We had so much fun celebrating the twinblings’ second birthday over Memorial Day weekend! I’m looking forward to sharing the decorations and details and highlights with you soon. In the meantime, I thought I’d share some of the gifts that the girls received that were a huge hit. Perhaps you have a toddler birthday party coming up in your future and/or can file these ideas away for the holidays.
Wagon – In the summer, the girls are frequently out and about enjoying the weather and the Chicago sights. While they have a great stroller to cart them around, as they’ve grown bigger, it is feeling increasingly heavy and bulky. The girls’ big present from us was a wagon. We picked the Radio Flyer Ultimate EZ Folding Wagon because it folds up and can easily be thrown in our trunk, has separate seats for each girl with straps, and has a detachable sunshade. We are looking forward to using the wagon for short jaunts to the park, and for trips to the zoo.
Doll stroller – While I’m on the topic of wheeled items, I’ll mention Lilly’s very favorite gift, which was a doll stroller. Lilly has always been very drawn to stuffed animals and she is never without her stuffed bunny lovey. She also has recently been very interested in pushing her stroller around (which frankly gets somewhat annoying because she can’t steer it or see anything so she crashes into everything around her!). A doll stroller that’s just her size has allowed her to combine two of her favorite things – bringing her lovey along, and pushing a stroller. Needless to say, it’s been a big hit! It also allows the girls to get out in our neighborhood courtyard and feel they are participating in play with some of the older kids, who all have some sort of wheeled toy outside.
Easel – The girls actually received two different easels for their birthday, one a classic Melissa & Doug with a chalkboard on one side and one a more tech-forward VTech that is interactive with prompts and tracing options for letters, numbers, and shapes. So far we’ve only set up the classic one, but I’m excited for both of these options to allow the girls to get their creative energy out and practice drawing and painting.
Ready for the day with their new backpacks
Backpack – One week before the party, we were trying to get the girls out of the house but ran into a problem in that they each wanted to carry a snack cup, water cup, lovey, and small toy with them. Items were dropping to the floor constantly as they were trying to hold all of these things in their arms and get down the stairs of our house. I found a small gift bag and instructed them to put their items inside, and they were very big fans of this solution. All this to say, the girls (and their endless stuff) were very much in need of a backpack and they each received one as gifts. They have really liked their backpacks and I think it makes them feel very independent and big.
Light-Up Sunglasses – On the lower end of the cost spectrum here, one of the biggest hits with the girls at their party was green light-up glasses. They are so obsessed with these glasses, and I’m grateful to their grandparents for wisely gifting them each an identical pair because otherwise we surely would be breaking up fights for them! They think that these glasses are fun and also absolutely hilarious. I love hearing their giggles as they proudly wear their “geen sun gasses”.
Lilly with her stroller
Little Picassos
What are your go-to gifts for the 2 year old crowd? Please share.
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
Love the wagon too! Esp with 2 kids we get so much use out of it and I love the ease of folding and storing that one!
My girls loved their doll stroller (that broke recently) but I’ve been debating getting anther doll stroller or a shopping cart instead!
blogger / apricot / 482 posts
Our kids love the easel too. And even though ours are 18 months apart, I totally understand the need for identical things to avoid fighting.
How hard is it to pull the wagon with two kids in it? We’ve been interested in one, but I wasn’t sure how much of a struggle it would be to pull
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
My 2 yr old loves his kiddie backpack. He has the Dinosaur one from Skip Hop. If I had a little girl their Unicorn option is super cute. He is obsessed with his babyatiors. His are black and look like mom & dad’s sunshades. LO would find these bright color options a lot of fun!
pomelo / 5621 posts
DS loves his art easel and uses it all the time. I love the wagon, wish we had something like that.
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We used that wagon on a recent trips to Grant’s Farm! It’s perfect for visiting there since it folds up if you are in StL! The girls are a great age for it. My two year old loved it!
blogger / apricot / 439 posts
@snowjewelz: Ooh, I hadn’t thought of a shopping cart but I think that would be a huge hit with the girls – thanks for the idea.
@Mrs. Dolphin: I have to be honest that I actually don’t know how hard the wagon is to pull as I haven’t done it yet! Our nanny and my MIL had no complaints though when they used it.
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: So funny that you mentioned the dino Skip-Hop backpack – the girls’ nanny gifted them backpacks and Audrey picked out the dino one so we have it – it’s so cute!
@ALV91711: Yes, the easel is quickly becoming one of the most-used toys/items in our house right now. I’m glad it’s relatively cute – haha – so I don’t have an eyesore in the middle of my living room all the time!
Christine – I’ve got to get the girls to Grant’s Farm soon!