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By Little Mummy, January 28, 2007 1:09 pm

I spotted the Roll & Rhyme Melody Block back in November, and when asked for a present suggestion from Erin’s aunty, it was the first thing to spring to mind.

It’s made by leapfrog who are currently one of my favorite toy makers. Their toys are fun, educational, well-made and provide plenty of ‘game play’. The melody block is a fabric cube with two settings, rhymes and music, which cleverly correspond with the up-facing side. It says it is suitable from birth and I do agree with that, however the optimum age would probably be from 3 months. It is very sensitive and the slightest movement (even by accident) triggers a rhyme or tune. The music is in six, very pleasant, styles; Asian, Latin, Hawaiian, African, Carribean and Classical, it’s so catchy you can’t help but start dancing

As well as the music there is a tactile element too. Each side has a different picture with a new activity ie crinkly mane on the lion, shiny scales on the fish and a polar bear that ‘slides’ back and forth on the ice.

This is a very good toy that Erin enjoys playing with alone and rolling back and forth with Alex or myself.

This toy gets 5/5 and I would highly recommend it.

I just realised this review is so great it sounds like I have been paid, I haven’t (unfortunately!). If you are considering purchasing this I’m happy to answer any questions

Buy Roll & Rhyme Melody Block

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By Little Mummy, January 27, 2007 2:33 pm

A week or so ago I posted asking for help and inspiration for Erin’s impending first birthday where the theme is to be PINK, and boy is there going to be lots of it.

So here is an update of what we have so far;

Invitations

Pink invites have been bought and sent, I think I may have invited too many people, but hey, it’s too late now. I have requested everyone wear something pink, which I hope will get them in the mood for the party games.

Party Games

Pink Pass the Parcel; Pink presents include a princess colouring book, pink erasers, pink sticky notes, pink candy…all wrapped in pink wrapping paper.

Pin the Cherry on the Ice-cream; Thanks to Megin for this idea, I need to get cracking painting an ice cream

Pink Quiz; Questions all having something to do with pink.

Decorations

Pink lightshades (they were only £1), pink balloons, and we will buy a couple helium balloons too.

Food and Drink

Pink lemonade, pink punch. The usual party food with pink wafers and (maybe) dipped strawberries (if I have time). Desert will be ice cream with help yourself toppings and raspberry sauce. We have pink cups and still need to buy pink plates and straws.

So, as you can see, it’s going to be very. very, very pink.

Photo by flickr user cobalt123

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By Little Mummy, January 27, 2007 12:55 pm

I have written an article at GNMParents on the topic of family nights. Please pop over and check it out, if you want to be really great add a comment and join the conversation. Thanks.

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By Little Mummy, January 27, 2007 10:45 am

Erin and I had a spare five minutes so we played a little game which I have called Cups ‘n’ Buttons.

I used stacking cups, but any small tub or dish will do. I took four of the cups and hid a white chocolate button underneath one, mixed them up and let Erin search for her ‘prize’. She loved it, the chocolate and the game!

Buy stacking cups here.

Photo by flickr user niznoz

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By Little Mummy, January 24, 2007 7:49 am

As the title suggests, we have decided the time is approaching for Erin to spread her little wings one morning a week and make some buddies.

We have spent the morning enquiring at four nurseries. One was full, and two others have a minimum session requirement….a minimum session requirement?! The nurseries seem to only be catering for working parents and not parents (like myself) who require some social stimulation for their child and a child-free morning to get things done.

The fourth one we visited was more successful, we’re allowed to do ‘just one morning’ and there should be places available in the summer. We have a meeting at 10.30am tomorrow.

Questions I Plan To Ask (Because all good parents have planned questions!)

1. Ask about daily routine.

2. Ask about discipline procedures.

3. Find out how often they go outside, for walks, on excursions.

4. Ask about staff, age, sex (I think male staff are a real bonus), qualifications and experience.

5. Ask about snack provisions (brochure says healthy, but I’d like to know more).

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By Little Mummy, January 23, 2007 2:59 pm

Have fun painting. Here’s some painting inspiration, and a recipe for making paint.

