Whirlee-Good Fun!

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The Boy loves scooting around on his ride-ons and gets so much pleasure from driving around. The main problem with most of them is the manoeuvrability factor though. Steering of course removes part of this problem but the, often large, wheels can be slow to respond or have too large a turning circle.

We were recently sent a new ride-on for The Boy to try. The Whirlee, designed by Mookie, is a very different type of ride on as it uses four small wheels which turn 360°; think of an office chair! It has a stable wide base and centre of gravity, preventing falls, and a handle at the front for steering cut out of the main bulk. The position of the handle is also very natural for children to hold onto and steer.

As you can see, The Boy finds it so easy to turn whilst scooting around and as it's designed for infants and pre-schoolers then it's at a good height of the ground. I would say that The Boy is tall (90th percentile for height) and therefore his knees are probably a little too bent to benefit from it properly. However for children aged up to three (the average age for his height), they'd have a great time on it, turning and changing direction at the drop of a hat.

The Whirlee would also be great for multiple children, like in a playgroup because they are designed to be stackable and weigh just 865g. The weight make them very easy to take out and about with you.

Available in red or blue, The Whirlee retails from £9.99 (from both Cuthberts and Mothercare) so it would make an affordable and impressive gift for any toddler or confident walker.

We were sent the Whirlee for the purpose of this review. My opinion is both honest and unbiased.

Competition: The Gruffalo

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Last Christmas the whole family sat down and watched The Gruffalo. It's such a beautiful adaptation; the narration and the animation are just superb. It really does help that I like the book a lot, and it filmed me with hope when I saw that The Boy sat captivated throughout the entire film!

Unfortunately he still isn't a big fan of the story at the moment, I think it's a bit too long for him. However, he does like the pictures a lot. We were recently sent The Gruffalo Magnetic Adventures by University Games and it is gorgeous. When I was a child, I covetted fuzzy felts but they were expensive at the time and mum didn't under the attraction. But the Magnetic Adventures is way better than fuzzy felts could ever be!

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Flexibath (Review)

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When we went on holiday at the beginning of August, I wrongly assumed that the family-friendly self-catering apartment we were staying in would have a bath in one of the two 'bath'rooms. More fool me! We ended up having to buy a big plastic tub from a supermarket for him to bathe in; it was neither practical nor comfortable.

When we were given the opportunity to review a Flexibath a few weeks later, I almost jumped for joy because we were due to spend the weekend in a chain hotel which I knew didn't have a bath. I cannot even begin to tell you how much of a stress-saver the Flexibath was! It fitted perfectly into the shower cubicle, filled up within two minutes and was compact. The accompanying bath toys were perfect to keep The Boy amused and entertained. It folded flat and stored easily in the car, taking up minimal space amongst the vast array of other items that such a small being needs!

Since that weekend a month ago, the Flexibath continues to be The Boy's bath of choice. He has a bath every other night and we used to fill the 'big' bath up with six inches of water; enough to cover his legs etc. and keep him warm but not too much to waste water. However, The Boy now chooses to have the 'little' bath 90% of the time. He has had no more than two baths in the 'big' bath in the past month.

For my inner eco-warrior, this is excellent news. We've measured and calculated the water. We fill the Flexibath up with 15 litres of water for The Boy, which provides the same depth of coverage as in the normal bath. The normal bath requires 60 litres of water for this!

So can you do the Maths? Over the past month, we have saved 630 litres of water!

The reasons why we love the Flexibath:

  • it folds flat and is stored easily
  • it uses a fraction of the water normally needed to bath a child
  • it has a non-slip base
  • there is a very-snug fitting plug to empty the water out (although we tend to scoop it out & water the house plants!)
  • it's bright and attractive
  • it is an essential for holidays!

As I've mentioned, Flexibath have introduced a set of bath toys to accompany the bath. These consist of a clear plastic shelf with suction cups for adhesion, a coffee/tea making set with colourful cups, jugs and a funnel. The toys which are soft and fun to play with, are made from the soft plastic used in the bath. They also work as probably some of the best bath toys that he's played with in the 'big' bath.

At only £29.95 for the Flexibath, and £13.95 for the bath toy-set I think these are essential additions for any trip, or eco-warrior who is conscious of the amount of water used at bath-times.

I was sent these items for review. My opinions are honest and unbiased.

