Toddler Must Haves – Fall 2011

Charlotte can eat out of a regular bowl and plate but we 100% of the time still eat snacks out of snack traps because of Luca, our dog.  She still has to make sure and keep the snack trap out of Luca’s reach but this enables her to eat her snack in relative peace.  They’re also so handy when she’s snacking in the car or when we’re out.  I love the lids with them because then you can just fill them and throw them in your bag and not worry about snacks getting crushed before you can get them to your child and it helps them not pull out more than they can handle per bite.

Now that Charlotte is using a toddler fork and spoon to eat with we’ve run across a problem with going out to eat.  She still wants a fork or spoon to eat with (and I’d rather her keep eating with one) but restaurant silverware is way too big!  Enter take and toss silverware.  It’s cheap and can go into the dishwasher for at least a few washes and doesn’t add a lot of weight to a bag so it’s easy to carry around.  Charlotte loves being able to use her own sized silverware when we’re out and I don’t have to worry about her poking her eye out with a metal fork when we’re eating out!

I have always loved Table Toppers and that love hasn’t diminished now that Charlotte’s older.  I still prefer to “set” her place at the table when we go out by putting down a table topper and wiping the exposed table down with a Wet One.  I’m sure I’ll drop that habit now with James’ arrival and Charlotte getting older but for now these are still one of our best friends!

I would highly recommend some type of smart device with kids this age.  Charlotte loves playing with anything that we have: iPad, my iPhone, even an old iPhone that she calls her iPadPhone.  We’ve got a few Mickey episodes and a few Wonder Pets episodes on them that we can pull out if she gets unsettled while out to eat or waiting at the doctor.  We have always created some photo albums of pictures of her that she loves to scroll through and ask who everyone is in the pictures.

Charlotte just recently got into apps on the iPad thanks to Memma’s smart thinking to download some new apps to entertain her during James’ birth.  She loves the 123 Color app and the Toddler Jukebox app.  Yesterday afternoon we spent literally the entire afternoon playing with them!

A lot of places (especially Chick Fil A) have 3 and under toys with happy meals that are small board books.  I have found that these are so great for sticking in Charlotte’s bag and pulling out while we’re waiting somewhere.  She loves having new books to read that she doesn’t get to see everyday at home and I love that they are small and don’t take up room and get her reading books even while we’re out.  Target’s dollar spot also tends to have small books like this too if you don’t want to get the happy meal to get the book.  🙂 

This bag has been handy since Charlotte was an infant.  Thankfully we haven’t really had to use it often but it’s great to keep packed with an extra outfit so that if she has an accident out we’ve got a set of everything we need and a waterproof place to put the wet clothes!

I talked about bag tags in the infant post last week and I still use the tags that I got when we moved for Charlotte, but I use Charlotte’s personalized stickers from Doodle Bugs Paper all the time now.  They’re perfect for sticking on a birthday present or a baby gift…I just add a little message at the top above her name and we’re good to go!  They also can quickly label her lunchbox or something else if I need to substitute out for the ones I usually send for lunch.  All around they’re very handy and cute!

This ranges from mardi gras beads to plastic bracelets to faux pearl necklaces.  Anything works and it’s all equally loved by Charlotte.  With a necklace or a bracelet on she prances around and taking the jewelry off/putting it on keeps her occupied for a while!

Note: Again, no one asked me to do this and I wasn’t compensated in any way for any of these reviews.