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

Bathtime Buddies Foam Alphabet

I got K these in May. We were doing our shopping in Sainsburys and K was loose (rarely wants to be in the trolley seat these days!). He was already obsessed with the alphabet by this point and raced up to these (in the shower gel aisle) whilst I was looking for shower products for me. They were only a few pounds so I got them for him. They come in a tub with a perforated lid. The alphabet is repeated with plenty of key letters so you can realistically spell out quite a lot with them. They stick well to our bath and tiles when wet and are a good size for K to use. The tub does suggest that by placing them back in it upside down, the water drains out etc. My experience is that unless they are completely dry before they go back into the tub, they become mouldy sadly. So ours are now sat in the sink, waiting for me to get around to scrubbing them all, as I won't let K play with them covered in black mould spots, given he puts them in his mouth! So generally a good product, with this one drawback!

VTech Toot Toot Drivers

K got the garage and deluxe tracks and some extra vehicles for his first birthday. Initially he liked the singing vehicles and liked the interactive buttons on the garage but the track was confined to the toychest as he just lobbed it about the lounge. He is now 20 months and is loving the track - putting it together in various combinations, using it to practice colours, putting it away in its bag (easier than the box). He drives the cars around and was lucky enough to get the fire engine as well as the Press and Go Launcher at Christmas. We have just added the airport to the set, with the train station on its way.
The garage is very sturdy and has tolerated his sitting on it, being thrown by another child at his birthday party and generally knocked about. The airport is less sturdy and we are a little concerned about the bit that sticks out (you put the plane on it and then use the antenna on the roof to make it circle the airport) although it has been designed to bend both ways so it might just be us worrying! It is ok so far after all! There is a platform where the plane or other vehicles can fill up with fuel and it is interactive with a moving nozzle/pump (unlike the petrol bit on the garage which is not interactive other than the smartpoint). There is also a windvane but it only spins if you make it do so, which is a shame - it would be fabulous if it could be switched on to spin.
The tunes that the cars sing are catchy and the tunes will be familiar. The garage sings "ABCD watch out for the traffic lights" which led to K singing ABCD on repeat!
We are looking forwards to the train station arriving as we have seen it in action at a friend's house and K liked it. My only complaint so far with this range is that the tracks are missing some vital angled shapes in order to join all the components together - we have not yet been able to run tracks out from all 4 points on the garage and have them join up as we are always missing a very narrow wedge shape!!
Other than this, we are really pleased with this range and are excited to see the new toot toot animals range coming out - can't wait to see these physically as K loves animals and I am sure will love these!
Please see the range here: http://www.vtechuk.com/vtech-baby/toottootdrivers/