What Ali Brunson’s Toddler Can’t Live Without

Jordyn is almost 2 years old. She started walking around 12 months. At that point we got almost everything on this list and have been using it since 12 or 13 months. She was using the sensory table to stand up, and then we would try to get her to stay standing for longer periods of time. But now it’s evolved into putting sand, water, or any sensory object in there, and then some figures, and she’s playing with it independently. We can do so much with it. And it’s this controlled environment. You’re adding sand and it’s kind of contained there, but she’s able to explore and use her motor skills.

When it was that crazy snowstorm, we actually brought snow inside the house and put food coloring in it. She was playing with that. We also put measuring cups in there with a little bit of water and she’s transferring the water into different cups. We’ve done rice before and it’s the same thing — she’s transferring it with spoons or cups. We keep it inside, in her playroom, but when we did the snow, we put a tarp underneath it and she was able to kind of go crazy. You can also use it a table to color on.

I had to include this one because legitimately this is the one that she’s been taking around the house. We got theleashand thedog bowlfrom Build-a-Bear also, and she’s been dragging it around. We have two dogs ourselves, so I feel like she’s just emulating what we’re doing. She loves to “walk the dog” around the house. She gets upset when the dog leans over, when it gets off balance, and she’s like “Stay up straight,” but the dog is underneath her arm walking around the house 24/7. My husband’s grandma was like, “I need to take my great-grandchild to Build-a-Bear,” and she recorded her voice and said, “Gigi loves you.” So Jordyn will hit the paw and it actually plays the recording, which is super cute.

Melissa & Dougis great in general. I had a hard time figuring out which one I should include, but pretend play has become recently Jordyn’s M.O. All she wants to do is be independent in herkitchen set, which is also Melissa & Doug, or this ice-cream parlor. Basically, she can create the ice cream. We’re serving it to each other. It’s grown more as she’s gotten older and she’s able to actually understand:We share the ice cream. This one is the chocolate one.But this, especially, will be able to grow with her. When she starts using her words more, we’ll be able to act out certain scenarios and it creates problem solving, independence, social skills — all the things associated with pretend play.

This purse comes with a phone and keys, and she loves using her own personal phone and keys to walk around and pretend to put the phone up to her ear. Having her own little-kid version, she’s just acting out what she sees, which is just adorable. She puts the phone up to her head and she tries to put her head into her shoulder, you know how people hold the phone like that? She started doing that, and she’s running around with the keys in her hand and the purse is on the crook of her arm. She’s acting out exactly what she’s seeing.

Unfortunately our phones are all around us, but after that we saw this, we were like,Okay, this is perfect. Let’s give her her own little set and she’s able to do what she needs to do on her own instead of using our phones.

She runs around the lawn pushing this lawn mower. We don’t have bubbles in it yet because it just got nice out again, but she still loves it.

It’s really lightweight, so I would not recommend it for someone who is leaning on it to balance, but I think it does provide a little stability when she’s walking and there’s a rough little bump. She seems to be using it for a little stability, but Jordyn can hold her own. She’s skipping, running, and jumping.

I’ve learned that sometimes with crayons or markers, she doesn’t have the dexterity yet to pull it and go back and forth. So this is simple enough and there’s enough dye in the marker that she gets a response from it. Sometimes a marker just isn’t enough color for her to understand,Oh, that is what I did, but with these, it’s a full colorful dot and she’s able to replicate it. We have a really long roll of paper that’s connected to the sensory table, and at this point she really is going crazy:I want yellow dots. Oh, change the marker. I want green dots. Change the marker blue. And we’re trying to associate the color to saying the color out loud. Like when it’s blue, say “blue.” That’s where we are currently. A lot of chaos, and just practicing the motor skill.

We like to keep things pretty basic. She doesn’t need all the frills of the battery-powered, blah, blah, blah. You can get stacking cups anywhere, but Lalo just has a stylish classic set. I was looking at bath toys and the thing that kept coming up was that small holes in an object can keep the water in the hole and then it grows mold or it gets gross. These are open. Easy to clean, easy to dry.

We actually have been using these shoes from the start. There’s an infant shoe calledFirst Walkersthat’s a different type of shoe. It’s more rounded on the bottom. When she first started walking, she used those and then when she was able to walk more sturdily, she graduated to this specific shoe. And I love this shoe truly because it has the widest toe box, and it’s flexible.

