Big Brother Present - Bolingbrook,IL

Congratulations! When my friend had her second child a group of us did a box of goodies for the older sister to open throughout those first weeks when the house is flooded with presents for the baby! She didn't use them when she was in the hospital, but they were a great "time buyer" when she needed a few quiet moments or when someone came to the house with a gift for baby, but none for big sis.
- crayons and a notepad/ coloring book
- stickers
- books
- play doh
- Disney DVD
- Polly Pockets (you could do trains or matchbox cars)
- docor kit so she could help take care of mommy
- picture frame for their first picture together (it was a craft kit so she decorated the frames... one for each)
- "kit" to decorate a piggy bank
Just hit the toy store and get a bunch of $5 items for him to have over the course of time.

Our second son "gave" our first son Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear when our oldest visited in the hospital. We have pictures of daddy holding both boys and reading the book. It was awesome. When our daughter was born, she "gave" the two boys the same gift: a drawing notpad, a snail-shaped magna-doodle, some crayons, and some candy. (just a little bit of candy!) They loved it, and they drew pictures of her right away. So sweet!

When our second baby came grandma gave our daughter her first baby-doll (she was 18 mos old) so she could take care of her own baby. Not sure how you feel about that for a boy - not that at that age anything would be "wrong" with that, but...I would suggest a book (or a couple) that has the topic of being a big brother or mommy is having a baby. Good books and coloring books can keep them busy for long periods of time esp important when you need to focus on the new baby. Congrats and good luck!

My son got a big brother button with a picture of his little sister in it's. He wore that button without pride and was able to show his classmates his sisters.

I got a Big Brother shirt & a book and kept them hidden in the closet at our house. My mother was the one who got to tell my son that mommy & daddy went to get the baby out, and it was her job to give him the shirt & book and tell him they were presents from the baby. He was so tickled! He wanted to read the book over & over, and wear the shirt when he came to meet the baby at the hospital.

He would go shopping with me and he picked out a couple things he thought the baby needed, without any prompting on my part. One was a little pink bumblebee teether toy that vibrates when the baby bites it. Another was a purple sleeper with bunnies on it, I don't know why it caught his eye but he INSISTED on buying it for the baby. There were other things too, but those are the ones I can think of.

We took our daughter shopping so she could pick out a present (a little blankie) for her soon-to-be-born sibling. She helped wrap it, and was VERY excited to give it to him when he was born - probably more excited than she was to receive her gift. We gave her a huge set of play food. It was important to give her a toy that allowed open-ended creative play so she'd keep busy during those hectic early days when we couldn't always give her a ton of attention.

My older son LOVES Barney, so when the baby was born, he "gave" the older one a Barney that sings the "I Love You" song when you squeeze it. He was thrilled, and now they both love it.