Hadley Kate: 12 Month Favorites

I still can't believe that in a little over a week Hadley Kate will be a year old. I seriously remember her being a newborn, and we were sleep deprived and dreaming of the days when she would be older, sleeping through the night, and overall more self sufficient. I swear I would give anything to go back and snuggle that little newborn bundle of cuteness one more time. I know it's cliche, but time really does fly! The last time I did a post about Hadley Kate's favorite things was when she was six months old, so I figured since her birthday was right around the corner, it's time for an update!

Sandra Boynton Books

Who would've thought with all the classic children's books out there, that these would be the crowd pleaser?? Don't get be wrong, we still hit up Goodnight Moon, but no other bedtime book gets a smile quite like these! They are board books, so they are great for the under 1 crowd who love to shove absolutely everything into their mouths. Each page has a cute picture and 1-2 sentences per page which I have found to be the perfect amount for Hadley's attention span at this age. We have so many other cute books on the shelf, but they all tend to be heavy on the words, and Hadley loses focus pretty quickly. These books either rhyme or work on animal identification/sounds, so they are great first word books as well. Hadley's favorite was The Going to Bed Book for the longest time, but she is a recent convert to But Not the Hippopotamus now. She thinks it's hysterical. And also cries when it's over which is the sure sign of a crowd pleaser in this house. 

Fisher-Price 3-in-1 Bounce, Stride and Ride Elephant

This elephant walker gets all the credit for Hadley becoming mobile! She isn't walking yet, but with the elephant she will cruise around the living room, and even uses it as a step stool to climb up on the couch which, obviously we love (not at all), and was it's intended use. In addition to it being a walker, babies can also sit on it and scoot or bounce on the seat. Hadley hasn't quite mastered the scoot feature, but does like to be pushed on it, and goes to town on the bouncy seat. It also plays music that is actually tolerable to parents, and says cute little encouraging phrases to the babies! 

VTech Busy Learners Activity Cube

 

This was another one of Hadley's Christmas gifts that was an immediate success. The cube would be really nice for babies that are just learning to sit up because it gives them something sturdy to lean on that sits in their laps! Each side has a different feature, and it helps kids learn shapes, animals, and fine motor skills! Hadley is so preoccupied with the animal noise side that she hasn't even gotten to the other activities yet. I know this one will be around for awhile!

 

LeapFrog Shapes And Sharing Picnic Basket

 

This picnic basket looks so simple, but Hadley LOVES it! It sings songs every time you open it, and it comes with everything you need for a cute baby picnic. Hadley loves the fake food, and tries to eat all of it! She also really likes trying to drink from the big girl cups that come with it, which I am all about encouraging since her interest in sippy cups is minimal. Bring on the big girl cups!

 

Happy Tot Organic Superfoods

Sadly, the baby food selection on Kwaj is atrocious. They have the same 4 kinds of basic baby food flavors, rice cereal, and that's about it. I was all gung ho to make my own baby food, but the produce selection isn't much better and after the first couple of batches I lost interest. (Sorry, not sorry). This led me to ordering some baby food pouches off of Amazon and the Happy Tot Variety pack did not disappoint. I wanted some pouches that had a nice balance of carbs, fruits, AND vegetables and these seemed to offer that. Bonus points for being organic and for having Chia Seeds in them! Now that she's almost a year, I'm trying to work away from pureed food and onto more table/finger foods, but these still work great if I'm in a rush and mix really well in cottage cheese, yogurt, or oatmeal!

Color Dog Book

My family bought Hadley this book when we were back in the states this Fall. This is one of the only pop up books that Hadley really gets the concept of, and she definitely knows the word "doggie" so she has lots of fun when I read it and point out all the different kinds of dogs in the book. Each page has a fun interactive portion, from scratch and sniffs to pull tabs that move the dogs head's back and forth. The pages are also heavy cardboard so it is easy for Hadley to turn the pages back and forth! The only downside is that with all the pop ups, they are pretty easy to rip, and I caught Hadley going to town on a pumpkin that a poor puppy had been hiding behind. Toddlerhood has many casualties. 

Fisher-Price Laugh 'N Learn Laugh and Learn Puppy and Friends Learning Table

 

If I had to give an MVP award for Hadley's Christmas presents this would definitely be it! This guy has definitely gotten the most use since Christmas, and has really helped strengthen Hadley's legs, and endurance for standing. It's got plenty of activities to keep her interest, and Hadley loves doing circular laps around the table to make sure she gets to each different activity. If you are looking for ways to encourage your child to stand this learning table is for you! (I feel like I should mention, however, that this toy is LOADED with mariachi music. Literally I feel like every button prompts the table to burst into a loud rendition of La Cucaracha which Hadley is just tickled by, and which makes this mommy want to bang her head against the aforementioned table. I will however take this one for the team in the name of motherhood.

Those are Hadley Kate's favorite things, 12 month edition! I can't wait to see how much these change in another six months!