Plenty Of Calm, But No Storm.

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Since The Boy has turned two, I've realised that life is hurtling along in a voyage of transition! This summer I set myself six tasks: I've done one of them. However it is the most important one of the lot and we've pretty much achieved it. Potty-training.

Last week, we went to the cinema and my mum babysat The Boy. Coming home, I discovered that she'd had a hell of a time getting him to sleep, so this is the next thing that needs to change. At present his bedtime routine is good: no television from 5pm onwards, quiet play for half an hour before bed, bath (every other night), milk, brush teeth, potty, pyjamas, book, then mobile on and lights out. It's what happens when lights out is the problem. We've always cuddled him to sleep, and for me he goes quickly. However, for hubby it can be more than an hour of fussing, as it was for my mum last week.

Now clearly, at the age of 26 months this has to stop. Therefore when I was contacted and asked if I'd like to review a new bedtime CD ofclassical bedtime music I was more than happy to type the words "yes please" as quickly as my three typing fingers would allow. (Yes, I have all 8 fingers and 2 thumbs, but can only type with three of them!)

Mixed Blessings is a relaxing and magical CD full of specially written piano compositions. The very talented Sheena Coote created these classical musical pieces to help her own children relax into slumber, unwinding from their day and helping them slip away on the cloud of sleep. The CD is 25 minutes long and contains delicate and soothing music enabling calm and pleasant thoughts.

I'd already bought a CD player for The Boy's room, as it has always been my intention to have him listen to soothing music or a story tape, either before bed or as he is falling asleep. He loves his mobile, but we've found that he's developed almost a Pavlovian response to 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star'! We've added Mixed Blessings into the bedtime routine, he listens to it when he is having his milk now, and he's very fond of the music, particularly tracks 4 and 10. Mr. TheBoyandMe has found that he is calmer to get to sleep now, and understand that he must be quiet and listen to the music.

We've had a fraught few weeks: holidays, overnight trips away combined with days out, potty training and another weekend away. Now that we are home for the forseeable future, and that The Boy is secure and comfortable with his potty training, I will be looking at adjusting the order of his bedtime routine so he isn't reliant on cuddles from mummy or daddy to help him get to sleep.

Mixed Blessings was released by Red Red Admiral Records and is available now from, iTunes, Amazon, Tesco online, emusic and we7. One thing is for certain, £6.99 of 79p a track is hardly going to break the bank, and what price can you put on a quiet and quick bedtime?

I was provided with a copy of Mixed Blessings for review. My thoughts and opinions are, as always, honest.

Review: Snoozeshade

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A few months ago, I was invited to review the Snoozeshade. It arrived and I was thoroughly impressed with it. The design was modern and funky, simple and elegant. The idea behind it: genius! Unfortunately, I didn't get much of a chance to test it before The Boy outgrew his iCandy, and is incapable of falling asleep in the Maclaren. When I heard that the lovely Lauren from Real Housewife of Suffolk County had just had baby Harry, I asked her if she could review it for me. This is her adventure with the Snoozeshade.

Nap times have always been a bit touch and go with Charles, especially naps when out and about. He’d fall asleep in the car seat, and would remain asleep as we transferred him to his pushchair but then the brightness of the sun or harsh lights in shops would then wake him. He’s always been difficult to get to nap in a pushchair due to distractions and again due to it being too light. So, I was eager to review the Snoozeshade to see if it helped our problematic naptimes.
The Snoozeshade comes in a handy little mesh reusable bag, great for storage and for fitting in the basket of a pushchair or hanging from the handles.
We used this whilst on a day out. Charles had been walking around a lot and we noticed he was getting tired and could do with a nap. We placed him in his pushchair, walked around a little and then decided to attach the Snoozeshade.
The fabric is light and airy so there’s no fear that a child napping inside will overheat or become dehydrated. The Snoozeshade fit perfectly onto our pushchair [a Petite Star Zia], I always find it tricky to fit rain covers and thought this would be the same when in fact it was straightforward and quick to fit which impressed me immensely. At first Charles was unsure and did moan a little but within no time at all he was asleep. It worked! I couldn’t quite believe it at first and did keep checking on him to make sure he wasn’t just pretending.
There is a handy zip at the front which makes it easy to check on your child, there’s also another zip at the front which opens incase your child needs a little more air or light, Charles is afraid of the dark so we kept this zip open so he had a little bit of light available when he woke up.
He slept for approx 45 minutes which is great for a child who never tends to nap in a pushchair! A couple of days later Charles had fallen asleep in his car seat, we planned to use the double buggy to transport him, but remembering we had the Snoozeshade in the basket we decided to use the single pushchair to see if it kept him asleep. One whole hour later he eventually woke up! Amazing!
For that reason, I recommend this 100%, and it will be living in the basket of our pushchair and hopefully will be getting a lot of use.

