here’s a list of all the things we’ve loved having for the first year of KK’s life. again, take this allllll with a grain of salt, since what works really, really well for us may not work for you and that’s okay. as always, take what you love and leave the rest. you know your needs, your family’s needs, and your baby’s needs the best!
side note: see this list for my favorite postpartum things - made those first few months so much smoother and so, so sweet.
our baby favorites:
every single one of our favorite baby things from the first six months of KK’s life
I mean, aside from the, like, two things KK outgrew, every single thing we loved for the first half of KK’s first year remained a favorite that second half. AMAZING. go us!
so take a peek at my full list of 0-6 month favorite things here for what we loved then and now - and all the things we loved in our home that made parenthood so much smoother for us.
did I mention these in the 0-6 month favorite things post? my apologies if so. they’re AWESOME. (also awesome? her white noise machine. she has two in her room, and Brett and I have two in our room. we’re a white noise machine family.)
we have two sleep sacks - we use one every single night and have a second as a spare. the spare is so I can strip her sheets on Fresh Sheets Friday, throw the old sleepsack in the wash as well, and make her crib up really quick with the fresh spare sheets and the fresh spare sleep sack so that laundry doesn’t affect her upcoming nap. win, win!
pull up a chair for this one, y’all. it’s my longest blogpost yet, but I had so much to say. it’s a list of every decor choice, organizational idea, and household system that we loved this season. basically a full list of all the things that we feel make our lives as new parents (and functioning adults in general) so much easier.
another long blogpost, but it basically answers every single question about our Baby Led Weaning Journey - how I learned, what my favorite tools and resources are, why I love our highchair so freaking much, how we introduced KK to solids, what she ate the first ten weeks, what KK eats in a normal day now, how I do it so I’m not cooking three meals a day from scratch, etc.
not only did we love what we did to introduce her to solids, we especially love that she eats a modified version of our dinner every night.
but - and you’ll see this in the post, too - know that I 1000% believe however you decide to feed your baby, whatever is best for you, is the best way. this way just worked well for us.
this was when we finally got ourselves in a groove of creating a looooose daily rhythm. because despite our relatively inconsistent schedule (especially since Brett can work anywhere from 7am to 11pm), I needed some structure to our unpredictable days. and I’m not sure who loved it (and benefited from) more: me…or KK.
her convertible carseat
i know there’s two teams here, but I’m definitely on Team Infant Car Seat First Then Later Change to a Convertible Seat. I personally like having the infant car seat for a hot minute - I love being able to carry and transport KK in her infant carseat, and easily clicking that carseat into our stroller and our wagon.
but it came time to change her to a convertible car seat, and we went with the Nuna Rava. it’s amazing.
definitely one of KK’s favorite things. she’s so crabby in cars without a mirror. she wants to see everything, y’all!
life insurance
okay, hi. while not technically a baby favorite, I wanted to mention it regardless since we finally got a policy on brett during this time. we depend on brett’s income. should something happen to him, KK and I would be greatly affected, not only emotionally, but also financially. the minute we got a twenty-year term life insurance policy on him of 10x his annual income, I felt such a sense of calm. and that reassurance and protection is priceless.
(we’re getting a policy on me soon as well.)
her two nuggets
let’s call our Nugget our toy must-have. because although it’s marketed towards older kids, I find it to be THE BEST thing to have for a baby, especially since the main area of our home is completely tile.
it softened the floor for tummy time and was awesome for her (and adults!) to play on, yes. but the BEST thing was when KK was 6-12 months old. when she was sitting up but not quite crawling, she loved sitting (or laying!) on her Nugget to play. and when she started crawling, she lovedddd when I created configurations that allowed her to climp up and down “stairs.” or she loves stand-alone islands that she could climb up or that she could pull up to stand.
right now one is against our back window and she loves to crawl up it and watch Daddy in the garden or watch the dogs in the backyard.
also. our nuggets (we have two) wear her out. bless.
her bookshelf of themed, seasonal books
see this post here for KK’s tiny bookshelf we keep in our den and my month-by-month list of books. each month has a theme - makes the year so exciting. :)
once she hit six to twelve months, she really started independently exploring her bookshelf. it was SO fun to see. I love watching her crawl over to the bookshelf, pull a book off the shelf, open the book, and interact with the book.
montessori-ish ways
I’ll say this: I love the Montessori way of thinking, so that definitely influences some of my baby favorites. I definitely am not hardcore or super dedicated, but I do take some of the philosophies/beliefs and incorporate them into our home. (like toy rotation, but more on that specifically in a second.)
this book and the author’s website are great to also learn more about the Montessori way of thinking - soon I’m hoping to take a course of hers with Brett so he has an understanding, too
basically I’d love to take several of her courses
this blog and her newsletter gave me so many ideas too, particularly for toys + activities
I also really like Montessori in Real Life’s blog/instagram
toy rotation
I go over this in more detail in my “our childfriendly home we love” blogpost, but the gist is we don’t put out all of KK’s toys for her to play. instead, a handful are set out, and the rest stay in storage. (the blogpost also shows how we store toys not in use, and display toys that are currently available.) and every, say, 1-2 weeks, I switch out the toys and do a rotation.
