First Friends Magazine Review

There are many comics and magazines available however most of them seem to be aimed at children aged 5+, there aren't a lot that suit younger children. The First Friends magazine aims to change this.

This comic is filled with stories, letters, numbers and colouring, as well lots of familiar children's cartoon characters.

The First Hair Cut

There are a lot of firsts where are kids are concerned and they are all as equally exciting and memorable as the last. All of my children have had their first hair cut very late on. Born bald and with slow growing hair, I never felt the need to even give them a trim and I think I was always reluctant to cut anything off because I hated the fact that everyone always commented "isn't HE lovely", "oh look at HIM, so lovely". Yep even when dressed head to toe in pink they always got mistaken for boys.

But the time came to finally give Layla her first hair cut. Her hair is now resembling the "mullet" style. Not a good look but I adore the tiny curl she has at the back, when pulled straight this one bit trails down her back, unlike the rest of her yet to catch up locks.

The Last Step Towards Independence

Layla was my last child. It doesn't seem two minutes ago that I gave birth to her yet now she is a fully fledged little person, no longer a baby. She walks, talks, feeds herself and rarely uses her pushchair anymore. My youngest daughter took her last steps towards independence the other day when she said goodbye nappies and hello knickers, that's right completely potty trained, day and night.

Potty training has definitely been interesting and all of my children have been so different with their approach so I  just wanted to share with you 5 easy tips to make the experience better for both parent and child.

There are the usual signs to look out for :

* They know when they have got a wet or dirty nappy.

* They might tell you when they are weeing or pooing, so they have good communication skills.

* They may be drier for longer periods of time.

Now this might be a good time to start trying but this doesn't necessarily mean that they are ready.

Toddlers Can Be Mischievous

Toddlers are known for being a little mischievous at times, I mean this stage in their lives begins with the terrible twos so trouble is bound to follow right?? Just take a look at some of the entries into Time4Sleep's latest competition as examples.

Since having Layla I've come to realise that I got off extremely lightly with my eldest 3 daughters, they look like angels in comparison.

My youngest child seems to have made it her mission in life to frighten me, annoy me and to just generally send me potty. Just a few things that my little girl has been known to do :

Climbing on or in furniture.

Gaining Independence The Trunki ToddlePak

I am a huge fan of Trunki. I recently reviewed their BoostaPak and was extremely impressed with just how useful it was so when they released their newest product, the ToddlePak, I was eager to put it to the test.

Available in 7 different designs, there is one to suit every child's personality. You can choose from :

Purple Owl

Red Fox

Orange Monkey

Green Dinosaur

Yellow Lion

Pink or Blue 

Each one is bright and fun, making the idea of wearing it appealing to your little ones. I chose the purple owl. 

What's Wrong With Carrying My Child?

When I had my first two children I'll be honest, I'd never heard of babywearing. I researched a little when I had my third daughter and carried her for a while. By the time I had my fourh child I couldn't wait to ditch the pushchair and carry my child.

Apparently my choice seems strange to some.

Now carrying children in slings/carriers isn't a new thing and in recent years it has become more popular amongst parents but there are still people that like to question those that do it, something that really annoys me.

I get the same old questions and statements :

1. Isn't she heavy?
2. Doesn't she hurt your back?
3. That must be really hard to do.

So let me answers those quickly.

Teething Over Time

Teething is one of those things that I think us as parents dread.

Noone wants to see their child in pain and I think we can totally sympathise with them, I mean wisdom teeth, one word, ouch!!

Knowing how to soothe our little ones can be tricky and I know my methods have changed with each child, it has always been a case of trial and error.

I was extremely lucky with my eldest child, I honestly never knew she was teething until she bit me one day.

This however lulled me into a false sense of security because when my 2nd child began the cutting her first teeth, boy did I know about it.

There were a lot of tell tell signs, excessive dribbling, red cheeks, constant chewing of hands.

Those were the days when I relied on Calpol, Bonjela and teething powders.