This is the first time Erin has painted without trying to eat the brush. A breakthrough I think

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By Little Mummy, January 22, 2007 6:28 am

In a recent issue of Practical Parenting they had their awards for baby products, here are my favourites (in case you wanted to know?!)

Nappies

Pampers all the way. I have tried huggies and boots own brand but Pampers remain the favourite.

Nursery Item

The only one that springs to mind is Erin’s plug-in nightlight. It’s a Lindam one that was passed on to me but only costs £7.99. I like it because it’s not too bright and distracting from the activity in hand – Sleep!

Maternity Fashion

My favourite maternity item was a pair of dungarees that came from H&M.

Toys: Baby’s 1st Year

So many to choose from the christmas loot, but, at the moment Erin’s favourites are her Roll & Rhyme Melody Block which was highly commended in the practical parenting awards (watch this space for a toy review) and her baby doll ‘Thomas’.

Baby/toddler Fashion

In my opinion Next have it down. Affordable, fashionable good-wearing clothes. Tesco and sainsbury are also good for value basics.

Baby Food

Cow & Gate plum and apple fruit bars went down pretty well recently

Feeding Equipment

Ikea has great kiddy tupperware. We’ve had this set of bowls since the beginning of weaning. They were only 99p!!

Best Supermarket

Tesco shopping online and delivery service is a life (time?) saver.

Comments (1)

By Little Mummy, January 19, 2007 1:38 am

Here are some more suggestions for developing fine motor skills that are all included as part of your child’s programme to get ready for school:

Cutting
Matching and pasting
Self-care Skills
Tracing and colouring
Pre-writing patterns
Dot-to-dots
Finger tracing and painting

(Nursery & School Guide Edinburgh 06/07)

Cutting

Scissorcraft has plenty of cutting activities for preschoolers, including pumpkins, snowflakes and dragons!

Matching and Pasting

Why not take some close up (head and torso) photos of family members. Cut the photos at the neck and mix them up. Get your child to match the heads with the bodies and stick onto a piece of card. Make it more difficult by cutting into several different body parts.

Self-Care Skills

Practise doing daily activities indepndently, like brushing teeth and washing hands. Try buying a book on the different aspects of self-care.

Tracing and Colouring

There are loads of websites where you can print off pictures to colour in. Here is a good place to start.

Pre-writing Patterns

You can buy workbooks for this, but it’s just as easy to draw patterns, shapes and letters yourself and have your preschooler copy them.

Dot-to-Dots

An activity book is probably the best option.

Finger Tracing and Painting

Finger painting is great fun, make your own paint, it’s safe if they decide to put their fingers in their mouths.

Photo by flickr user fudgecookie18

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By Little Mummy, January 18, 2007 6:37 am

Get the building blocks out and make towers and castles.

Erin being only 11 months played with the blocks in her own way…chewing them and thrusting them at my mouth shouting “Ta” (I have requested a plastic teaset for her birthday!)

Click here for more activity ideas – Activities 2007

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By Little Mummy, January 18, 2007 12:41 am

Welcome to littlemummy.com and the second ever “Festival of Family Flair”. As a contributor at GNMParents I decided it would be nice to host the carnival here every so often. Please, however, check out GNMParents which is an international group blog for parents where everyone is welcome, each day there is an article by a different contributor which can really get the thought juices flowing

On to the festival….

Alejandra presents ‘“When to teach what“

if we know when they can absorb each type of information the best, we can then proceed to teach our children different virtues and abilities at different ages when they are most likely to learn them naturally and easily!

