Hi Socialites! My baby girl is 3 years old!!! Where has the time gone?

*sobbing and wailing*

Ok, now that that’s over, I wanted to share with y’all the birthday gift that put my talkative toddler into such a state of shock that she literally had no words: The Step2 Great Gourmet Kitchen!

A Little Back Story

Sometime when Bella was still 1, the hubby and I were out doing some last minute late-night shopping and randomly picked up a little no name tiny kitchen (the entire thing was the size of the refrigerator door on the Step2 model pictured above) because it was sitting on a clearance end cap for $15. Bella actually loved it, and proceeded to play with it on a regular basis, and we thought nothing else of it. Fast forward to a few months ago, when I watched Bella stooping down repeatedly to put ice cream cones in her stove and microwave. Immediately, I felt remiss, because A.) My tall toddler (she’s 3’3″ ?) was having to stoop like an old lady, and B.) We had never even thought to buy my poor child some play food to go with her kitchen! ??

I immediately told the hubby that we were getting our baby girl a “real” kitchen that was tall enough for her to grow with; that had plenty of bells and whistles; and she’d have lots of pretend food to go with it! After jumping online and doing a little research, we decided that the Step2 Great Gourmet Kitchen perfectly matched our requirements!

Assembly

We ordered the Step2 Great Gourmet Kitchen and it arrived in 3 days!  We chose the color pink because Bella loves pink, but it also comes in white/tan! We stashed it in the garage because the packaging is very colorful and shows photos of the kitchen (be mindful of this so that your child won’t accidentally encounter the box!) Hubby and I made a plan to begin working on assembly two days ahead of Bella’s party, because we’ve had plenty of assembly mishaps in the past from various brands (missing parts, lack of tools, etc.)

With Step2, we really had no cause for concern. The assembly was quick and painless, and the instructions were detailed, and well illustrated/photographed. All pieces were included, and we were done in about 30 minutes. There were some areas where my husband used a power drill to ensure parts were connected tightly, but I don’t think it’s necessary. Truth be told, I think he just wanted to look like he had really accomplished something! ?

Features

This adorable and well crafted kitchen comes with soooo many awesome features that Bella (and we) love! Bella is crazy about the built in “Keurig” inspired coffee maker and pods that were included with the set.

One of the other features that we love is the stove top burner that makes real frying and boiling sounds, and lights up! There is a chalkboard for Bella to write the day’s menu on, and the double oven lets her prepare “dinner” items, while pretending to bake cookies and pies in the 2nd oven. 

Side Note: It is amazing how much your children absorb when you think they aren’t watching you. Bella understood exactly how to use each feature without it having to be explained, and I about fell out when I saw her washing her “chicken” in the sink!  

The Step2 Great Gourmet Kitchen also includes a microwave, a refrigerator, and comes ready to use with included Coffee Pot, Pods, Ketchup/Mustard, Salt/Pepper, pots, pans, cups, bowls, plates, utensils, cell phone, pot holders, storage bins, and a green grocery sack.  Don’t worry: The kitchen comes with cabinet space, and plenty of little nooks to store all of these items.

We did make sure that we purchased plenty of play food for Bella to use with her new kitchen! The exact food set that we got for her is the KidKraft Tasty Treats Play Food Set, but I’ll be linking more options in the widget near the end of the post!

See you next time!