Pipsy Koala Review

It's funny, after having four children, I always seem to forget all of the things that are needed as my children grow. You know what I'm talking about, I have to have a good old think every time I leave the house to make sure that I'm not forgetting something, I think I have wipes in just about every one of my bags now, an essential that is always needed!!!

Pipsy Koala is a company that produces a range of products that are effective and practical and they aim to make life with your baby just that little bit easier.

I was lucky enough to be sent a few of the items that they stock to see just how helpful they are. I was sent the booster seat, the automatic nightlight, the foam bath animals and one of their lovely 2014 calendars.

Toddlerhood Is Looming

Today Layla turned 18 months old, she is stuck inbetween the realm of baby and toddler, perhaps a boddler?? Growing way too fast, I have those terrible two's to look foward to in the not so distant future.

The past few months seem to have flown by in a massive whirlwind. Layla has definitely been the most "difficult" shall we say, leaving a mess of toys as she passes by you. She is one cheeky little monkey that can do no wrong her sisters eyes, I end up being the one told off if I try and tell her not to do something. She bit Gracie the other day, extremely naughty but Freya and Elise could be heard saying it wasn't her fault, she doesn't know any better, mmmmm.

Her favourite words of recent days have been no and when she is naughty she will come up to you and say aaawwww, her little way of saying sorry. Oh and everyone is called Freya, doesn't matter who you are or whether you are a girl or a boy, your name will be Freya.

She may be little but she has the biggest smile and she manages to entertain us at all times with her unique personality. A little dare devil who fears nothing.

I've been looking back through all of the photos on my phone and I can't get over just how much she has changed in such a small space of time. The only thing that hasn't really changed is the amount of hair on her head

Christmas Gift Guide for Girls

Now I know there are an awful lot of gift guides around, a lot of them with the same popular toys on. I thought I would write one that was slightly different.

My daughter's and I have been picking out the toys that we would like to receive from Father Christmas, there will be a couple of toys you recognise because my girls do watch the television and the adverts have persuaded them that they really need certain toys!!

1. Monster High 13 Wishes Dolls

We have an ever growing collection of these Monster High dolls. I personally find them a little scary looking but they are one of the favourite toys in this house.

The girls love watching the dvds as well.

A new Monster High film has just come out, Monster High 13 Wishes and with it new dolls have also been released.

So top of their list are Clawdeen, Frankie and Draculaura, lucky for me they are all available with 25% off at Argos at the moment.

2. Furby Boom


These little creatures seem to be at the top of every Christmas toy guide this year and they have proved to be very popular with my girls too.

Luckily they come in plenty of different colours so if they are lucky enough to get them from Santa then there will be no arguing over who has which ones.

3. Little Bird Told Me Rocking Horse

Now this toy would be for Layla. Little Bird Told Me have just introduced their new range of Heritage Stable rocking horses and I have fallen in love.

Now these are on the higher price end but they look fantastic and your child would get hours of fun from it.

There are 4 available : Rufus + Ted - 9 months+, Chester + Fred - 12 months+, Jasper - 18 months+ and Tennyson - 3 years +.

4. WOW toys Poppy's Pony Adventure

Another popular brand in our house is WOW toys.
Mummy loves the fact that there are no batteries involved and the girls love mixing all the sets together.

The one on their list is Poppy's Pony adventure but there are plenty more toys available including Ronnie Rocket, Flip n Tip Fred and Penny's Pooch n Ride.

5. Books, books and more books

All my girls are huge book worms so it is no surprise that books are on their list.

I recently reviewed two wonderful books from paragon, five little monkeys, perfect for little ones and christmas cookie stamp set, great for those aspiring bakers.

Other books on the Christmas list are ones by Jaqueline Wilson and Julia Donaldson, these authors are firm favourites here!!!

6. Lego Friends

When I was younger I was never into Lego, always saw it as a boys toy.

My girls are the complete opposite, they love it, creating and building new things.

And they love it even more since they brought out the Lego Friends range.

They have a little collection that they would love to build on.

7. Music

My daughter's were listening to music from the get go, even when pregnant with them I used to play songs to them, placing headphones on my belly.

