toddler favorites I howsweeteats.com

Welcome to a huuuuuge toddler favorites post! This is everything we have been loving in the last 6 to 12 months – and it’s LONG!

I initially was going to share Max’s favorites around his birthday in December, but he got so many new gifts from friends and family with his birthday and Christmas being so close that I decided to wait! We have some real front runners of his favorites.

First of all, there is nothing this boy loves more then CARS. He has so many cars, it’s ridiculous. He sleeps with cars at night. He takes them every where. He knows every single car that he has! Along with this, his favorite character/Disney thing is still Disney Cars and Lightning Mcqueen.

His next favorite thing would be books. He loves books so much! He cycles through a few favorites every night before bed (Dragons Love Tacos, The Giving Tree, What Do You Do with an Idea, If You Ever Want to Take an Alligator To School, Dinosaurs Wear Underpants, The Pigeon Needs a Bath, Disney 5 Minute Stories) and I just recently bought the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons as a rec from a few friends. Super excited to do it! He also reads anything having to do with Paw Patrol or Cars!

Speaking of Paw Patrol, Max loves it, along with PJ Masks, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Shimmer and Shine, Sunny Day and Blaze. He won’t for the life of him sit and watch any of these or ever sit and watch a movie (I guess this is good?), but if he somehow gets access to a youtube channel he becomes a zombie and you can’t tear him away. Having the TV on in the background is not something I am bothered with since he doesn’t care about watching it, but we rarely EVER give him our phones and reserve it for an emergency situation because of how he just ignores everything around him. It’s actually scary. We also don’t give him an iPad or any kind of tablet for that reason.

Another major favorite: anything having to do with art! All crayons, markers, pens, pencils, paint, play dough, etc. I’ve listed some of what we really love below, but basically – anything he can draw or paint!

These are some of the toys that he plays with daily:

Balance Bike. Max actually got this for Christmas and LOVES it. He currently rides it all over the house since it’s been so cold and snowy. I can’t wait until we can take it outside! He also got this helmet… ha.

Disney Cars Chair. This chair is a lot more structured that the one we’ve had from Pottery Barn since before he was a year old. He loves it! He drags it over to the middle of the family room to read books, play with toys, or to stand on it like a crazy kid.

Melissa and Doug Train Table. This is probably the most-used toy in our house ever! Every single day! He got this town set to add to the table this year and loves it.

Crayola Color Wonder Markers. These are great because they don’t stain anything and you have to use the “special” paper! Perfect for restaurants and to keep in my bag.

2 in 1 Disney Cars Projector Nightlight. This is so cool because it projects different scenes onto the ceiling! He’s obsessed. It comes in a bunch of other characters too.

Pretend and Play Cash Register. This is something he plays with every single day. The coins and dollar bills are currently spread out all over our house, but I love that he loves it so much.

Pottery Barn Kitchen. This is still going strong a year later! And all things food and cooking. He LOVES to “cook” people meals and serve them up. He got lots of new play food for his birthday and Christmas and we have constant picnics. He makes us food everyday. He also loves to make Emilia meals.

Little Tikes Sizzle and Serve Grill. An addition to the kitchen this year was the grill! My cousin got him this for Christmas and he LOVES it. He also uses it as a “food cart” and puts things in it and delivers us treats.

toddler favorites I howsweeteats.com

CLOTHES

I still get a lot of questions on Max’s clothes. I find things for him at Target (mostly Cat and Jack!), Gap Kids (runs huge for him), Zara (also runs big for him, can be cheap and weird quality, but also very cute!), H&M occasionally (also so cheaply made but can find a few cute things) and Hanna Anderson (adore!). Occasionally we find cute Tucker and Tate stuff at Nordstrom and Nike or Under Armor things at Macys! I get almost all of his shoes at Nordstrom. In fact, the past two years I’ve always bought his shoes during the Nordstrom anniversary sale for the entire year! At the sale the last two years, I’ve got him:

Nike Free Sneakers. He wears these every single day. There is always a version of these on sale. Excellent quality and he runs them into the ground… literally.

PLAE High Top Sneakers. Also wears these a ton, more for “going out” than for play,

Sorel Waterproof Youth Boots. This is our first year getting these and they are wonderful. He’s outside a ton (even begs to go out when it’s cold and snowing) and now that he walks everywhere with me, these are great. Excellent year to get them with all the snow. Also will keep these for Emilia. I’m guessing they will still fit him next year unless he has a huuuuge growth spurt.

And as for go-to repeat clothing we love:

Hanna Anderson PJs. Still my favorite pajamas for him to date. SO much better quality than Carters and they last forever. Never pay full price for these! There are always sales.

Old Navy Baseball Tees. I love these for him! Especially for playing around the house. And for layering.

Zara leggings. He LIVES in these. Every single day.

Patagonia Sweater Jacket. Also another Nordstrom anniversary sale find the last few years. If you live in a cold climate this is the BEST coat. Light weight and super warm. Also have kept these for Emilia, obviously. These last for awhile too – Max had one for two seasons, and we just got another this year.

toddler favorites I howsweeteats.com

FOOD

When it comes to food, Max would probably say his favorites are apples, peanut butter toast with bananas and pizza. He loooves pizza. He also loves mac and cheese (annie’s – not my homemade!), chicken, hot dogs and burgers, pepperoni and all forms of bread and buns. And cheese! We make a ton of smoothies too! He loves any and all smoothies. And occasionally we add this kid’s chocolate smoothie powder from Target and he thinks it’s a chocolate milkshake.

He definitely is picky at times. When I tell him all the things he ate for the first two years of his life (since we did baby led weaning he truly ate everything!), he actually laughs out loud. It’s insane to me that with everything I cook and make, he still loves hot dogs and chicken fingers. There must be something in those foods that kids can’t ignore, haha. He generally eats pretty well and I know you guys always ask for toddler food posts, so I promise I have one coming! In the meantime, these three things save us:

Thermos Funtainer Canteen Cups. These are the cups that we still take everywhere for water. They never leak or spill. I find ours at Target and we always get the ones with Lightning McQueen or Paw Patrol.

Clif Z Bars. Max absolutely loves these. I always have one in a bag as a quick snack.

Stonyfield Whole Milk Yogurt Pouches. We are going on 2+ years of loving these yogurt pouches. Max eats one, sometimes two every single day.

And that’s it for the longest favorites post ever! There might be repeats here from previous favorites, but that’s because these are things he ADORES. I’d love to hear any and all things that you are loving for your toddler! xo