It is great because their feet are constantly growing and developing. With the wide toe box, her toes can be completely flat on the ground and they’re not scrunched up. So it’s great for a healthy foot. They’re also so easy to take on and off. Some shoes for kids, unfortunately, you’re really forcing the foot in the shoe. With this one, you open it up all the way and their foot just slides right in. The tongue of it can stretch really nicely and I can just pop her heel in and I’m not forcing it. We actually just ordered her another pair. It’s good when you find a pair and that’s like,Okay, rinse and repeat.I’m just going to get the same brand over and over again.

She’s in this daily, multiple times a day. We plop her down and she’s able to be involved. She’s at the kitchen counter. We can make pancakes together or she can try to eat standing up. She can be involved and still independent. She’s in her tower, she’s good.

She’s practicing pouring. So we’ve made muffins or pancakes or cake with simple ingredients. I’ll measure it out, give it to her, and then she’ll pour it in the bowl. We also have thesekid-friendly knives, so they’re not sharp, but she’s been practicing cutting something soft like peaches or bananas, and she can do that in this tower. She loves it. She’s super independent.

[Editor’s note: This toddler tower is currently out of stock, but you can sign up for restock notifications at Guide Craft.]

There are so many brands that make wipes and Coterie, honestly, they just are a good, clean, minimal brand. When Jordyn was a baby, a true infant, I really tried to find the bestplastic-free, nontoxic brands. And Coterie, it’s unfortunately a little bit more expensive than others, but this is one thing I’ll splurge on because we use wipes all the time. They also slide easily, which is weird to talk about, but some wipes don’t really have a lot of water in them, so it’s rough to wipe with them. And this one is just minimal ingredients, and easy to use. That’s all I ask. It’s the little things in life, right? Just give me a good wipe.

This is also very clean and there are no synthetics, no plastics in it. I wanted to find something that’s gentle and safe for sensitive skin. I don’t know if Jordyn has sensitive skin. Who knows? She’s a baby. But since she is a baby, she deserves to have the most gentle sunscreen. We use the cream sunscreen for her legs and arms. Then the sun stick is easy for reapplying to her face. When we’re out, I keep the stick in my diaper bag and if I’m like,Oh, we need to reapply, it can go anywhere.

When I was pregnant, I knew I wanted this bag. And it’s been two years now, and it looks so brand new. It’s so durable. It’s easy to use. It has a lot of pockets and it stands upright. I would get it again for sure.

It has a changing mat in it. You unroll it and then put it on the ground and it makes everything so much easier. There’s also a clip that you can put on the bag and then put over thestrollerwhen you’re walking around. Sometimes strollers don’t have a cargo sack underneath, so you can just clip it on. That’s life-changing, so it’s not on your back all the time. There’s a clip inside for their pacifier that I’ve been using too. And there’s a shoe bag. I don’t know if it’s meant for shoes or not, but I use it for dirty clothes.

We have the Lalohigh chair, and honestly, we got the brand because it was very minimal and seemed easy to clean. And it truly is. There’s not a lot of crevices. You can wipe it down. There’s also ato-go bowlwith a top to it. We take that everywhere. It’s easy to pack in her diaper bag, so we repurpose it for on the go or at a restaurant. And it’s all dishwasher safe, so I just throw it in the dishwasher. This brand has different phases; there’s the first round ofutensils that are all silicone, and then you can get the metal ones as they get better at feeding themselves.

These she’s had since she was a baby. We have loved these because they’re so soft and they honestly stretch really well with the child. I remember I had a newborn or a 0-to-3-month size, and she would wear them and they would stretch with her, grow with her, and she was able to wear them for quite a long time. And she’s a big girl, so that says something. We got that zip-up onesie two times in a row, like 0-to-3 and then 3-to-6, because we loved it so much.

We love this brand. Recently, my husband, Jalen, came out withthese shoesthat were for Jordyn. They had little hearts on them and they were inspired by her pajamas from this brand. They don’t make the design anymore, but it was pink, purple, and white hearts.

[Editor’s note: Jordyn’s mermaid PJs are no longer available, but you can exploreall of Little Sleepies other print and pattern optionsin the same two-piece style.]