All of My Favorite Purchases for My 2-Year-Old

If you are a parent like me, you likely often find yourself on the hunt for products to make your life easier. But there are so many options out there! I’ve got a few tried and true products that my two year old and I both love and fully endorse.

Do you like shopping for kid stuff? I do…most of the time. My favorite category of kid items to shop for is outdoor gear. But I also love hunting for products that are affordable, decent quality, and genuinely make my life simpler. I try to read reviews so I don’t end up with a piece of junk that I’ll never use, but sometimes it’s hard to tell if the good reviews are truthful or if they were bought by the seller of the product.

Everything I recommend here (and elsewhere on my blog) I have thoroughly used myself, with my kids, and I think they are worth the cost and honestly improve my life.

EATING

• Thermos FUNTAINER 12 oz water bottle – I’ve tried several different water bottles for Calvin, and this is hands down the best one I’ve found. It insulates his water well, keeping it nice and cold. He can open and close the bottle all on his own and it has a straw to drink out of. Everything easily comes apart and is so easy to clean. It has a handle for Cal to carry it by, it won’t leak at all with the lid closed, and it comes in so many fun colors.

• Bentgo Kids Brights lunchbox – I picked this lunchbox up at the beginning of last summer in preparation for a few trips and it has been worth its weight in gold for us. This lunch box is perfect for Calvin. I often serve his lunch in it at home and he always gets so excited to open it up and see what is inside. The sectioned tray can be removed for easy washing, the sections seal so they don’t leak into each other, and Calvin can open and close it himself (now that he’s had a bit of practice). Having the divided tray is also helpful for me to remember to serve him a variety of foods at meal times.

• Re-Play Sippy Cups – we used straw cups almost exclusively when Calvin was younger, but his nursery uses sippy cups for snack time so we introduced one at home too. These cups are made from recycled plastic, dishwasher safe, leak-proof, and come in lots of colors. They also only have three pieces (cup, lid, and valve) so cleaning and assembly is a cinch.

• Snack basket – I bought the linked basket from IKEA when I was reorganizing my pantry. I stuck a label that says ”snacks” on the handle and placed it on the lowest shelf in my pantry. I keep it full of packaged snacks Calvin likes, like fruit leather, Larabars, fruit pouches, That’s It bars, fruit snacks, granola bars, boxed raisins, Clif Bars, etc. When it’s time for snack each morning and afternoon, Calvin gets to go into the pantry and pick something out for himself. He loves the autonomy and I love giving him choices whenever I can.

• Mountain Buggy Pod High Chair – to read my full review of this high chair, read the post linked HERE. We started using this high chair when Calvin was six months old and he still uses it now, almost two years later. We liked this chair so much for our kitchen situation that we purchased a second one for Della to use!

CLOTHING

• LONECONE Rubber Rain Boots – Rain boots can make a real difference if you want to get outside with your kids in less than perfect weather. These boots are great quality for the price and Calvin loves to wear them. He can also put them on by himself, though they sometimes end up on the wrong feet.

• Amazon Toddler Columbia fleece jacket – if you’re looking for a decent fleece jacket for your toddler, I really like this one. It’s good quality, it’s hoodless, and it fits pretty true to size. It’s been a great addition to Calvin’s spring and fall wardrobe.

• Slouch Headwear Toddler Beanie – I had kind of a hard time finding a thick, quality beanie that fit Calvin’s head but I love the options from Slouch Headwear. And I especially love that they have such good beanies available for the whole family. We all have matching ones and I think its adorable.

• Amazon Two-Piece Pajamas – these pajamas are amazing. I bought Calvin a 2T in March of 2021 and he is still wearing those same jammies over a year later (it’s now June 2022). They have held up so well with weekly washings and a lot of wear. When he eventually grows out of them, I’ll likely buy the exact same pajamas in a 4T and he’ll wear those for 1-2 years as well.

• Ten Little Kids Everyday Original shoes – these shoes are a little pricey for kids, but they’re worth the money in my opinion. Calvin loves them, they hold up well enough to hand down to Della, they have a wide toe box, and Calvin is starting to learn how to work the velcro straps on his own.

PLAYING

• IKEA Flisat Table – I think this table has been an amazing addition to Calvin’s play environment. You can use different sized bins for different activities or even find boards like these ones to really elevate your table. Calvin loves to keep his cars in one of the bins and drive them up and down the edges of the table. We also love to bring it outside for water plat in the yard. The options for using this table are endless.

• Disney+ subscription – I love Disney+ for my kid. I love that you can download pretty much anything and it doesn’t expire once you start watching it. I love all of the Pixar shorts that are perfect for bribing my toddler with when I need to change his diaper. I also love that I can create a watchlist with age-appropriate options for him to choose from.

• Pikler Triangle – I have a whole post written up about our Pikler Triangle that I will leave linked for you HERE. In short, I love our climbing triangle and I highly recommend it for open-ended risky play that doesn’t leave me biting my nails in anxiety.

• Lovevery Block Set – Calvin has become very interested in stacking and balancing lately and the Lovevery block set is a beautiful toy to facilitate that learning. This set is also versatile enough that his play with it will easily be able to evolve as he grows and develops. Even our six month old loves to hold and suck on the brightly-colored blocks.

LIVING

• Hatch Rest+ sound machine – we love Cal’s sound machine. We use the colored light feature to let him know when his naps are over and what time he can get up in the morning. We also upgraded Calvin to the ”plus” option for the 8-hour backup battery. It has been a life saver for middle-of-the-night power outages. Rather than having Cal’s white noise suddenly shut off, waking him and leaving us in a panic to find a battery operated one, his white noise keeps on playing without a break.

• Snack Tray for Mockingbird Stroller – as Calvin has gotten older, he’s discovered that he loves to bring things along with us on our neighborhood walks. The snack tray is perfect for holding his water bottle, a car or two, and a package of fruit snacks. It attaches to the stroller just like the original bar does and it’s a decent size.

• Guidecraft Learning Tower – we use this learning tower to involve Cal when I’m cooking in the kitchen, when he’s doing water play, and when he wants to watch and play at the windowsill of our basement apartment. He’s also able to climb in and out of it independently when I unfasten the net on the side.

• Toddler Lawn Chair from Target – Colter picked this chair up from the Target Dollar Spot one day for Calvin and he has really enjoyed having his own little chair to use.

• FridaBaby Humidifier – humidifiers are a great tool to use when your little ones are sick and congested. A cool-mist variety is the safest option for kids and having the air moistened can help to loosed mucus and sooth dry, sore throats and noses. I love the FridaBaby one for its size, run time, night light capacity, and aesthetic.

• Foldable Step Stool – I actually bought this for myself when I moved to college because I’m only 5’ 3” and I often need a little boost to reach top cupboards and shelves. Calvin discovered it in the pantry and he really loves it. It’s light enough that he can carry it around with ease. Standing on it he can see on top of our counters and reach things like the cereal in the pantry. Though I don’t always love him being able to reach so high, I do love the independence that it affords him. He loves being able to get his own bowl, spoon, and cereal for breakfast and only needed assistance in getting the milk from the fridge.

I hope you found this post helpful if you, like me, are in the depths of toddler parenting. I don’t recommend anything on my blog that I don’t genuinely use and love. I’ll do my best to keep the links in this post accurate and working, but if you ever run into an issue, please let me know!