18 Month Favorites

Hey friends – happy Wednesday! This week feels like it’s flying by… before we know it it’ll be the weekend! And I’ll be working on Saturday… whomp whomp. Actually, I’m really excited about working this weekend because it’s our first track meet of the season! And bonus for it being 20 minutes away from our house which means Henri and Liv might come cheer on the team as well. Yay for Henri being as into track & field as I  am. 😉

Today I have a fun mommy post coming at ya! I’ve been realizing recently how fast Liv is growing and how much the things we use and play with on a day-to-day basis have changed so much over the past few months. I thought that it would be fun to share a list of our current favorites for this 18-ish month age (she actually turned 19 months on Monday but these all still apply). 🙂 

Convertible Scooter

Our Globber Scooter was a recent purchase, and so far Liv loves it. Since before Christmas we’ve been toying with the idea of getting her a balance bike but we’ve noticed that she really doesn’t like being unstable (she always has to hold onto a railing going up/down stairs and if there is no railing she crawls/scoots) so we didn’t know how much she would like a balance bike. After going back and forth for a little while we decided on a 3-wheel scooter instead. We found the Globber on sale at Toys R Us for 50% off without knowing much about the brand and so far it’s been great. We’ve pushed Liv in the backyard, around the house, to and from the park and on family walks.

 RE-PLAY Dishes and UTENSILS

I just love the idea behind the Re-Play company – they make all of their products out of recycled milk jugs and all of their operations are in the USA. I love supporting brands that I believe in, especially when their products are also amazing.

Re-Play Divided Plates, Re-Play Bowls, Re-Play Utensils, Re-Play Sippy Cups

Munchkin Sippy Cup

We have a lot of different sippy cups and the Munchkin Miracle 360 Trainer Cup is our favorite. Is is one of the few “no-spill” cups that is actually no-spill and Liv has never been picky about drinking out of it. We have a lot of friends who say the same thing about this cup so it is highly recommended by lots of moms, dads and toddlers we know. 🙂 

LOLLIPOP BABY MONITOR

The video monitor that we originally got before Liv was born pooped out on us months ago! It wouldn’t stay connected to our wifi and would start blinking red in the middle of the night which would wake her up, so we stopped using it and after a few attempts by Henri to troubleshoot the problems we gave up – the company has been bought in the last 1.5 years so there wasn’t really anyone to contact about the product. I had been hearing about the Lollipop – Smart Baby Monitor from a few people on Instagram and when we got some Amazon gift cards for Christmas we pulled the trigger and bought it. We LOVE it. It came with a little stick-on wall mount which gives you a great vantage point of the room and it uses Wifi so Henri and I can each take a peek at Liv when we’re not home. 

NENOS CHILDREN’S HEADPHONES

Before our trip to MA for Christmas I researched kid-friendly headphones for Liv and landed on the Nenos Children Headphones . Liv loves them, they fit well on her head and she tolerated wearing them to watch some cartoons on the plane really well. 

Linkax Magnetic Safety Locks

As Liv started really walking around and getting curious we realized that it was time for baby locks on the kichen cabinets. I hated the idea of external baby locks because 1) they just look a little tacky to me and 2) I feel like seeing a barrier makes kiddos more intrigued by what’s inside the cabinets. I was discussing my dilemma with a friend and she mentioned that she had heard of or seen magnetic locks that you can’t see from the outside. I immediately looked into this and found Linkax Magnetic Safety Locks, I ordered them on Amazon and 2 days later (thank you Prime) I had easily installed them in all of our lower kitchen cabinets. They work really well and I just love that they are hidden. I can’t recommend these locks enough.  

Stride Rite Sneakers

Every toddler needs good shoes when they are first learning to walk! Stride Rite is our go-to for Liv’s sneakers because they are high quality, supportive and are designed and created specifically for little walkers! The Stride Rite Srtech Soft Motion Artie Shoe is our current fave – in fact I just ordered a new pair for Liv because she’s about to size up!

Bitty Baby 

My parents got Lavinia a Bitty Baby Doll for Christmas and she is obsessed. She’s always carrying baby around, kissing baby, brushing baby’s hair, wanting to change baby’s outfits. The bitty baby is also a great size for toddlers (I remember them being a lot bigger when I was younger) and seem relatively durable which I think is key for toddler toys!

Carrier

I don’t know about other toddlers but Liv loves being held these days, especially when I’m cleaning or cooking dinner. I used to be able to hold her on my hip and multitask, no problem, but as she’s grown and gotten heavier it’s harder to hold her one handed and go about my business – so we’re loving our carriers right now. I go back and forth between our Ergobaby Carrier and our Sakura Bloom ring sling. Both are great in different situations and just make it easier to keep her close and still be productive. I mostly use the Ergo if it’s best for her to be on my back (like when I’m using a knife) and the sling when she can help me – like helping dump ingredients in a bowl or stir them up. 

Other mamas – what were/are some of your family’s favorites when your kiddos were around 18 months?

We’re looking for a good, safe helmet for Liv now that she has a scooter – any recommendations?