Tag favorite

Current Board Book Favorites of the Resident 1-2 year old

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Toot Toot Beep Beep by Emma Garcia is the number one requested book around here. Our 18 month old grabs this book and runs to his favorite storyteller of the moment yelling book all the while climbing up into the lap of choice. He likes this book so much we are planning on trying out the other sound books by Emma Garcia – Tap Tap Bang Bang (All About Sounds) and Tip Tip Dig Dig (All About Sounds).

Jonny Lambert’s Construction Site (Jonny Lambert Illustrated) is a lift flap book with plenty of construction noises and colorful images. Books with repetitive sounds are great for practicing early speech. Our 18 month old seems to enjoy the big images of construction equipment. Other books to consider Jonny Lambert’s Animal ABC (Jonny Lambert Illustrated) and Jonny Lambert’s Animal 123 (Jonny Lambert Illustrated).

I am listing these books in just about the exact order they end up being brought to our laps for reading. Jane Foster’s Brown Bear Color Book (Jane Foster Books) is a fun way to learn colors and identify some common items and critters. I enjoy reading this one, but my husband does not like it so much. I am looking into Jane Foster’s Animal Sounds (Jane Foster Books) and Jane Foster’s First Words (Jane Foster Books).

So far we have covered the top 3 books. Of course, the top 3 get read the most before the one year old’s attention focuses on something else. However, there are times when reading is the only thing we want to do and we get to read Stanley’s Toolbox (Stanley Board Books). I have to admit this is an adorable book about building a treehouse and would consider reading other books about Stanley. These two might make it into the book basket soon – Stanley’s Fire Engine (Stanley Picture Books, 9) and Stanley the Builder (Stanley Picture Books, 1).

If you haven’t guessed, The Wheels on the Dump Truck, is a construction site take on the classic Wheels on the Bus song. Here again, we enjoy the repetition and the construction vehicles. There does seem to be a theme building here to help us pick future favorite books. Other similar Wheels on the Bus books are – The Wheels on the Fire Truck and The Wheels on the Garbage Truck

A Little Book About Opposites (Leo Lionni’s Friends) follow these adorable mice through some common opposites to learn about near and far and quiet and loud. This book doesn’t read like a story, it simply makes opposite comparisons and has cute little mouse imagery. Also try, A Little Book About 123s (Leo Lionni’s Friends) and A Little Book About Colors (Leo Lionni’s Friends)

I probably have added this one as an honorable mention. As one of the adults who does the reading out loud, I enjoy reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Board Book). Our little one will bring the book over for a read, but again it is not his ultimate favorite (It’s mine!)

Our Favorite Top Rated Baby Carriers

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Here we are in the middle of February in Milwaukie, Oregon and it is threatening to snow or freezing rain or at least ice up, but before we know it winter will be over and we can get out and explore everything from parks and hiking trails to camping and wilderness! I know that isn’t everyone’s’ cup of tea, some people actually like going shopping at the mall.. gasp!

If you haven’t already explored our about page to find out we have a little one – he is almost 18 months as of writing this and currently running around in just a diaper, because he refuses to get dressed. We are a really active family and like to go out in the middle of nowhere – you know off the trail. To take the little guy, he definitely needs a ride and strollers are not going to cut it out there for us. We have had two different carriers and have like each of them for specific reasons.

The first carrier we had was the LÍLLÉbaby Complete Original 6-in-1 Ergonomic Baby and Child Carrier. I loved that I had him close to me, how easy it was to use, and the 6 different features. However, this was just for the time while he was small. Remember, we go off trail/wilderness hiking,-we are not strolling the neighborhood, dog park or local mall. While this is an excellent carrier for those tasks, we needed something a bit more tough with storage and would work better long term for our purposes.

That brings us to the Osprey Poco Plus Child Carrier!!

We continue to use and enjoy this carrier. It works well for both my husband and I to use and the straps adjust so easily when we switch who is doing the carrying. Other important features include the weight limit, height adjustments, sun/rain shade/cover, and most of all passenger enjoyment. The view from this carrier is much more interesting than the Lillebaby, which has his head resting below or at shoulder level. Besides the view, our toddlers just outgrow the cloth type carriers so fast. The Osprey carrier can do it all. The biggest drawback is the size and it doesn’t fold down much.

If you have questions or anything to add about either of the carriers don’t hesitate to leave a comment. Of course, we would love to hear about your favorite carriers too. Before you go – don’t forget to subscribe to our blog emails and follow us on your favorite social media platform!