They love to get up and dance!! My eldest is desperate for the new JLS cd, my 5 year old wants the latest one direction album and my 3 year old is obssessed with the Fox Song. Layla is happy dancing to whatever song you decided to put on, although the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse them tune really gets her up and moving.


So there we have it, a few ideas to get you thinking. Are any of these on your children's wish lists??

xxxx

Bassetts Soft & Chewy Promotion Review

I am very lucky to have a soft play centre literally a 5 minute drive away from me. I love taking my girls and even my eldest daughter Elise at nearly 8 years old still loves to run around at soft play and get involved with what her sisters are doing.

A recent survey carried out by Bassetts Soft & Chewy Vitamins in the UK asked 1000 mums their opinions on the benefits of soft play. It found that a huge 71% enjoy treating their children to a soft play day because it is guaranteed entertainment that can be enjoyed come rain or shine. These mums believe that soft play is not only a great form of exercise (60%) but it is brilliant fun for them too (61%).

The survey also revealed that mums enjoy the soft play experience too, finding that 65% love to see their little ones having fun and 40% said that this also gave them an excuse to meet up with other mums/friends.

The only problem I find with soft play sometimes is the expense, with up to four children to pay for it can at times prove costly, this is where the lovely people at Bassetts Soft & Chewy Vitamins are here to help. 

Until the 31st May 2014, every promotional pack of their vitamins is offering a free soft play session for one child. Promotional packs can be found in most major retailers and with approximately 200 soft play centres taking part in the promotion, you are very likely to find one near you. So not only are you getting a pack of their scrummy one a day vitamin pastilles that help support a healthy lifestyle for your child, you get a day out with your child too!!

I was lucky enough to be sent for a soft play session with Layla courtesy of Bassetts Soft & Chewy Vitamins. The process to get your free session is easy, simply head to bassettsvitaminssoftplay.co.uk, enter the 12 digit unique code found on the sticker on the promotional pack, you will then get a voucher emailed to you, you then take this along with the promotional sticker along with you when you attend your session.

Layla enjoyed her time, making her way through the under 5's section and she must have used up a lot of energy because she slept for two hours when we got back home, this is unheard of for her!! It was a stress free day out, the kind I love.

Do you enjoy taking your little one to soft play??

xxxx

Disclaimer : I was sent the vitamins free of charge for reviewing purposes however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Annabel Karmel Quick & easy Toddler Recipes Book review

Recent research deems that British toddlers are amonsgt the fussiest in Europe and with many parents admitting to only being able to cook around seven different meals for their children, it can come as no surprise that so many mums and dads regularly struggle to ge their children to eat.

I would be surprised if you hadn't heard of Annabel Karmel, she herself is a mother of three children and she is the UK's number one parenting author, devising tasty meals for children. She has written  a massive 26 books and has sold over 4 million worldwide.

This busy lady is coming to rescue for many households as she has recently released the first book in her new "Quick & Easy" series, Quick & Easy Toddler recipes. Packed with over 100 full colour recipes that are not only great as part of a healthy balanced diet, they can be made in very little time, hopefully stopping those "mealtime meltdowns".

There will be a recipe for any child in this book covering everything that includes breakfasts, lunches and dinners and those all important snacks inbetween. Really great for the whole family, not just the kids. Including things like burgers, muffins, pancakes and risottos, meal times will not be boring anymore.

Breakfast time is the meal of the day that I struggle with because of having to have the children up, fed and dressed ready for the school run. So it is no surprise really that my favourite recipe out of the book is for Fruit Porridge.

Now my 3 year old has never been the biggest fan of porridge but I thought I would give it a go because it was nice to have to make one thing instead of lots of different meals.

Very simple and speedy to make, it makes for a healthy yet filling breakfast, just what kids need to start their day + it will be perfect for those colder months that are fast approaching.

I adapted the recipe slightly as I needed it to serve four people instead of three but this was again easily done and the end result was four happy customers and yes that did include Gracie.

This recipe has converted her into a lover of porridge, I think the addition of banana might have swayed her slightly.