I was sent the Snoozeshade in order to review. When my monkey of a son refused to sleep in the pushchair, I asked Lauren to review it and sent it over to her. Our opinions are honest and unbiased.

Review: Hiku the Penguin

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Hiku is the tale of a penguin who wakes up feeling grumpy one morning. Everything about the day was wrong (I know how he feels today) made worse by the news of an impending visit from his extended family (yep, I can sympathise with that one too!).

Taking himself off to be a grumpy-guts on his own, he soon realises that he's lonely and bored. Hiku's mind wanders off to memories of past visits from his family and he soon realises that actually, they always have fun together! Rushing back to his family, he hopes he gets there in time to enjoy some more fun and make more memories… whether he does or not, well you'll have to read the book!

I liked the clever illustrations with every double-page featuring dozens of penguins. This isn't just because I like penguins, but because Hiku is distinct with his heart-shaped tummy, so every new picture was like a 'Where's Wally' fest which The Boy adored pouring over.

This is a lovely story focusing on the fun that can be had with family, beautiful illustrations, and a great spring-board for a variety of other activities and discussion points with your little one.

Hiku is availabale as a paper back (£5.39), as an app on the AppStore (£1.99) or as a PDF electronic book (£1.79) which would be perfect for little ones to interact with, or in the classroom as a big book.

We were sent this book for review purposes by TopThat Publishing. MY opinions are, as always, honest & without bias.

Photo-Jigsaw

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I've been very lucky to have received a canvas to review from Bags of Love who have a fantastic range of personalised gifts. I am thoroughly impressed with the quality of the print and speed of service and would thoroughly recommend Bags of Love for any personalised photo products.

Thanks to the lovely folk over at Bags of Love, I am lucky enough to be able to offer one reader a prize of a photo jigsaw. However this is no ordinary photo jigsaw, this is a rather cool one that I'm actually quite jealous of!

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Captured on Canvas

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"Would you like to review a photo canvas?" said Bags of Love.

I'll admit now that I've never thought of having one before. I've seen them many times, looked at them quite closely and not always been impressed with the finish. Some of the canvasses can be quite waxy and plasticky in their appearance. However, having browsed through the photo canvas range and styles available from Bags of Love, I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that they don't use the typical technique associated with other photo canvasses. They use 'dye sublimination' which involves fusing inks deeply into the fabric fibres, giving it very vibrant colours which do not fade over time, or crack like plastic shiny coated ink jet canvas.

So I said "aye, go on then!"

I sent them the image on the left; within four days I had received the contents of the image on the right.

Ha! You thought you were going to see my face then didn't you?!

I am really impressed. The fabric is soft, yet strong. The image is printed onto the canvas with incredible accuracy and attention to detail. I've seen canvasses that my mum has been given as a present, and they lack sharpness around the edge of objects or clarity of colours. The close-up below shows the detail in The Boy's features, the hairs on Mr. TheBoyandMe's arm and the softness of the fabric.

I've included the image on the right because this is something that is important to me. I try and buy FSC wood, paper, card, etc where possible. To find out that Bags of Love use FSC pine in their frames makes my inner eco-warrior happy.

This canvas is fabulous. I am a convert, and quite frankly being the stubborn woman that I am, that's saying something. I was also cheeky and asked if I could have a duplicate one for my mum, which they very kindly agreed to! She adores it, and has asked me to investigate getting another one done for her. The photo canvasses produced by Bags of Love are a very good quality and extremely good value for money.

