the big caveat here is do whatever works best for you.
freezing food isn’t your jam? that’s more than okay.
it just really works for me for three reasons:
Read More
our capsule-ish wardrobes
let me preface with: whatever works best for you is fantastic. this system just works really, really well for us.
Read More
our christmas traditions
in September/October, I take Brett on a date and we talk about what we’d love our holidays to look like this year. a roughhhh draft of our plans and priorities for the upcoming months, if you will. like, last year we decided we wanted to block off Christmas Eve evening and Christmas morning as time spent under our roof, just the three of us. this year we decided we wanted to do that again, and what about hosting a cozy family Christmas brunch at the beginning of the December to kick-off the season? and do we want to go to that light show exhibit, say, that second weekend - or was it even worth going to? do we maybe want to see my family on this day? hey, any ideas about what we should eat Christmas morning? taking time to dream about what we’d like the next few months to look like is so much fun (and makes saying no to the things not meant for us so much easier.) I love our holiday-planning date.
we leave the season pretty open to just enjoy. maybe new traditions form, maybe we just do something once this year - there’s no pressure. we also say no to a lot of outings and parties, as we do like our month to be on the slower side. :)
but, we do have a few traditions we keep bringing back each year. and we love them.
Read More
our favorite toddler toys
y’all know we have Monthly Play Themes to offer a rotation of activities in a fun, non-overwhelming way for me.
but, as I mentioned in the Tour of the Play Spaces in Our Home, what works really well for us is to offer several monthly-themed activities, yes, but also offer KK’s absolute favorite toys. and those favorite toys are available all the time, just because they’re played with so often.
these toys are a combination of bigger toys that sit out on their own, and toys that are stashed in baskets in our play area and drawers in our hallway. (The Tour of the Play Spaces in Our Home blogpost - as well as the “play area” highlight on my Instagram, if you prefer photos - has more details on this.)
Here’s our list of favorite toys we always have available:
Read More
our red, white, and blue rice bin
you know kk loves her sensory tables. and you know I love incorporating her sensory tables in our monthly themes for play - meaning, each month her sensory table gets a themed makeover with fun sensory bin activities.
but you also need to know kk loves a good, basic rice bin. loves. so we keep a separate rice bin, just like this one Busy Toddler does. and I pull it out anytime I need KK occupied for a hot, hot minute.
and, as you notice in my blogpost on Our Monthly Themes of Play, sometimes I keep the rice bin as-is.
but sometimes, when I’m feeling up to it, I’ll trade out the basic cups and scoops for a few themed pieces. like whatever theme we’re doing that month, or whatever holiday is looming.
so this month, our rice bin got a Red, White, and Blue makeover.
I keep plain white rice in the bin year round for simplicity’s sake.
And for this month, I added:
a few small, patriotically-themed trays/bowls from Target’s Dollar Spot
a few tongs/tweezers
KK can scoop rice, she can use the tweezers to pick up the stars, or we can do this color-sorting extension activity with some simple construction paper.
And when the month’s over, I’ll store those trays, bowls, and stars in our seasonal bins, ready to be pulled out again next year. (Our other tongs/tweezers we keep in our double desk.)
The end! Keeping a rice bin on hand is one of my favorite ways to take care of Future Haley - and occasionally giving it a theme is one of my favorite ways to celebrate seasons. Whatever works best for you is fantastic!
Whew!
Want to see photos? Follow me on Instagram - I’m always sharing peeks into our home and our daily life on my stories. I’m always tweaking our home and our routines and our systems to best meet our current needs in our current season, so my Instagram has the most up-to-date photos.
Loved this post? I highly recommend A Full Tour of the Play Spaces in Our Home.
Want to know how we store toys and books not out in our current toy rotation? See my “toy rotation” highlight on my Instagram!
Curious when KK plays each day? See a peek into our daily rhythm here - one of my most popular posts!
Read Our Monthly Themes for Play to learn why we loveeee monthly themes for KK’s toy and book rotation, as well as a list of what bigger toys we leave out 24/7.
Want to see all our favorite baby/toddler things and toys from birth until now? see this post!
kk's favorite things: 22 months
kk's favorite things: 18-24 months
i noticed a huge difference in KK between 18 and 24 months, so instead of doing one big post, I’m breaking it up by month.
23 months - coming soon!
24 months - coming soon!
kk’s second birthday - coming soon!
things we especially loved during this time:
this book. oh my gosh, read this book. it was a comforting hug to read. it empowered me to not fear kk becoming a toddler - instead it gave me tangible tools to implement and it provided the most empowering perspective on toddlers. the past teacher in me - and the current sahm in me - loved every word of this book. i plan to reread it often.
swim lessons
I signed her up for six weeks of lessons during this time. I’m a big swimmer, so it shouldn’t be shocking to hear that I find most - if not all - toddler swim programs to be incredibly disappointing, and an utter waste of both my time and energy. but we found the unicorn that is Miss Kristen and I cannot adequately express how much I love her and her teaching.
pool time with KK is one of my favorite outings, so investing in quality swim lessons was worth it for that reason alone. and while swimming is awesome for burning off her endless toddler energy (and with minimal effort from me), it gives me great peace of mind to know she’ll have the skills needed to make safe choices, especially if/when another sibling joins us. you’re welcome, Future Haley!
a tour of the play spaces in our home - we gave our home a toddler-friendly overhaul and it was everything. this small tweak made our days so much smoother. make your home work for you.
our gym membership - we joined a gym during this time with both a niiiiice childcare that KK loves and a whole slew of niiiiice indoor/outdoor pools. our new favorite outing that benefited all involved - I got my spark back by swimming laps again, KK got to enjoy playing with kids her age. (not to mention the hours upon hours we’d spend playing at the indoor/outdoor pools.) needless to say, we get our money’s worth. highly, highly recommend.
our favorite things for feeding a toddler…and cooking dinner with a toddler nearby.
our daily rhythm - I benefit from the structure just as much as KK does.
Loved this post?
See the full list of favorite things from birth until now here!
Or see a tour of all the play spaces in our home here!
Or see my “toy rotation” or “play area” highlights on my Instagram!
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
kk's water wow caddy
this is a quick post!
but wanted to write it out so I can easily link it on instagram.
kk is obsessed with her beloved water wow books.
so we made a Water Wow Caddy for her.
we used:
the “paint” pens that come with the books
we kept them in the plastic mold they come in since KK enjoys taking the pen out of the mold, setting the pen back in the mold, and “snapping” the mold around then pen
extra paintbrushes + a few condiment cups for water
sometimes she likes using this more than the provided pens
but remember, we may switch out the water wow books with water wow books that coordinate with this month’s play theme. keeps it exciting for kk and easy for me!
the linked post has activities, books, play dough invitations, sensory bins, art projects, etc we love for each month of the year. aka this post is full of easy, engaging ideas!
ta da!
I’m not sure what KK loves more - using her Water Wow books, or just carrying around her Water Wow caddy.
regardless, I’m smitten with how organized it all is.
Loved this post?
See the full list of favorite things from birth until now here!
Or see a tour of all the play spaces in our home here!
Or see my “toy rotation” or “play area” highlights on my Instagram!
Curious how I organize the rest of kk’s arts and craft supplies? click here!
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