I love this recipe book. With a RRP of £9.99, not only is it handy for parents, the bright colours inside make it nice for your children to look at too. And if like myself, you have older children, they can help when making the different meals as well. With the added addition of tricks to encourage children to eat and lots of time saving tips such as planning ahead, organise storage and the one meal rule, this is definitely a recipe book you want to have on your book shelf.

Do you have fussy children when it comes to meal times, how do you deal with this??

xxxx



Disclaimer : I was sent this book free of charge for reviewing purposes however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Parragon book Reviews

You read the title right reviews not review. I was contacted by the lovely people at Parragon to see if I would like to review one of their books, I was only expecting one book, so imagine my surprise when a package turned containing not one but four books in it, so I thought I would put all four reviews in one post.

I can't tell you how grateful I was to receive four books to review. It meant that there was one for each of my daughter's to have a look at, no arguing for once.

Parragon is a publishing company that started in the lated 1980's. Although now based in Bath UK,  they have regional offices all over the world. Their main publishing areas are cook books, adult non-fiction, children's books and licenced character books.

The four books we were sent were :

* Goodnight Little One by Margaret Wise Brown

* Peek-a-boo Rainbow which is part of their Little Learners collection

* Pinkabella's sticker activity book

* The Ladies Book of Baking which is part of their Love Food collection.

It was decided that Peek-a-boo rainbow would be Layla's, Goodnight Little One would be Freya's, Pinkabella's sticker activity book would be Gracie's and The Ladies Book of Baking would be Elise's, although they were also told that they had to share their books with their sister's, not that Layla really understood that part, the art of sharing is something she is yet to learn but you are never too young to start learning!!

Layla loved Peek-a-boo Rainbow immediately. It is a gorgeous little book that in my opinion is great for babies and toddlers.

For babies, it is colourful, full of fantastic little pictures, from ladybirds to caterpillars, it really is eye catching.

I especially love that at the top of the book there is what I would describe as a handle. This is very handy for small hands to be able to carry their book around with them.

It can be a great learning tool for toddlers too. Each page gives you a different colour of the rainbow, this means your little ones can slowly learn their colours.

With pictures on each page, you can ask your child what they are looking at, what colour a certain object is, how many of something can they see.

Then there is the added peek-a-boo hole. What can they spy through the hole? There are so many things to keep your little ones interested and best of all you can ask them different questions each time you read the book, keeping it fresh and exciting. Very simple but cleverly put together. This book works well for when your child wants to sit and do something by themselves but it also a lovely book that you can sit and enjoy together.

Gracie like many other children, is a huge fan of stickers. I find them stuck to random places around the house all of the time!!

So Pinkabella's sticker activity book was a perfect fit for her. With 250 stickers inside, this book kept her occupied for hours.

Being pink it was a lovely and girly. I was able to sit down with Gracie and help understand where she needed to place certain stickers. The stickers came in all shapes and sizes and were very easy get out.

I was pleased to see that this wasn't just a sticker book, there were other activities inside to keep Gracie entertained. There were puzzles and pictures to colour.

Her older sister's actually took the time to sit down with her and help her complete the activities, Freya even wrote Gracie's name at the beginning of the book so that everyone knew that it was hers.

Just like Peek-a-boo Rainbow, there was a little handle at the top of the book, Gracie took great pleasure in carrying her book to Nannie's house, gave her a little bit of independence looking after something. Once the book had been completed, there were still stickers left, so the fun didn't stop there. We got lots of paper out so that they could create some pictures of their own with the remaining stickers. Parragon have a lot of other sticker, colouring and activity books to choose from, I think these books would make great Christmas presents.

Freya picked Goodnight Little One by Margaret Wise Brown to be hers.

My little girl is apparently all grown up and since starting school last September, can read most words all by herself so she took herself off to read it by herself.

I finally managed to pry it from her so that I could have a look too!!

The book itself is a lovely size. I like slightly bigger books sometimes and as I see this being read at night time, I think you need it bigger to be able to fully appreciate what you are looking at.

The story isn't too long. The flowing words make it almost sound like a lullaby and the beautiful illustrations that go along with them really bring the book to life, they compliment each other.