YumYum in my TumTum! (Review)

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I think sitting down together at teatime is a really important family activity as it teaches your little ones so much; social skills, conversational skills and how to behave at the table. I think it has contributed to The Boy's ability to sit at the table happily for over half an hour eating alongside us.

Recently he's shown a massive development in his ability to feed himself with a fork and spoon, but is starting to show an interest in using a knife. I've looked around and most sets that are available for his age bracket and hand size don't have knives in them. Therefore when we were asked to review a cutlery set by the lovely people at TumTum, I jumped at the chance!

They sent us the TumTum Tiny Double-sided Cutlery Set (which has a handy travel case for when you're out and about) and were very generous in also sending us the TumTum Tiny Dining Set (with scooping corners).

The cutlery has a very clever and engaging mix and match the double sided handles to change the character, with a good bowl shape on the fork, a straighter edge on the spoon, and most importantly the knife is not too sharp and is angled for easy cutting (stabbing in The Boy's case!). The dining set has a beautiful autumnal design on the plate of a hedgehog sweeping leaves, while the bowl has a mole digging in the sun. Most importantly about both of these is that they have a scooping corners which provides a stopping point to allow peas, beans and any other 'round' food to be easily loaded onto forks or spoons. There's also a fabulous rubber rim on the bottom to stop it sliding around! Both of these products are BPA, phthalate and PVC free, and dishwasher safe!

As you can see, The Boy absolutely adores them and he feels so grown-up eating from them. The pattern on the bowls is also an incentive to get him to eat because he has to clear the food out of the way (by eating it of course) before he can see what the picture is! This meal-time, he's just put the fork and spoon together and 'baa-ed' at daddy! Most amusing!

The double-sided travel cutlery set retails for £12 and the tiny dining set with scooping corner is £14.

We received these products in order to review. My opinions is honest, as always.

Tanatomicals

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Apparently, we're due to have a heatwave later this week. Yeah right, like we did in August? If we do, it will be your last chance to get a tan (safely!) before the sun comes back to see us next year.

It's not going to happen though is it?

Therefore those pale and pasty people like me are going to need a little help to stay looking healthy, alive and not like a zombie. Help in the form of fake tan.

Which is lucky because I've recently been sent some of the products from the new range by Tanatomicals, a fab and funky fake tan range exclusive to Superdrug.

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Hot Wheels Wall Tracks

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 I would like to send your son some cars to play with.

Oh alright then, if you insist!

When we met up with the lovely Lexy from MammyWoo, The Boy discovered the wonders of die-cast cars. Addison didn't particularly want to share them with him, but how many toddlers do? Ever since then, The Boy has been very fond of the two Hot Wheels cars that I picked up for him in the supermarket.

Today I staggered home from a stressful day in work to find a large box labelled 'toys' waiting for us. Inside was this:

Wall Tracks Drift Rally Spinout Track Set and the Track Starter Set

Hot Wheels Wall Tracks are one of the new big toys for young lads (and daddies). The track is used vertically by attaching it to a wall.

Daftly, I opened up Drift Rally set before he went up for his nap. Daftly because he then sobbed his heart out when I had to take him up, he was perfectly happy sat pushing the car around on the unassembled bits of track. We had to take the car to bed to pacify him!

So while the little chap slept, I assembled the Drift Rally set. It needs to be put up on a wall that isn't covered in wallpaper and says it doesn't stick well to vinyl, so I opted for a 3ft wide section of kitchen wall. There is a really comprehensive set of instructions which are on an actual template that gets stuck to the wall. You then line up the four brackets against the template and adhere them to the wall with sticky pads. They are designed to be removed, indeed there are spare adhesive tabs. The pieces of the track then slot into holes in the brackets and rest there securely. The instructions recommend that you leave about half an hour or more to allow the pad to be securely attached.

When The Boy woke up, he couldn't wait to have a play.

We then spent an hour and a half in the kitchen playing with it!

I love this because it is flawless, not once did the car get stuck and not race down the track properly. On this track, there is a levered section which drops down before the car races along a bumpy section, before speeding around the corner and off into thin air.

I have often heard of toys that provide hours of fun; this one actually does!

There are a few things that I've learnt which might help:

  1. When it says 3 foot clearance, it means it. We positioned it next to a door which we then couldn't open!
  2. It comes with one car which works brilliantly. We have a few other Hot Wheels cars, one of which doesn't work as it is a) not heavy enough to trigger the level, and b) has a ridge on the bottom which catches.
  3. Don't put it near a large heavy item which you can't move to retrieve the car which has just rolled underneath!