the belief is having alllllll the toys out is too overwhelming for kids, and by instead offering a select handful, kids are more engaged because there are fewer options and because there are toys they haven’t seen in a hot minute. which, in turn, encourages prolonged independent play. i am 10000% on board and - after watching KK - I 100000000% agree.
we have a kallax cube in our den where we keep her current toy rotation. then we have a small basket of toys near her two changing stations, and a bigger tub of toys in my car. so when I do a toy rotation, I rotate toys out of these four spots.
side note: we have our play area immersed in our main living space. that’s just what works best for us personally. so I love that while she independently plays, I can keep an eye on her while doing whatever I need to do: taking care of my home, working on business things, taking care of myself, etc.
this isn’t an area I feel called to teach, but I love love love learning about independent play and toy rotations from these jewels in particular (in addition to the above sources I mentioned for Montessori):
if i were to recommend one thing and one thing only, it’s this course. Kelly is the Guru of Independent Play, and taught me everything I know about toy rotation. Her blog, her courses, her newsletter, and her Instagram are a wealth of knowledge.
this ebook wasn’t any new information for me, but it would be a great spot to start if the topic of independent play is new for you
tiny, tiny baskets
these baskets were used every single day this entire six month period:
for treasure baskets
to put a few of her toys in on her toy shelf in our den for her current toy rotation
like the most recent toy rotation had one of these baskets filled with a bunch of old cards - old gift cards, expired credit cards, etc etc etc - and she LOVED it. kept her entertained for SO LONG.
to keep a few toys near her changing station so that she’d, ahem, stay still
when she got older, I discovered these baskets I no longer was using and introduced these as well for organizing her current toy rotation and she loved them. for a hot minute there she loved piling all her balls in one of these baskets, dumping out the basket, and repeating the process over and over again.
favorite toys
let me apologize in advance and say I have no recollection of time. i cannot tell you with any certainty or accuracy the months in which KK loved these. so take this list with a grain of salt.
and, let me preface by saying she loved all her toys in her Lovevery subscription and those were definitely her tip top favorites. below are just her additional favorites:
treasure baskets in general
right now she loves shaking them, rolling them, and looking at all the things inside, but I love that these will grow with her as I Spy bottles
these were in her Easter basket and were such a hit - right now she has the pink one in her tub of car toys and she loves looking in it while we drive
sleigh bells + toddler tambourine
these were in her basket from Mr. Valentine and she lovesss them when they’re out in her toy rotation
loves to chew, mouth, and carry the letters of this bad boy
also from her basket from Mr. Valentine
and old Facebook Marketplace find from years ago, but KK loves everything in it. she hasn’t quite figured out how to like the drum itself yet. but those egg shakers and drum sticks? she’s a huge fan.
another Facebook Marketplace find from a few years back, this is one of the few pieces that stays out in our den. i keep it next to our bookshelf and several times a day she interacts with it in some way. i have it against our couch and next to our baby bookshelf, so when she gets bored of it, I just turn it to another side.
except I use it to hold a few books
i keep the dishrack in her kallax cube unit, and stick a few books on it. she loves pulling books off of here (and playing with the dishrack itself.) I have a photo of this in my childfriendly home blogpost and my how we store and display our books blogpost.
the best ever. for the longest time, she just loved interacting with the different textures (and sounds!) and chewing the rings. now she loves to dump them…and has almost figured out how to stack them back. this is arguably one of her consistent favorites.
these suction kupz + pipsquigz combo pack
definitely a favorite. i stick them on our back window and she loves taking them down.
soft blocks with different patterns, colors, textures, and sounds
the yellow one with the mirror is always her favorite
one of her favorite things to chew…and knock down.
i’m not sure which she enjoys more - the sights or the sounds of this thing. although shaking it makes her sing along (I use the term “sing” veryyyy loosely here), so that may be our answer.
BALLS. put a few balls in a basket and she’s HAPPY. she loves feeling them, rolling them, mouthing them, dumping them from the basket, repacking the basket, handing a ball to us, etc. here are a few of her favorites.
mirrored balls - probably her favorite thing on this list once she started crawling. they actually remained dispersed throughout our home on the ground because KK played with them (and chased them!) that often.
a basket full of old cards was another one of her favorite toys. i kid you not.
like expired credit cards, empty gift cards, etc. we put a pile of them in a basket and she LOVED sorting through them and feeling the raised textures.
a basket full of pacifiers
she never took to a pacifier, but a small basket of pacifiers and/or teethers? KK was OBSESSED. she loves teething on them and carrying them around in her hand.
our hiking backpack
we love this baby hiking backpack (recommended by my goddess-of-a-friend jess, who hikes with her cute family all over colorado, so you know it’s a legit rec).
and this is a super personal opinion, but I love the simplicity of plain or small-printed onesies, and a cute bow.
this was true in my 0-6 months favorite post, and it still stands true now, especially now that she’s crawling and exploring and eating solid foods. GIMME ALL THE EASY TO WASH ONESIES.
my favorite onesies (and zippered pajamas) come from Carter’s, Primary, Target, and Old Navy - either gifted, thrifted, or on sale.
when it’s cooler, I add pants and white socks. (bless texas.) the end. apparently I spend my money on books, not baby clothes.
my favorite bows come from:
Little Poppy Co (my friend Holly gifted us a subscription for KK’s first year of her life and while it has created THE BEST bow collection, it’s also the sweetest gift in the mail each month).
