Silent Sunday

Toddler Rules

This pretty much sums up toddler rules! It definitely made me laugh so I thought I should share :)

In Flight Indulgences

We are in flight, Ben is snoozing, hubby is watching a movie on his iPad and I'm blogging whilst listening to my tunes and drinking a Starbucks espresso (Starbucks = big win for easy Jet in my mind) . This four hour plus flight will have been the longest I have sat down in one place since well, I can't remember when. The great thing is there is no guilt about sitting down indulging in music and writing either, especially while Ben is asleep - ahhhh!

I have to say I love flying, there is something about looking out the window of the plane and seeing beautiful fluffy cotton wool clouds and the blueness of the sky above them - it makes me drift off and with that I leave you these pictures..

The Gallery: Faces

This weeks theme for The Gallery is Faces so I give you my two favourites.

This is the face of the most important man in my life.

This is the face of the most important little boy in my life.

On their own and together these faces make me happy, they make me smile.

 

The faces of my family, I love them.

Spooky Playtime iPhone / iPad App Review and Spooktacular Competition

If you have read Ben's Top Halloween iPhone / iPad Apps post you will have seen that one of the apps featured is Spooky Playtime Lite by Bombing Brain Interactive which is a free app. The full version of this is Spooky Playtime which has an additional five games to choose from along with the option to download a fantastic colouring book which you can print out and is guaranteed to keep your little ones entertained in the run up to Halloween.

Seven Spooktacular Games to Choose from

The games are really clever with one where Joey and Zoey turn into junk food zombies and you have to feed them healthy food so they will feel better and turn back into healthy children. I love this idea, it's fantastic and one which I have not seen before in an app, such a novel way to teach kids the difference between healthy and junk food and the effects eating it can have on you. Ben quickly got the hang of feeding the zombies apples, pears, bananas and grapes instead of the pizza and burgers available.

Feed the Junk Food Zombies

Other games include one where you have to wake the bats in the Bat Cave so that you can help them play a spooky tune by selecting the keys to play - great for teaching young children the concept of musical notes. The game Trick or Treat requires you to select particular shaped or coloured treats and this differ each time you play the game which is great for reinforcing different shapes and colour recognition. Billy Bones is a cool puzzle game where you have to put a skeleton back together which Ben had lots of fun doing this - he loves puzzle games and had a good laugh at the funny wobbly skeleton. There is also a game where you have to complete a spiders web by joining up numbers or letters in the correct sequence which on completion sees the spider switch on the music on an iPod and kick start a party - fun and educational and will definitely bring a smile to both your and your child's face.

Billy Bones Puzzle

Start the Party with the Spider :)

The music and graphics throughout the games are fantastic and fun - kids will love playing it and I caught Ben having a little dance to it the spooky tunes. A great app for getting you into the Halloween mood while also being educational.

Ben feeding bananas to the Junk Food Zombies

Spooky Playtime is available to download from the AppSore for £1.99 and is compatible with the iPhone and the iPad. The app is targeted at children from two to six years.

Now for the good news - I have two promocodes up for grabs for this app. If you would like to win you will have to be quick and leave me a comment telling me your favourite halloween character along with a way to contact you (email or twitter id). I do ask if you are leaving your twitter id you follow me on twitter so that I can DM you if you win. For a bonus entry tweet I want to win @BombingBrain Spooky Playtime app with @mmeeee http://bit.ly/t3BOmD. This competition is running for a short time only and is closing at 5pm tomorrow Wednesday 26th October 2011 so please don't delay in entering.

*** This competition is now closed - Thank you all for entering ***

*Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. I received a promocode to review this app and two more promocodes to give as prizes. This has in no was biased my opinion - it is a fantastic fun, educational app perfect for kids for Halloween!

A Simple Pleasure Rediscovered

Last Sunday was the first time since before Ben was born that I hooked myself up to my iPhone earphones and listened to my music whilst out walking with my sleeping toddler. This might sound insignificant to most but to me it was a memorable moment. It suddenly dawned on me that I had forgotten how much I loved doing this.

Pre-Ben I was one of those people always wired up to an iPod when commuting and walking everywhere and anywhere, blocking out the hustle and bustle around and escaping into my tunes. I guess when Ben was born I just stopped, afraid it was neglectful to have my hearing disrupted by the music flowing through my earphones. Silly I know, especially as Ben has a parent facing stroller and I can keep an eye on him at all times. I am so glad I have rediscovered this simple little pleasure - there is something really nice about listening to music while out walking and I love it!

Silent Sunday

Ben's top Halloween iPhone / iPad Apps

Happy Halloween postcard created using Jack-o-ween

To get in the mood for Halloween and all things spooky I give you my pick of Halloween themed iPhone / iPad apps for kids.

