Frog Playtent - B&M

K is a little bit obsessed with frogs or Bid-its (his version of ribbit I assume) as he calls them. On a recent trip to B&M, we wandered past the above in its box. "Wow" came the little voice from my side. As it was only £9.99 and therefore cheaper than a playhouse (and more versatile), I bought it.
It is very easy to assemble - it has two rods that fold into sections for storage and unfold quickly. These slot into a series of loops and ties inside the tent on the seams. The ends sit into each corner. The tunnel is secured via two loops and toggles and the frog face by one loop and toggle. The flaps are on velcro. The material is water resistant although obviously the apex of the roof is mesh and therefore not rain-proof!
The material is not very thick so is not suitable for use on patio's etc as it will abrade and tear. We used four foam squares inside as a base to make it more comfortable for K to use, although it was on the grassed area.
It is currently in the lounge, K has been "hidong" in it and has now fallen asleep inside it with a fleece and cushion! The whole thing packs up into a storage bag the same diameter as the frog face so it is also easily transported - we are off to the beach at the end of July and will take it with us as a shelter for K (along with his Koo-di solar shade and some clothes pegs!).
All in all, this was definitely £9.99 well spent, especially as I have seen the same tent elsewhere for double the price!

Two Parrots children's story book

*I received this as an ARC via Netgalley from the publisher, Smith Publicity*. There was some formatting errors in the e-version, on both my Kindle and my Kindle app via Android platform. This affected the first part of the story but not the illustrations. I was able to get the gist however and as I was reading it to my 20 month old (and he can't read!) it did not matter particularly. The story is a classic Persian fable about a merchant who tries to cage his parrot but learns that wild creatures are more beautiful and happy when they are free. The story is sweet and has a good moral to it but where this book really comes into its own is the illustrations. They are breathtaking and for them alone the book is worth buying in print! The originals must have been amazing. Although the story was not of huge interest to K compared to others, he loved looking at the pictures and that makes it a recommendation from us!

Weleda Baby Calendula bath products

It might be something to do with being a mum later in life, but I have some quite strong ideas about things (actually that isn't perhaps too surprising for those who know me!). K's dad suffers from dermatitis and has done for years although it really wasn't helped by his career as a plasterer! As a young child I had eczema although I did outgrow this; now at 44 I am getting diabetic dermatitis, although this is of course driven by the levels of sugar in my blood rather than a true issue within my skin. Nonetheless, we were keen from the outset to do what we could to ensure K had healthy skin. We didn't allow wool products and I was told by the hospital not to wash him with anything other than water for the first few months as even many baby products are too harsh with their lists of chemicals. Although we were given a lot of baby products, a number of these are Johnsons - yes I know, that famous well-known baby brand but I've actually read a lot of articles saying that their products are quite harsh and strip babies skin of its natural oils. I can't comment on whether or not this is true, but I decided it was better to save them for later just in case.
Initially once we started giving K the odd bath and using something in it, we just used the ASDA Little Angels range. Once summer came however, with the applications of sunscreen, more baths were required. I therefore was looking for something extremely gentle yet effective. Additionally, K still had a small patch of cradle cap in his hairline where the last lot of short hair needed to grow through properly (you wouldn't think it if you saw his mophead!). I read about Weleda and not long after noticed it was on offer in Boots. I therefore decided to try it. We got the body lotion, bath/shampoo cream and the bath lotion. They are lovely! I have no sense of smell so can't comment on this aspect but they are wonderfully rich so a little goes a long way. Ks hair is soft and shiny from the shampoo and the cradle cap patch has gone. His little pimples that he was getting from the sunscreen are also gone since we switched to these products. I will definitely be using these for now- even though they look more expensive they are not really if you consider how little you need of each and also how good they are for your baby. Don't get me wrong, ASDA Little Angels is a great range and we did not have any problems with it at all - we will probably use them again in the future for K as he gets older - but for now, this summer, it is definitely Weleda-time in our bathroom!
Please follow this link to look at the full Baby Calendula range:  http://www.weleda.co.uk/baby/baby-bath-care/icat/babybath