Need gift suggestions

I need some gift suggestions. I want to get something that is "from the baby" to give to the twins when they come visit me/her at the hospital. I can't think of anything really. I mean, I don't really want something that is a "keepsake" b/c I want them to be able to have it now...but don't really want a toy that will get thrown in with everything else.

I'm taking the girls shopping (about 2 weeks before) to let them pick out some stuff for the baby (little stuffed animal and blankie or something like that) and I'm going to have them wrap it all in 2 little gift bags and put their names on the bag for the baby...then I'm going to have my mom bring those bags with them with they bring the twins to visit the new baby! I think they will LOVE doing that.

Then, 4-6 weeks after we are all home and settled, my parents are going to watch the baby while DH and I take the twins to Build A Bear (we've never been there) and out to lunch just so they can have a day with just mom and dad (like the old times...lol).

So, any suggestions on something I can bring to give the girls that we can say the "baby" got for them?

 

Mine got their easel from Elizabeth when she came home from the hospital. They each got her a soft Priddy book

 

Neither of these is exactly what you're looking for, but it's what we did for our older DD, who was 3.5 when our twins arrived last summer....

First, we gave her our old digital camera (which isn't worth much anymore), and showed her how to take pictures with it, and view them on the screen -- she LOVES this, and she snapped a bazillion pictures of the babies early on. It really helped include her.

There are a lot of kid-friendly digital cameras on the market right now, although they're a little pricey...

Also, I put together a small photo album of about 30 shots that showed pics of DD from her very first day home, through recent pics -- she loves to look at pictures of herself and our family, and this helped her understand that the babies would be tiny and helpless and boring at first, but would quickly grow up just like she did.

I don't think we did an actual gift from the babies to her, but we *did* have a whole stash of small gifts to give her when people visited with gifts only for the babies. This didn't happen too often, thankfully. Still, it was a very tough adjustment -- she still struggles sometimes -- so it's nice to have some things on hand for a blue day....

 

I just did little stuffed animals that I found at Hallmark. And the baby wrote them each a card. Is there something special that they like and will remember that the baby gave them...

Like now, Meghan would love anything Ariel....so a doll, a cup, anything like that and she would remember that it was Liam that gave it to her.

 

I gave my ds a new dvd and I gave dd new horses to play with. I had them wrapped and when they came to visit the baby they got their gift from Tyler. I tried to pick something that the both really enjoyed but also something that will keep them busy since I knew a lot of my time was going to be tied up at first.

 

I guess I'm the big party pooper here---We gave our oldest a present (a diego boat or something) when the babies came, and I didn't think it did any good. It didn't make him feel any more special, or any less annoyed at two little people stealing his thunder. Giving him a present was much more about soothing our own needs, and not his. I just thought I'd chime in and say I like the idea of the older girls giving the baby a present--because they understand that. But not so much the other way around. I'll stop being a party-pooper now.

Reyna

 

When the twins were born, we got my older DD babies of her own to take care of. It wasn't necessarily a present from the babies per se, but something for her to have to feel included. This is a tradition that my mom started with us when I became a big sister.

 

We got ours the Little Tikes Digital Cameras from the new baby. I was able to pick them up around Christmas time for $19.99 each! I figured people would be taking a lot of pictures around that time, so we should get them to join in on the fun.

 

Our twins each gave their big sister one of those big buckets of Duplo blocks when she came to visit them at the hospital. I liked that they came in their own storage container, weren't small enough for a baby to choke on, were inexpensive, and something she could play with on her own when I was busy with the twins.

 

Our son was 2.5 years old when the babies were born, they each got him a train for his Thomas set, he still thanks them (6 months later) every day or 2!!

 

Maybe a new special blanket (something the girls can sleep with and will last a while) , doll to 'take care of', or 'books' on being big sisters (keepsake and can use now!)

KC

 

Even though we have only boys at our house.....LOL.......when the kids were younger (for the second through 4th children)......each of them received a baby (doll) from the baby. They were able to play with their baby and feed, change, etc when I was feeding the real baby.

As the boys got older (and more brothers were born), the joy of the dolls wore off.....LOL......when the younger group of boys were born, the new baby gave them a present to play with at the hospital when the came to visit and then they could play with it at home too (video game, tinker toys, movie, etc)....you have to remember that when my twins were born, the other boys were 13, 11, 9, 6, and 3.......so they would not appreciate a doll then. I figured that the actual toys would keep them busy once we got home too.....LOL


I will say that each and everyone of the doll babies that the new baby gave the boys (there were 6 in total) are still played with today by the younger boys.....the twins especially like to carry them around and play with them.

 

When my boys were born, we had each of them give Alea a gift. One gave a necklace that we had engraved with her name on it and their names on the back and the other was a toy. She loved it, she especially loved the necklace because she is such a girlie girl. Good luck, I really like the idea of the digital cameras, they would feel so grown up and included with that!

Sara

 

I would love to do the cameras...however, they would totally fight over just one of them and if I bought two...those run $50 each...and that's more than I wanted to spend. That is for those kid-proof ones that can be dropped over and over, etc.

Anyone know of any that are cheaper than that but still durable?

 

QUOTE(twinzmom2b @ Feb 1 2008, 10:19 PM) [snapback]601634[/snapback]
I would love to do the cameras...however, they would totally fight over just one of them and if I bought two...those run $50 each...and that's more than I wanted to spend. That is for those kid-proof ones that can be dropped over and over, etc.

Anyone know of any that are cheaper than that but still durable?


We just went on vacation and brought each of our kids (including our 2 1/2 year old) a disposable camera. She had a lot of fun with it and it was fun to see what kind of pictures she took! I was actually surprised that many of them actually had a subject in them. She was also very fond of holding the camera out in front and taking pictures of herself.

This would be less expensive and you don't have to worry about fighting or breaking!

 

I got the girls some "Mommy" stuff to use with their babies so they could be the same as me. They each got a custom diaper/tote bag, a doll cloth diaper, and a baby sling. All the items were hand-made so they were good quality and much nicer than the stuff you could get at the store. Those items still get a lot of use in our house. It's so sweet to see them carry their dolls in their slings.

Our local twins club garage sale was held while I was in the hospital with Dax so I had my sister go in my place. She got a rocking horse that was also for the girls from Dax. It was inexpensive since it was used but also large enough that it could never get lost in the other toys.

 

My twins got a book from thier sister called "You are all My Favorites" by Sam McBratney...it is still a favorite for all of us (course...it makes Mommy cry, but what doesn't these days!!!) We read it all the time and "Santa" even found the bears from the book at Khol's this year!