Favorite Toys at One Year Old

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One Year Older


A while back I did a post on toys that Jellybean loved the most. I think it was before he was even six months old. Well we've added quite a few things to that list since then and while he still plays with his "little kid" toys that make lots of noise and light up, there are a few things we've added to the list now that he's.....well he's EVERYWHERE. 

Kiddie Pool 


Last summer my kiddo couldn't even sit up alone so a kiddie pool wasn't in the works just yet. This summer though, my little guppy loves being in the water so we are going to take advantage the nice weather and his affinity for splashing around this summer. We didn't get anything too fancy, really anything that can contain water will do. Abby likes to drink the pool water which makes Jellybean burst out into laughter and therefore I don't tell her to stop. Have I mentioned he's got me wrapped around his finger? 



Britax Advocate 

Ok, not really a toy, but still a big kid item. Getting Jellybean bucked into his B-Ready was getting kind of hard. His shoulders were getting too wide and let's face it, with him weighing 23lbs and me packing on the pregnancy mobility issues, I wouldn't be carrying him in that type of car seat anymore. When we got back from Seattle, it was time to upgrade! I spent tons of time researching (of course) which car seat was the best one out there. I naturally lean towards Britax since they produce some of the best products and their stuff just looks really classy. Clean lines, soft designs, rich colors. Nothing too hokey or flash but just enough to be interesting, oh and they have THE BEST safety ratings out there. Out of all the convertible car seats, the Advocate is by far the best as far as safety goes. Yeah sure, you pay the price for it, but honestly, I'll pay the extra for some peace of mind that my kid is safely bucked in. Driving around with my kid in my car and knowing that there are stupid drivers out there is enough to deal with.  

I'm pretty adamant about making sure my kiddo faces THE REAR. There's a fun hashtag out there #don'tbeapunkfacethetrunk. Until he's at least 30lbs and maybe even more, Jellybean will face the back of the car. It's safer by just about a billion percent. And while it would be way more fun to face him forward where I can play with him, it's not the safest for him so, sorry my love, I'll continue to have to check on you via that mirror I have on the backseat. 
He gets that UW football in the carseat only. He's very close to saying ball! 

Step 2 "Jungle Gym" 


This is kind of small for a Jungle Gym but it's perfect for my kiddo! The box says ages 2 and up but we supervise him so he's fine! He's not tall enough nor does he have enough mobility to take a ball and put it in the basketball hoop yet, but boy can he climb up it and attempt to slide down! Face first usually unless I sit him down right at the top and he scoots just enough to go the rest of the way. Which he loves by the way. And he likes going UP the slide, of course. He keeps me on my toes but I try to let him explore as much as safely possible. 



Kelty Backpack 


Although not a "toy" it's still a new addition to our baby gear list. I love baby wearing and have more baby wearing gear than I really need. When Jellybean was itty bitty I wore the Ergo around all the time! It was awesome and he loved to knock out in it. (Excuse me while I take moment to reminisce about those days, those easy days when I didn't realize how easy I had it!). Hindsight right? I actually started with the Moby which was awesome but as the summer months came on, I couldn't have my kiddo in that much fabric. I unfortunately didn't have the Ergo 360 so when it came time to try turn Jellybean around to front facing baby wearing (which you shouldn't do as often) I opted to try out the Baby Bjorn. He loved all three of my baby wearing apparatuses and had a great time in all of them. Unfortunately, my growing belly made baby wearing kind of difficult and Matt wasn't a fan of any of the options I had available to him so he went online to find something more "manly." A hiking backpack resulted! While it cost more than all three of what I owned combined, it also functions as a regular backpack which is kind of fun and useful of course. Best part, Matt LIKES to wear it and Jellybean has a great time  being carried around by dad. And a perk for mom aside from not having to baby wear and add the stress to my growing belly? I can convince Matt hat we NEED to go on some family hikes because he spent all that money on a hiking backpack. Double win! 




The Stairs 


Not quite a TOY but my kid seems to think so. He's become quite the avid stair climber since first tackling them at Lola's house (which I didn't believe he did when my mom told me) then seeing him go after the stairs at Trudi's, and now at home....he is the master stair climber! I'm actually ok with it as long as either parent is diligently behind him ready to catch my little climber. Otherwise we just block off the stairs so he can't climb up. I'm all about him getting comfortable with his limbs so by no means do I want to deter the climbing, although I'm sure I'll regret it later. I mean....sometimes I long for the days when he couldn't even roll over and now he's climbing stairs and I'm letting him??? 






Things I still want to get: 

Power Wheels! Matt things it's ridiculous to want to get him power wheels but.....I don't. What kid, especially boy, doesn't want power wheels in his life? I'll convince that husband of mine one of these days. 

A tricycle. When is he old enough to learn to ride one of these things? I have these wonderful visions of him riding up and down our very long driveway. I mean, that's why our driveway is so long right? For JB and his tricycle? 

Mega Blocks! I can't wait to get him mega blocks and encourage him to start building things. The first step on our way to having  BILLION Legos in the house. Raising two boys is a guarantee that I will one day find myself at Lego World. 

Flinstone Car. Yes, I want one of these AND power wheels. I feel like the red and yellow Flinstone car is a staple to any kid's toy collection. 

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