Vienna's Current Favorite Toys + Books, Vol 2.
When Vienna was six months old (last June), I published a blog post sharing her current favorite toys + books. It has been a full year since that post, and now my baby is almost 18 months old.
Of course the toys, activities and books have changed due to her age, interests, and learning development. I loved re-reading last year’s post so I’m also writing this partly for nostalgia/memory-keeping reasons.
Toys + Activities
{ONE} The front porch/being outside
Starting off strong with this one. Vienna loves our front porch and being outside in general. That front porch has been a saving grace because whether it’s raining, snowing, cloudy, or sunny, we are outside on that front porch. It helped us get through the long, cold winter days and now it provides shade and a break from the hot sun. Vienna loves waving to cars + buses, staring at birds, finding air planes, and just living her best life on that front porch.
{TWO} Water table
We purchased a water table (this one!) for Vienna recently and it already is a favorite. I know we will spend many hours enjoying that water table this summer.
{THREE} Tea set
Vienna received the Fisher-Price tea set for Christmas and has loved playing with it ever since. We have tea parties almost (if not) every day, and she loves to “cheers” the cups and pretend eat her cookies.
{FOUR} Montessori Play Kit
This Montessori play kit was another gift but I pulled it out a few months ago. It’s a multi-use toy with lots of little parts. I thought that would annoy me but it really is such a cool toy and keeps Vienna entertained for long periods of time. I’ve noticed her fine motor skills improving because of it, too.
{FIVE} Magnets
Who knew magnets could be so fun? When Vienna was learning to walk, we’d hide the magnets all over the house so she could practice walking to go find them. She soon learned of all our hiding places and it became more fun for her to hide them so that we could go searching. It’s a fun way to learn colors, animals, and numbers.
{SIX} Sidewalk chalk
She’s finally old enough to draw with sidewalk chalk and not immediately eat it! Don’t get me wrong, she still does put it in her mouth occasionally but she’s learning how it works and it’s adorable.
{SEVEN} Piano
Around six months old, Vienna discovered our piano and has been playing ever since. Not actually playing (more like banging) but she loves music. Our piano is electric and comes with some pre-recorded demo songs, which Vienna loves to “dance” to and pretend she’s playing them.
Books
Note: Vienna and I have read over 400+ books in a few months; these are the ones we’ve read the most!
{EIGHT} Cars, Trucks & Things That Go
Be warned: This book has 70+ pages. But, thankfully Vienna just likes looking at the pictures and finding all the trains and planes. Whew.
{NINE} The Very Hungry Caterpillar books
This girl is obsessed with The Very Hungry Caterpillar (yes even 12+ months later). Thankfully Eric Carle is the real MVP and wrote many books about this caterpillar. A true lifesaver.
{TEN} The Spot series
The Spot series is a classic and nostalgic for me. It makes me so happy to see Vienna loving them too! We started with Where’s Spot? (a classic) and recently checked out a bunch of the Spot books at the library.