Things I Love: Toddler 12-15 Months Edition

Tory turned 16 months old recently which means we've hit another milestone point in chronicling the stuff that made our lives easier the last few months. If feels like watching paint dry when I'm typing these things up, but more than once I've gone back to these posts to see what baby items were our favorite. I'm glad I take the time to jot them down. With Tory, it seems every three months she hits a big developmental leap and we're onto the next stage. New likes. New hurdles. New interests. Here's some of our favorites during 12-15 months of age:

Items we continued to loved:
Tommee Tippee Bibs
Aden + Anais Sleep Sack

-Useful -
Snack Cup

I've mentioned it many times before, Tory is a bit of a picky eater. Her delicate palate even extends into the snack category. (She's never liked Gerber Puffs or Cheerio's cereal and her interest in Gerber Lil' Crunchies was short-lived). Normally, I wouldn't be so intent on peaking her interest in munching, but at times when she's melting down in Target or flying on an airplane, snacks provide a great distraction.

Enter these toddler snack cups (well, and animal crackers inside of them). No surprise, Tory loves the ability to control the flow of her own snack dispersal. She stays busy with the cup for several minutes, removing the crackers from the webbed top, and it's usually enough of a distraction for me to wrap up a shopping trip and avoid a major meltdown.

Dr. Brown's Plates

We're finally at a stage where Tory can be trusted with a plate. These are my favorite because they're on the smaller size and fit perfectly in Tory's highchair tray. The equally portioned sections help her see the difference between foods and remind me to balance out her meal with fruits, dairy and vegetables.

Anti Monkey Butt for Diaper Rash

Over the last three months, Tory gained three of her four one-year molars and they didn't come easy. We battled many unpretty bouts of diaper rash and many times, regular diaper creme didn't cut it. Andi picked up this powder one day and it works wonders when alternated between Butt Paste creme. Basically this is corn starch powder like the home remedy my mom recommended in an easy shakable/storable container.

Robeez Shoes

During the age of 12-15 months, Tory was really learning to move. It was over this stretch she went from toddling along to full-on running. Robeez shoes were an excellent first shoe because they held up to wear and tear (compared to other "first" shoes she had from Old Navy) and they were easy for her to walk in (shoes with a big sole were clunky and harder for her to maneuver).

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-Favorite Toys/Gifts -
Some of Tory's favorite toys this age were a little more "creative." A playroom full of colorful, noisy toys and everyday this kiddo played with the following items:

Plastic Eggs
I took an old egg carton and painted the insides of each egg nest? egg hole? (whatever the heck you call it) a different color. Then, I put matching colored plastic Easter egg in each spot. Seriously, this was Tory's favorite (favorite, favorite, favorite) toy for months. She dumped the eggs out. Put them back in (not necessarily in the correct color spot, although that was the intention) and dumped them out again. Sometimes she loaded the eggs into a bag and waved "bye-bye" as she walked away. Leaving the grocery store perhaps? Aside from my kitchen floor being littered with plastic eggs all the time, it was the best toy ever.

Baby Photos
Another handmade favorite? Old photos. For Tory's birthday, I'd cut some pictures into circles for a craft project I was making. I didn't end up using the photos, so I gave them to Tory to play with. Every day, Tory lined up the photos on the ground and pointed to all the babies (herself, ha!). She put the photos in a bucket, emptied them out and put them in the bucket again.

Learning Home
Tory's favorite toy this stage was the Fisher Price Learning Home. She played with this house every single day and with its many gadgets, lights and sounds there was plenty to occupy her.

Push Toys
Anything pushable like the Corn Popper toy and Activity Walker were big hits. Tory played with the activity walker more once she knew how to walk than she did when she was learning. One day I tied her baby doll to the front of the walker like a make-shift stroller and she lost her marbles in a full-on meltdown. Apparently this type of creative play was a little out of her realm. Oops.