I think this book is a perfect bed time story and it can be read to babies, toddlers and children, I feel it is a book that could soon turn into a classic.

The last book was The Ladies Book of Baking, this suited Elise to a T, more because she sound so posh, she is the complete opposite to her mummy, common as muck me.

This is a fab book for anyone that enjoys baking or even for people wanting to try their hand at baking.

With recipes for cakes, biscuits, pastries and much more, you will be able to make something different every week, although I can see my hips expanding with all the yummy things to be made.

Each recipe is presented clearly. You can see exactly what ingredients you need, how many it will serve, how long it will take to make and bake and the method of how to make them is broken down, so even a novice would be able to make these without going wrong some how.

What really makes this book stand out is that there isn't just recipes inside. It tells you how you can present your cakes at things like tea parties, how to make invitations to your party, how to wrap up your cakes and biscuits so that you can give them to people as presents. The girls are looking forward to making a few of the cakes and biscuits during the Summer holidays and I am now thinking about making a few and giving them to people as gifts at Christmas.

Each of these books that I have reviewed I would recommend to different people. Well written, beautifully presented, just all round quality. They have now all found a place on our bookcase!!

Disclaimer : I was sent these books free of charge for reviewing purposes, however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Little Bird Told Me Review

I am always on the look out for different toys for my children, I said in my post yesterday that having all girls can make it difficult to find things to buy for my children because I end up with doubles of everything.

So when I was approached to review one of Little Bird Told Me's items, I was more than a little excited to have something else to play with, I mean for Layla!!

For those of you that haven't heard of this company, let me fill you in. This lovely business consists of a team of nursery specialists who aim to make your little persons world just that bit more special by offering a wide choice of developmental toys that build your child's imagination. From soft toys to rocking horses, all of their toys are originally designed by them, all of which are presented in eco friendly packaging.

I was asked to take a look at the site and pick what I would like to review. After having a good look around, I decided on the Soft Snail Activity Fun House as it looked like something that Layla could enjoy by herself or with myself of her sisters playing with her.

When it arrived, it came with a lovely little catalogue, show casing just what else you can buy from them and believe me I could buy a lot!

I love the packaging, you can see the toy clearly and when you open it up, there aren't loads of tags etc to be undoing and cutting, meaning your child can play with their new toy sooner rather than later!!

It is a great size, measuring 28 x 25 x 15cm, it is big enough for little hands to easily play with it but also small enough to not take up too much room, so easily tidied away somewhere when play time has finished.

I love all of the different colours over the snail, beautiful pastel shades, I actually spent time with my 3 year old getting her to tell me all of the colours she could see. And with the added touch of pictures of flowers and bees on the side too, it really engages your child straight away before they even get a chance to experience all of what this toy has to offer.

There are different textures to the material too, from fleecy, to shiny, to what I would describe as cord. Another thing to stimulate your little one.

This clever snail comes with a set of wooden wheels that velcro onto the bottom of it, so your little one can pull it around the room with them using the lead at the front, which can also be detached when not in use.

The wheels being wooden is great because they don't make that horrible clackety sound that plastic wheels make when they are spinning along the floor.

I love that the wheels are removable because the snail is super soft, so your child could also use it as a cuddly toy too.

The only problem I found though was that the velcro didn't seem to be strong enough because sometimes as my kids were pulling it along, the wheels were falling off because the velcro was coming undone, maybe the velcro strap needs to be made slightly wider??

We have already had hours of fun with the snail because it has so many different features on it.

It's left antennae squeeks when pushed and when the right one is pulled, it plays a lovely little song.

There is a rattling caterpillar living in the house on the snails back, this was immediately chewed and dribbled on, poor little thing but because you can take it out of the house, it is like having a second toy to enjoy.

Inside the roof of the house is a little mirror for your little one to take a look at their reflection or if they are like Layla, then they play a game of peek a boo with themselves.

And I didn't realise until a couple of days ago that there is a door on one side of the house and insdie this door is place for to put a picture of whatever you want inside, I think I am going to get a picture of Layla's sisters printed out to put in there.