Nayvie & Co (KK got four or five pink/white bows in her basket from Mr. Valentine, and we’ve been wearing them on repeat ever since)
Think Pink Bows - we have the sweetest velvet bows from this shop
my “baby” highlight on my Instagram gives a tour of KK’s closet and my suuuuper easy way I store her clothes/bows
speaking of eating and crawling, let’s talk stains.
i keep a five gallon bucket in my laundry room with water and oxyclean. in it goes any stained clothes so that they can soak, and then I just add the contents to the next load of laundry. and between KK’s eating, brett’s gardening, and my general existing, we’re always adding to that bucket.
for now, our laundry room door stays shut. but eventually, I’d love to get this bucket off the floor - maybe with some sort of shelf above the dryer.
when I’m lazy and don’t feel like dealing with the bucket, I’ll spray with Molly’s Suds stain spray or good ol Dawn dish soap.
and let’s talk KK’s first birthday.
in lieu of a party, we’re going on a road trip - our annual trip to Santa Fe. we just preferred taking a little family vacay instead of a big party this year and kk doesn’t seem to mind.
i got her a personalized crown that she can reuse each year as a birthday tradition.
aside from that, i tried to prioritize gifts that would serve us well now and into the toddler years. hopefully. and know these are all things we were hoping to purchase anyway for our home and for future siblings…so we’re just calling them birthday gifts since KK doesn’t know any differently.
we had a few board books custom made (I use the “baby board book” section of this website - this link should give you a discount) of various important people (or important topics) in our lives. like, we have several on aunts and uncles, one on mama, one on daddy, one on kk’s favorite puppy, one on grill and chill, and one on our some of our favorite family traditions and rituals.
we saved up for this wagon (jk. my parents ended up buying it for us. so we bought built in baby gates instead.) we ordered her some flatware and a kitchen helper - but a twin version to allow future siblings to fit, too. she can’t quite use this yet, but I’m excited to grow into it. similarly, we got a set of white alphabet magnets - soft felt ones, so that I won’t freak out if they’re thrown or chewed. (again, these were all things we were hoping to purchase anyway for our home and for future siblings…so we’re just calling them birthday gifts since KK doesn’t know any differently.)
my parents got her her new car seat that I mentioned above as an earlyyyy birthday gift. BLESS.
one of my sisters got her the ikea table (!!!!!!!!!!). (google all the ways you can use this table. it’s utterly exciting.)
my other sister got KK a few toys I requested for the coming year:
and a few titles for her July/August bookshelf
my sister and I also put photos of loved ones (and our dogs!) in this puzzle and this puzzle, using this tutorial.
we sent other loved ones a list* of a few things we’d really like to have for KK for our annual trips to the beach and a few titles for her July/August bookshelf. receiving a few beach things we could use year after would be so helpful. and, of course, we always love receiving books** - anytime we are gifted a book, I tape any gift message sent with it inside the book, and it becomes a treasured gift.
***i do keep two separate amazon wishlists all year round - kk and kk later (i’ll do this for future siblings, too) - so that I can easily add ideas as I think of them throughout the year, and so our gifts can actually be useful. books, toys, clothes, whatever. and truly, this curbs my spending - instead of, “ohhhh kk needs this now! how cute is that!” i think, “ohhhhh, that’d be perfect for kk’s ____ gift! add it to the list!” and also, this way I can see if something goes on deep sale, and I can easily send lists to loved ones if they ask.
the kk list is the public one I share with family - and the kk later list is private so that I can add things I’d love for kk to have not necessarily now, but definitely later.
**for easter and valentine’s day, I like to send my sisters and an honorary aunt a wishlist of kid books we’d love to add to our collection and they each choose one to send as an gift. I tape any gift message sent with it inside the book, and it becomes a treasured gift (as well as a beloved tradition). (the books are on the above mentioned wishlist, so sometimes aunts like to buy something in addition to a book, too. it’s awesome. they love knowing things kk actually wants/needs.)
since one of my big priorities is to have my children see me read, I love to buy tangible books and physical magazines. (one of my personal birthday traditions is to subscribe to a magazine or two for the coming year!) so that KK also feels apart of that, we have a bookshelf of tangible books for her in our den and always incorporate books into holiday/birthday gifts. (like our Mr. Valentine baskets and Easter baskets!) we also love asking for magazine subscriptions for birthday/holiday gifts - Ranger Rick Cub, Highlights Hello, and BabyBug are what we ask for right now.
happy first birthday to my darling girl!
See this post for my favorites for 12-18 months!
See this post for our favorite things for other ages!
