12-18 Month Toddler Favorites
It's so crazy to me that I wrote our huge blog post on baby products 9 months ago. Where did my little babies go!? It's so wild how much they've grown and changed in the last 9 months and this season with little toddlers really is the best. I firmly believe every season has aspects that make it "the best" and it's so fun to see how the Lord encourages us and stretches us in new seasons. Parenting is such a journey!
I wanted to share an update on a few things that we've loved from the 12-18 month range! My big post of baby products still covers a lot of what we are using, but I want to specifically share a few things that we love now (and an update on a few things we've switched to!) If you're a soon to be mama or you're just interested in my big baby product post, go here!
We have gone through our fair share of sippy cups but we finally have our long term winner! We loved the zoli cups at first but they eventually started to mold and it was nearly impossible for me to keep the straws clean so we switched to camelbak. These were great for a while but liquid pools in the top of the straw if you don't get it all out and it'll leak which I didn't love. NOW we are using Contigo cups (boy and girl versions!) and we LOVE THEM!!! They haven't leaked at all and they are super easy to keep clean!
Teaching Campbell and Crawford to feed themselves with utensils has been interesting and messy! A few things have really helped us in the process and the first are the silicone plate/bowls that will stick to the high chairs! When we first started with utensils having the silicone plates that stick to the highchair trays was really helpful because even if they pushed on them with their spoons they would stay attached to the table so we had far less yogurt on the floor! We also LOVED the gootensils because it didn't matter which way they held them, they could still scoop and get a bite. Our favorite food to practice with is yogurt because it's thick enough to stay on the spoon! Now that they're a little bit better at feeding themselves we use the Replay plates and utensils and I really do love them so much! They stack perfectly in the cabinet which is a huge plus for me.
We get a lot of use out of these snack cups because they are perfect on the go or when they are playing in the morning before breakfast and want cheerios! Another on the go favorite are the silicone scripture mats from Elora Inspired. We use them every single time we are out to eat and I take them on picnics, to the farmers market, and we will use them at home sometimes too! You can throw it in the dishwasher and it is just SO convenient for a lot of situations!
Our two top favorite books are The Pout Pout Fish and Brown Bear, Brown Bear! We read these two books ALL THE TIME. They will be Cole family favorites for a long time I think! We also really love the count and learn piggy bank, melissa and doug puzzles, and our cuddle + kind dolls!
We have come to love Tubby Todd bath products! We use the body/hair wash, lotion, and all over ointment. Crawford's skin issues have completely cleared up since using this (and cutting our dairy milk) and I truly do think it's making a difference! It's pricey, but worth it!
If you have followed along with some of my instastories over the past few months you know that we had big issues with sunscreen for Crawford's skin. Several things were making her eczema worse so we were on the hunt for something that would be safe for all of us! Beautycounter has been the winner for us! It goes on really easily and it isn't too think which I really like. We are using an old formula, but I'm sure the newer stuff would be great too! It's expensive, but I truly think it's worth it! For diaper rash we have liked badger baby and for Campbell's curls we love shea moisture curl smoothie cream. I usually wet his hair a little and scrunch the curls and then I add a little product and scrunch again. Bonus... it smells so good!
An added bonus for something Mama has loved: the freshly picked diaper bag! I know we'll have more babies in the future and when they did their big sale a couple months ago I snagged it for right around $100. IT IS AMAZING!!!! Hands down my favorite bag ever. I even took it on our trip to California without babies! I'm SO glad that I got it and it would be well worth the investment!
These are just a few of the things we've been loving over the past 9 months or so! If you're a mama, I would love to know what you would add to this list! Specifically, what are your favorite educational and open ended toys? I'm starting to think ahead to Christmas!
Some affiliate links used where appropriate. All opinions are my own!