Alejandra’s helpful suggestions of what to teach when is a great way to assess where you are with your own kids and what type of areas you need to concentrate and improve on. At the moment we’re working on manners ie saying ‘ta’ and controlling emotions. I am trying to encourage patience, and learning to turn our anger into something more constructive. I really want to dodge as many terrible-two’s tantrums as possible. How about you, what are you working on at the moment? (Thanks, Alejandra)

Scribbit presents “Creative Family Activities”

When your only meals together are Thanksgiving and Christmas, when the stress of the holidays has taken a toll and you feel as if you’re playing Tag Team Parenting it might be time for a Family Night where everything else get puts on hold for some R & R. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

I particularly like numbers one and five. We’ll definitely try and give Erin some say in holidays and day off activities when she is old enough. What’s your favourite family activity? (Thanks, Michelle)

Karen Shanley presents “The Happy Box“

“Mom I can’t get to sleep,” Cait yells from her bedroom. She’s been in bed for almost an hour.

“What’s the problem?” I yell back from my study.

“I’m having bad thoughts… I’m worried I’m going to have a nightmare.”

This is a great story. I just hope there’s enough space in my happy box, it’s seems so full already What’s in your happy box? (Thanks, Karen)

Zero to Gourmet presents “bad boyfriend pizza/snooty tomato tart“

I actually have a great recipe for a pizza that Gary makes, but I couldn’t find it at the time. So I told her I’d send it to her or post it the next day.

Well, I didn’t. I call that being a bad boyfriend.

So is it bad boyfriend pizza or snooty tomato tart? I’m going with the former! (Thanks, Chara)

Rory from Hamelife presents “Baby Signing – 10 Terrific Signs to Get Started“

Imagine a world without any babies crying. Imagine calm and peace. Okay, well you can forget that. But here’s a big step in the right direction: Signing with your baby.

This is a nice overview of signs for beginners. Rory who just so happens to be a UK resident (where about are you Rory?) really bigs up signing….what does everyonelse think? (Thanks, Rory)

Vacationing with kids presents “Some ideas for when you don’t go anywhere“

Due to the fact that most of my family has been sick, we stayed home this weekend. That does not mean we didn’t have fun though. Here are some ideas for family time in the Fall.

Joanne has had a mini ‘thought shower’ and has come up with four free and fun suggestions for you. (Thanks, Joanne)

The Autumn Rain presents “Lady and Gentlemen…“

What happens when you have three great actors, a super poem, and a sister who’s been reading blog posts on poetry all week? Why, a Poetry Play, of course!

Those costumes look very well put together, a poetry play sounds a lot of fun and educational too. (Thanks, Allison)

Angela at Breastfeeding 1-2-3 presents “How to sew your own nursing pillow, shirt, bra & pumping bra, cloth diapers & more“

Wow, what a wealth of information here. The article is basically a collection of links to make anything and everything. Some are Angela’s own creations others lead onto another site. You don’t need to be breastfeeding to benefit, as, amongst others there are projects on making baby bibs and slings.

Angela says

if you make any one of these projects, please consider sending me a photo of yourself and/or your baby and the finished product to be published on the blog!

Megin presents “Football Food: Making Better Choices“

I am not a football fan. I don’t even pretend to be. I am, however, a big fan of Sunday afternoon get-togethers. Given that it is playoffs (it is, right?) we get together with friends most Sundays. Friends who really like football. We eat and chat and eat and watch the game and eat and watch a commercial, and eat and chat. Yum.

I’m sooo going to make those pitta chips for my daughter’s birthday party! (Thanks, Megin)

Funplaydates presents “Create a Great Angel Craft“

Children have less time now than ever to get out and enjoy the fresh air. So here is an activity that gets the kids outside energetically looking for interesting shapes and gives them a bit of fun.

This is so cute, their example looks great. A nice activity to brighten the dullest winter day. (Thanks, Lori)

And that my friends is instalment two of the Festival of Family Flair. I don’t know about you, but I think the submissions were of a very high standard and completely on topic. Well Done and see you all next week.

Thanks to jahdakine for the use of his photo via Flickr.