Before I started typing up this review, I sauntered over to their site. Just another photo gift company, supplying photo canvasses, mousemats, key rings, bags (obviously), calendars, yes? No!

Beanbags, cushions, bedding, jewellery boxes, laundry baskets, roller blinds (!), leather bags, wooden jigsaws, radiator covers, and my two personal favourites: wallpaper and deckchairs!

I know, how cool would that be? All these are amongst the very cool gift ideas available to buy, which would be perfect for birthday presents. Bearing in mind, September is a heavy month for us with family events, we might well be getting some of those birthday presents from Bags of Love!

Thinking further ahead (and I have been feeling a little festive with the Wintery weather recently), we might even be visiting them for some of our Christmas gifts. I bet my mum would love an apron covered in photos of her granchildren, or I could order The Boy a jigsaw of his most favourite thing this year; his trip to Peppa Pig World.

Either way, Bags of Love is a winner and I am going to be shopping there in the future.

I was provided with a photo canvas in order to write this review. I begged them if I could have a duplicate for my mum, and because they're nice they said yes. My opinions are, as always, honest.

Trunki Toybox

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We were lucky enough to be able to review the new Trunki Toybox which arrived just in time for our holiday to Dorset. The minute it arrived, The Boy was captivated by it and completely understood its purpose!

The Trunki Toybox has been designed as a travel toybox but with all the niftiness of the Trunki suitcase. Of course the main function of it is as a Toybox, and the green lid has two catches either end to secure it in place when being carried. Also on the lid of the Toybox are four wheels, one in each corner, which enable it to be turned over, sat on and scooted around on. All perfectly demonstrated by my able assistant in the above photos.

I asked The Boy what he wanted to pack for holidays and this is what he chose:

Yes that's right: two jigsaws, a kitchen towel tube and the iPod Touch! I dare say that he could have amused himself for a little while with that lot, but not a whole week, so I gave him a hand.

When I looked at the Toybox, I will admit to being sceptical as to how much could be fitted into it; he's got a lot of toys, we were going away for a week and it didn't look that big. That is where it is incredibly deceptive and I think Trunki drafted in Mary Poppins to help design and manufacture it. We actually managed to get all of this lot in, and there was room to spare.

A mini laptop, three cuddly toys, crayons, Tag Junior reading system and two books, Djeco puzzlebox, stacking cups, two puzzles, two sets of threading beads, threading cards, colouring books and a spinning top. Oh, and the iPod Touch but he was playing with it at the time which is why it's not in the picture. I think that's a lot of toys to fit in the compact and sturdy box (not forgetting that the box is itself a toy), which incidentally fitted in the car in his seat's footwell really neatly.

I think this is a really good travel toybox, sturdy and compact, easy to carry with a strong handle. It has been designed to link together with other toyboxes to make a chain if need be; maybe if you had more than one child and they had a toybox each then that could be quite good fun. The one thing that I will say is that personally I feel the wheels could have gone in the base of the box rather than the lid, as in order to ride it you have to turn it over, therefore tipping the contents upside down. Just a minor point which might well be a personal preference.

Overall, this toybox was a God-send for our holiday and will definitely be used time and time again. At £19.99, and available in either pink or blue, I think it's a very good buy and an essential for any holiday!

I was provided with the Trunki Toybox for the purpose of this review, free of charge. My opinions are as always honest.

TRU Review: Rainbow Aquadraw

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For The Boy's last birthday, and at Christmas time, I asked for some Aquadraw for him. You know the stuff; water pens and a special mat which when drawn on looks like you're actually using colours. At Christmas we had a similar version which paled in comparison to the real thing, and for his birthday a friend bought him some small Peppa Pig mats. He enjoyed them for a time but I knew that it wasn't really doing what it could for his enjoyment or development.

Therefore when we opened up our box for review and saw a huge Tomy Rainbow Aquadraw box, both of us were very chuffed! The mat is huge and what is even more special about this one is that it has a rainbow coloured backing so when The Boy draws it actually looks like he's using colours.

