact Athena and Arlo have the same age gap as George and Charlotte, as Kate Middleton seems determined to pop her babies out a month or so after me!

In the box was a certificate, a T shirt, a gorgeous colouring book and crayons that we’ve both been enjoying playing with and of course some tasty treats! The box arrived the day before we headed to Wales, so the handy sized snack packs and smoothies were perfect for our journey! Athena is a big fan of the Smoothie Fruits already and always gets upset when she finishes one! The savoury snacks are a great way to get some goodness into an otherwise fairly fussy eater, and the Cheese & Leek Wheels went down a treat too!

You can keep up to date with Ella’s Kitchen on twitter and facebook. Also check out the lovely video they’ve made to celebrate the new Royal Arrival!

7 thoughts on “Everyday Us: Being a Big Sister

  1. My girls are 20 months apart too, Ive just put on twitter a conversation which happened between them yesterday (they are now almost 2 and 3&half)
    Midge-23 months (2 next Sunday) “Best friend Sassy”
    Sassy- will be 4 in September- “Your my best friend too Midge!” and then they cuddled.
    they cuddle every morning when they wake up, they give each other a kiss goodnight they are fantastic together, not 100% of the time, they do occasionally beat the daylights out of each other (well they would if they didn’t get separated) but for the most part they are thick as thieves as I was with my sister who is just less than 2 years younger than me.

  2. I am really very jealous! Mine are 2.5 years apart. Not wildly different to your age gap but it seems to be enough to be causing slight problems. Lena is very proud to have a younger sister, asks where she is, tells me she needs a cuddle when she is crying. But, I’m still yet to get a photo of the two of them cuddling. She seems disinterested in showing her affection. I can’t wait until Marni is more interactive… hopefully things will improve!!! x

  3. Oh what a lovely bunch Ella’s Kitchen are! Lovely box of goodies and it’s so nice that she loves him so much already and clearly wants o help look after him x

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