This lovely soft toy is priced at £25, which I think is a bargain price. It is made for little ones from six months onwards and with so many activities to do, this toy will be used again and again. It is definitely built to last and another added bonus is that it doesn't need batteries to work!!! The snail is simple yet effective but also a bit different from all of the other soft toys that you see in the shops.

You can also find Little Bird Told Me on facebook and twitter to keep up to date with all their latest news.

Disclaimer : this toy was sent to me free of charge for reviewing purposes, however all thoughts and opnions are my own.

Minene Mibooster Cushion Giveaway

Minene are a lovely company who provide products for babies and toddlers that are comfortable and stylish whilst remaining practical.

Last week I posted a review of their Mibooster cushion, which I found to be useful for both myself and my 3 year old because it allowed her to be more independent, leaving me with my hands free to get on with other things.

I am pleased to tell you that Minene are allowing me to giveaway one of these gorgeous booster cushions to one of my readers.

You could be the lucky winner, all you need to do is fill out the rafflecopter form below. The competition is open to UK residents only and will close at 11.59pm on the 23rd of June 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck everyone

xxxx

ThePrizeFinder - UK Competitions

Minene Mibooster cushion Review

Minene is a wonderful company that was eastablished in 2007. Run by three young mothers, their ultimate goal is to provide both comfort and joy to babies, toddlers and parents too.

The products they offer are stylish whilst remaining well designed and very practical, so I was more than happy when I was asked to review something from their range.

What I was going to receive was kept as a surprise, meaning I was extremely excited when the postman arrived with a nice package from Minene!! What was in it I hear you cry, I was given one of their Mibooster cushions to test out, well I say me, Gracie would be testing this out for me, I'm just writing down what she thinks of it :)

This comfy cushion is suitable for children aged 2 years and upwards and comes in a range of gorgeous colours and prints. We received one in navy with pretty floral patterns. Cleverly designed with slots on one side to put your little ones crayons in, the booster cushion even comes with a set of crayons and colouring book, a really lovely touch.

It is nice and solid, so when sat on it doesn't lose it's shape but it is also well padded, so nice and soft for tiny bottoms to perch on.

It is easily attached to any chair by doing up the two safety straps up underneath the seat, the click when done up is reassuring to hear. The straps have a lot of adjustment to them, so I can see them fitting almost any size chair. The adjustment on the straps allows you to get a nice tight fit, meaning the cushion can't slide around at all.

Gracie couldn't have been more eager to get her bum seated on the cushion. Before she could try it out, we had to put the crayons in the slots. After doing this she proceeded to take them straight back out so that she could make use of her new colouring book!! I am very happy to report that the cushion done it's job well. It allowed Gracie to reach the dining room table with ease, no more sitting up on her knees to eat her dinner, she could finally see what mummy was putting on her plate.

The only problem we had was getting her on it the first couple of times because she had to get herself up onto the chair before she could get her bottom onto the booster cushion, mummy had to give her a little helping hand. However as the saying goes, "practice makes perfect". We decided to help her, we would use her step from the bathroom but my little miss independent decided after a couple of attempts of this that she was too big for a step!!! So a few wobbly attempts later, she was able to get up and down all by herself and I must say she was quite proud of herself too. 

The cover on the cushion can be removed by simply folding the cushion in half as you start to remove it. The cover is machine washable at 30 degrees so you don't need to panic if anything gets spilt or drawn on it, which is bound to happen, I'm 27 and still manage to drop dinner down myself!!

Priced at a very reasonable £25, I would say this is a great investment, it is small enough that you can even take it out with you to restaurants or round other peoples houses. The straps that you do up around the chair can even double up as backpack straps, meaning your child can carry the cushion all by themselves, definitely getting your moneys worth. A great aid for your little ones, encouraging independence but with the added slots for crayons, it keeps it fun as well as practical. Even Gracie's older sisters have been using it too, which shows that it will still get used as your child grows. 

xxxx

Disclaimer : I was sent this item free of charge for reviewing purposes however all thoughts and opinions are my own.