Included in the set are two pens and three stampers with a star, a cloud or raindrops on them. There is also a squeedgy style brush and small water pot. The water pot deserves a special mention as, very cleverly, it is no-spill. You put a small amount of water to cover the base and due to the smart design, the water does not come back out again. Perfect for when your little one knocks it over in eagerness.

The Boy adores this; he has completely ignored all other aqua drawing tools that he has in favour of it, and will go and seek it out in order to play with it. This is definitely because of the coloured backing and accesories. He's not interested in the pens for the most part, although he is only 2 and I'm sure as he experiments more with mark making then this will be of more interest.

At £24.97 it is quite pricey, but at the same time it has brought him a great deal of entertainment, and future learning opportunities are endless. If you only buy one Aquadraw, invest in this one!

For more reviews by the Toys R Us Toyologists, click on the image below.

We were provided this free of charge to review. My opinion is, as always, honest.

TRU Review: Lettersaurus

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LeapFrog have done it again! Another fun, easy to use and educational toy to help your toddler/pre-schooler learn and consolidate their development. This time in the shape of a friendly, purple dinosaur (but not an irritating one like that the one that shall remain nameless on this blog!).

There are three modes on the Lettersaurus:

  • Alphabet: press a letter button and it will say the letter name and then a word that begins with it, followed by an associated item.
  • Colours: press a letter button and it says the name of that colour.
  • Musical: each of the 26 letter buttons has a different tune attached to it. In addition pressing the buttons on his head makes him sing the Alphabet song.
  • Oh, and its head turns around.

Set-up was easy as there were no ties, but three simple plastic 'screws' through the base of the packagin; turn them 90° and the Lettersaurus is released. The toy can be personalised by following the really simple instructions to select the initial letter of your child's name; it took me ten seconds to do this. The dinosaur then says, e.g. "L! That’s the first letter of your name!" There are also two volume settings on the toy.

The Boy likes it; it was the first toy that he took out of the box when it was delivered. He likes listening to the different songs, particularly the Alphabet song, and we play with the colours section together by finding all the reds or yellows. He's not interested in the letters at the moment, the sounds that come after the letter are amusing and he likes the laughter but he's too young to really get anything from this.

I think the colours mode could have been developed by having the dinosaur say "Can you find another red? Well done", as it would have promoted more interactivity with the toy. I'm also not overwhelmed with the alphabet mode. As a primary school teacher, I do think it should say the letter sound and not just the name. This is where I find the toy confusing; it's aimed at 12 months+, so why have letters on there at all? I know it's called a Lettersaurus but to fully promote that side of it, it should work with the phonics which is what pre-schoolers use to help them learn to read.

I find its purpose confusing and think it has a limited life with The Boy at the moment, when he has the LeapTop which does basically the same thing but so much better. Younger children (i.e. 12 months+) might enjoy it more, but for us it's not challenging enough in its learning or play purpose.

A simple, fun and engaging toy for 12months+ but there are better toys around for 2years+

(£14.99 – Toys R Us)

This toy was provided free for review as part of the TRU Toyology programme. My opinions are, as always, unbiased and honest.

Alphabet Lotto by Orchard Toys: a TRU Review

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I am a massive fan of Orchard Toys; I think that they are one of the best toy companies around with fun, bright, attractive and educational games and puzzles for little ones. I've often seen their games in the nursery and infant departments in school, and the children are always having fun with them. I covetted them for many years before having The Boy, and since having him I have been desperate to get to the stage where he can play with them. Now he is, and we're so lucky because in last month's parcel from Toys R Us there was another Orchard Toys game to review.

Alphabet Lotto is one of their excellent bingo style games but this is one has a differentiated twist to it with four different ways to play. In the sturdy box are five lotto boards, each one a different colour, and double-sided with six spaces. One side has pictures with the object's name written underneath (the letter or phoneme is highlighted more prominently) while the other side has the corresponding letters. This piqued my teacher interest straight away, how very clever of them to have written the word underneath, but highlighting the first letter/phoneme is really genius and allows for a lot of expansion and teaching through this game.

