Nesting // Big Brother Bag

Baby #2 has arrived - October 25th to be exact!  And big brother Luke is so excited about his baby brother, Callaghan.  To make the transition from a family of three to a family of four easier on our 3 year old son we did what any amazing parents would do....bribed him with gifts.  I created a Big Brother Bag for Luke from his baby brother using the good ol' wear, read, want, need method.

1 // Tote Bag - This DIY monogrammed tote bag is the perfect size for Luke to take to school and he was pretty stoked that it was personalized with HIS letter "L."

2 // T-Shirt - There's something about these "Big/Little Brother" t shirts that make me all warm and fuzzy.


3 // Book - Luke is totally into superheroes at the moment and was excited to add this book to his collection.

4 // Toy Train - Since we shared the news with Luke all he talks about is how he's going to play tracks/trains with his baby brother.  A new train was a no-brainer.

We also added a 5th and 6th item into the bag...

5 // Ipod - We already had the ipod and we use it to entertain Luke when all else fails (yeah, yeah...I know) but it's also the perfect camera for the little guy to use to take photos of his new baby brother.  It's simple to use and he was able to see the photos immediately.

6 // Button - I printed off a Big Brother button template from here and made a button for Luke.  I don't know what it is about buttons, but kids dig 'em.

If he would have been hanging out at the hospital for extended periods of time then I would have included a few more busy elements, like a workbook/coloring book, a puzzle and probably a few more reading books but luckily, we had some amazing people who offered to watch him.

Luke felt pretty special that his little brother gave him a gift, but he wasn't only on the receiving end.  He got to pick out something special to give his baby brother at the hospital and oh boy was he excited!

He picked out a cuddly little raccoon for baby brother which is similar to a soft little puppy that he's had since birth, plus baby brother got a matching onesie.

While it hasn't made the transition 100% smooth it was a nice way to make the big brother not feel completely left out when everyone was focused on the baby.  So what about the rest of you parents of multiple children, what did you do to ease this life altering change onto the older sibling?