so i’m never going to promise to make life with a toddler easy, because face it, it’s not. it’s hard, messy, and totally exhausting. but it’s also some of the funniest, happiest, and most rewarding moments of your life. i’ve said it before, and i’ll say it again, being logan’s mom is such a privilege.
that being said, i’m still a novice at this whole ‘mom’ thing, but i’ve figured out a few products that i feel like have really been a game changer. i wanted to share a few of them with you guys today, because i’m all about helping each other out! [so if you have must-use products/hacks, comment below or on my most recent insta!]
diaper bags
ok, so we have already gone through two of those oh joy! bags, and that is not saying anything about the quality; rather how much and often we used it. this bag went to daycare every day, it traveled with us, and it was the bag i took with on our very first #targetrun. it has enough pockets that you can organize well [very important when you have a squirmy kid and you’re reaching for the snacks] but it isn’t so pocket-heavy that you can’t actually put anything in it. i actually use the honest company bag as a backpack for work because it’s so professional working without being stuffy. it goes really well from work to weekend. the dad-pack, as i call it, has a wipe case on one side and an insulated bottle case on the other. talk about efficient and ready for anything! you can find all of these bags at target. oh! the oh joy! bag has straps attached that hook to a stroller, so no need to remember to find yourself any sort of contraption for that, and your bag isn’t taking up precious cargo space in the bottom of the stroller. #winning.
cups/bottles/meal products
pro-tip, parents, buy your toddler a sippy cup with a weighted straw. so far, munchkin makes the best one i’ve found. eventually your baby will get to the point where they can sit up and drink, but they’ll want to tip a sippy cup like a bottle, and it’s just not a great combo. sidebar, but is it that any sippy cup that doesn’t leak you can’t get liquid out, and any sippy cup that allows your kid to actually hydrate also winds up spilling everywhere?! add that to my list of “things i need to invent.” the bowls with the sticky bottoms are great for kids that like to throw things. the boon grass drying rack was on my top used baby items list, and it exists here for a totally different reason. we don’t have it out anymore because logan’s dishes get washed with ours, but she plays with it while we are cooking dinner. for this purpose, i included it as a toy to keep your kid busy.
books
we read to logan a LOT. she wants to read when she wakes up, and she always gets 3-5 books before she goes to bed. she loves to pull books off of our bookshelf, so i’ve changed out all the books at eye-level to ones that she can play with and read. below are some of the ones on constant repeat. pout pout fish will get stuck in your head – don’t say i didn’t warn you.
toys
in all honesty, logan doesn’t have a “favorite” toy. typically she likes whatever toy the other kids are playing with [ha!]. we actually don’t keep a TON of toys around, although it sure feels like it because we have twinkie-sized legos laying all over our basement. it does make me feel a little nostalgic that she really appreciates the fisher price corn popper [or maybe that’s pride i’m feeling? it’s a vacuum after all, so she does take after me]. i’ll be interested to see what toys she grows to like, but i’ve linked the ones that she plays with on a regular basis. it’s actually pretty cute to watch her put her “baby in the cart! baby in cart!”