The third and fourth ways of playing this lotto game come through the lotto cards. There are two sets: one of letters and one of pictures, each have thirty cards in the set. Yes I know there are 26 letters in the alphabet but I did mention phonemes didn't I? They have chosen four of the most common ones and have cards for 'th', 'sh', 'wh' and 'ch'. The lotto cards are not double-sided, I don't know if that was a conscious decision or not, it might have helped to connect the sound with the image more easily, but on the other hand it provides another use for them as the children can then match the sound up with the pictures which creates a fifth game! I've put the letter cards in a plastic wallet out of the way for the moment, because obviously at two years old The Boy is too young to use them.

We don't play lotto yet in a conventional way yet, he's just that bit too young to understand about taking turns although we will soon be working on it with him and this is an excellent way to promote it. Instead, he helps mummy and daddy to find the (face-up) cards on their boards. This is an excellent way to help develop his matching skills (pre-maths skills) and the recognition of images is so important (pre-reading skills). He loves it and finds it great fun!

I would thoroughly recommend Alphabet Lotto for any child who is approaching nursery or reception to help develop their understanding of letters and sounds. I would also thoroughly recommend this for anyone who just wants to have fun with their child!

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Night-Night Kisses

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We've always had quite a strict bedtime routine. Not in the dictatorial, no fun sense of the word, but without sway or deviance from the procedure. Bath, bottle, teeth and book, before lights out and mobile on. (We'll ignore the fact that he still doesn't go to sleep by himself yet, just shhhh!)

We have our little sillinesses; for example, I kiss daddy, Oliver Monkey and then The Boy night before declaring "What more kisses? You greedy little monkey!", cupping The Boy's face and smothering him in tiny little kisses all over. He then giggles and when I'm at the door, Oliver Monkey waves 'goodnight' to me.

I think a bedtime routine is important, but I also think that fun and happiness is just as necessary as I don't want my little boy being sent off to dream-land on an unhappy cloud! Which is why when ToyJeanius asked me to review Djeco's bedtime game Night-Night Kisses I was more than happy to oblige.Night-Night Kisses (or Bisous Dodo to give it its proper name) is a lovely little game by Djeco, designed to play just before bedtime to encourage your child to feel loved and happy. The above box has a slide-out drawer that is used as the 'bed' for either of the adorable little characters that are 'put to bed' during the game. There is a little boy or a little girl, on one side they are awake and on the other their eyes are firmly closed as they've drifted off to sleep.

For hubby, the time when he comes in from work up until when The Boy drifts off to the land of nod, is precious. He always does bedtime, with the exception of a Wednesday and Thursday (when I work all day so also want some time with The Boy), and he loves spending that time with him. Night-Night Kisses gives him the ideal opportunity to spend some quality time with The Boy before we start the bath etc. routine.

The game involves laying the bed out and placing the boy (not The Boy to avoid confusion!) on top of the soft blue mattress. The cards are then placed face down and little one lifts them up in turn to reveal what's on the card. Some of the cards represent items, for example a sheet or a pillow, and these you lay under the boy's head or over his legs. The remaining cards represent actions such as tickles, cuddles and kisses. As each card is selected the parent must do that action to your child. When the game is finished, you turn the little boy over (again not The Boy, he's not a doll) so his eyes are closed and off he goes to sleep. If only all children obliged so easily, hey?

The Boy really liked the game; he and daddy had great fun playing it. It does require the adult to read the instructions first as there are a few different cards and you need to know what they represent. The feather and music cards are obvious, but there's also a 'kiss' card which means you have to kiss your little one wherever the heart features on the card. There are also birdy and butterfly kisses which can be bestowed upon your precious bundle, much merriment happens as a result of this; we're fond of butterfly kisses in this house!

As this game is aimed at 3-6 year olds, and The Boy is only just two, we adapted it slightly. For example there are 32 cards, but we only had out one of each choice otherwise we'd have never got him into bed! When they are a little older, then the game is designed to take ten minutes and they will also be able to remember what all the different cards mean.
This is a lovely game to play with your precious bundles of joy and happiness before bedtime; they will end up feeling so loved from all the kisses and hugs.
Night-Night Kisses is available to purchase from ToyJeanius for £11.45. Readers of this blog can use a special discount code of 'TheBoyandMe' to get 10% off this and any other purchase.


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