The Hot Wheels Wall Tracks Drift Rally Spinout set retails for £29.97 (RRP) and I think it is worth every penny. It's incredibly clever in its engineering, and because it is a wall-mounted toy it saves space. The whole thing can be removed, leaving just the four mounting plates. They can be pulled off with no problem by pulling down on the adhesive tabs (although I did manage to remove a small chuck of plaster by pulling up not down: follow the instructions!).

If you are looking for a racing track for your little ones, this is a must. It's aimed at 4yrs+ but The Boy is 2 and you can see he was capable of using it.

We were sent this set for the purpose of review. The fact that we love it is entirely honest, as is this review.

With Grace and Beauty…

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A few months ago I was lucky enough to discover the wonderous world of MiaTui Bags. Not a change-bag, not a hand-bag, not a beach-bag, not an overnight-bag, but in fact all of these things and so, so much more. The charming Charlotte who is the mastermind behind the company sent me an Amelie to review and I was smitten. Nothing else has adorned my shoulder (aside from clothes, clearly) for the past few months. If you want to know why, have a read of this review.

Therefore, when she whispered to me that she was designing two more bags to extend the range, I whispered back to her that I wanted to see a sneaky photo. I clearly didn't whisper loudly enough because she quite rightly ignored me until they were ready to be launched. That day has descended upon us and I am excited. When I heard mention on twitter the other day that it was coming, I whipped over to the MiaTui site and ooh-ed and aah-ed over the beauty that is Ava and the gorgeousness that is Grace. Declaring to Charlotte that I needed a Grace in my life and that I couldn't wait for D-Day, she asked which was my favourite colour.

The next day, I had a surprise delivery. It genuinely was a surprise (I know people say that all the time but this was! She already had my address from before); I wasn't expecting her to have sent me one at all.

Isn't it gorgeous? Now this has rapidly become my favourite 'me' bag. The bag that I don't need to take oodles out for. The one that won't need to contain a change of clothes, 4 nappies, 2 SIGG bottles, a jigsaw set, a bag of snacks, a first aid kit, suncream, my purse, the iPod, the FlipCam, a digital camera, my section with ladies doo-dahs in it, keys, a colouring pad, crayons, cutlery set, socks, wipes, bibs, a cardigan (for him not me) and a waterproof coat. Yes that's right. That's what I have in my Amelie bag.

This one has so much less in it. While I still keep wipes and pants (and one pull-up) in it, I won't need everything else if it is just a 'pop-to-the-shop' jaunt. Better still, because there is a zip-up clutch bag in the Grace, I can put the pants and wipes in there and remove them when The Boy is not around!

I like several things about the Grace (well I like everything, but several things make it stand out):

  • the fact that the tan colourway is canvas (as is the red)
  • the adjustable length strap, not just which hole the buckle goes through, but that it actually can be an across the body messenger-bag or an under-arm handbag

I am seriously in love with my Grace bag: the colour of the canvas is very me, with a vibrant splash of my favourite colour blue inside; the different pockets; it sits beautifully underneath my fat arms; it's washable; and it's just beautiful!

The tan canvas bag is available for a really reasonable price of £34.99, whilst the red canvas bag is £29.99 (shhh, don't tell hubby but I'm thinking of investing in one!). There are also black, purple and brown leather-effect bags at £39.99.

However, I have got a 10% discount code so you can save yourself a fair amount on these bags. Enough for a Caramel Coffee Frappucino (as The Boy would say!)


Competition: Win Maclaren Beginnings Toiletries

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I think it's really important to use mild toiletries to not affect my skin's natural balance, and this is never more important than when selecting products to use with The Boy. Therefore when the lovely Chloe from Baby Things 4 U asked me if I'd like to try a few items from the Maclaren Beginnings range, I jumped for joy!

I'd seen the range advertised on other people's blogs and knew it was good quality toiletries, I just didn't know how yummy smelling they would be as well. We were sent the Maclaren Beginning Purifying Bath and Shower Elixir for mums and the Maclaren Beginning Soothing and Delicate soap for babies.

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Competition: Baby Björn Cup

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Baby Björn. They do those really brilliant baby sling-things don't they? I know nothing about baby-slings, but I do know that Baby Björn make good ones.

Did you know they also make trainer cups? We were recently asked if we'd like to try their baby's first trainer cup, and I was very keen to as The Boy is still using tippy cups and has difficulty with open cups.

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