Dress Jack-o-ween by Punflay is a fun app that allows you to create your own pumpkin by selecting the shape, face, accessories and background for your pumpkin and also lets you add a spooky message from a list or by recording your own. You then have the option to email your creation as a postcard or save it to your photo album. Ben loves playing this app, we have created lots of scary pumpkins with his favourite being the pirate pumpkin who says Boo! This app is free to download and is definitely a bit of fun for Halloween.

Ben busy creating his pumpkin with Dress Jack-o-ween

Add Spooky message to your Jack-o-ween pumkin

The next app is Kids Halloween Flashcards by eflash Apps which is perfect for introducing Halloween words to little ones. Ben is now fully versed in all things Halloween thanks to this. This app is free to download from the AppStore for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

Ben loves colouring apps so Halloween Colouring Book by Peep Software is a big hit with him. We tested a few colouring apps before settling on this as our favourite as it has more toddler-friendly features than the others including the option to auto-fill, select 'inside the line' colouring along with a great choice of images which can be saved to the in-app Gallery, your Photo Library or emailed. Ben and I have had a lot of fun with this app and have created some truly spooktastic pictures :). This app is free to download from the AppStore for the iPhone and iPad.

A picture in progress using Halloween Colouring Book app

Ace Math Halloween by Brain Counts is a fantastic educational Halloween themed app which uses spooky images to visually teach children how to add and subtract. As each level is completed a monster prize is unlocked and the monster prizes can be played with. The maths questions get more challenging as the levels are completed which is great for helping children improve their maths skills in a fun way which they will love. Ben, who is two years old, enjoys playing this and is more than capable of counting and subtracting the pictures to solve the maths problems on the easy levels.  This app is free to download from the AppStore and is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

Ace Math Halloween

The final app I want to tell you about is Spooky Playtime Lite by Bombing Brain Interactive which has two fun games to choose from. The first called Haunted House where you have to match pairs of Halloween themed images including ghosts, witches and so on. The second is Pumpkin Patch which is Ben's favourite where you have to catch a certain number of cats as they pop up out of pumpkins. This is another app which guarantees a bit of Halloween fun for your little ones. Spooky Playtime Lite is free to download from the AppStore for the iPad, iPhone and iPad touch. A full version which features seven games is also available to purchase for £1.99.

Haunted House Matching game

Pumpkin Patch Catch the Kitties game

I hope you enjoy our choice of spooky apps and have a Happy Halloween!

*Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. All apps featured here are free to download from the AppStore - perfect to keep your little ones entertained over the Halloween break

Fancy Dress Outfitters Halloween Costume Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered my Fancy Dress Outfitters Halloween Costume Competition. The winner chosen at random is Tina Holmes (@supermommy1983) whose favourite costume is the Harry Potter one. Please email me or send me a DM on twitter with your postal details and your choice of costume and age required and I will arrange to get it sent out to you. (please check it is in stock on the site). Happy Halloween!

Review of Lingo Zoo iPhone / iPad app

Lingo Zoo from Mindshapes is definitely one of Ben's top iPad apps at the moment which he plays over and over again. This app is a fun animal puzzle game which young children are sure to love and the great thing is it also teaches them basic animal names in both English and Spanish.

When you load the app you select an animal which then appears as a jigsaw-like puzzle. When completed the animal sound is made and it's name spoken in both English and Spanish. This app is aimed at children aged three to five but Ben, who is just two really enjoys playing it. There are various levels including Farm, Underwater, Safari, Flower Garden, Outback and Jungle, as you complete one level a new one gets unlocked. Ben loves all the animals and is getting really fast at doing the puzzles.  Below is a clip of Ben doing one of the puzzles.

This is the kind of app that will keep toddlers entertained for hours with it's fun graphics and animal sounds while teaching them animal names in both languages and improving their fine motor skills. Lingo Zoo is available to download from the AppStore for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad and costs 99p.

*Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. I received a promo code to review this app but this has in no way biased my opinion - it is a fantastic educational and fun app young children will love. 

The Things They Say

It was one of those late nights last night with a wide awake Ben not sleeping. Both my husband and I were feeling a bit frustrated by it and said as much to which Ben suddenly piped up "Sorry Mummy, Sorry Daddy, Sorry!" in the cutest little voice. It's very hard to stay annoyed with Ben for long.

Princes Breakfast Hamper Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered the Princes Breakfast Box competition. The winner of the competition chosen at random is Nikki Morgan. Congratulations Nikki, it's a great prize - I hope you enjoy it as much as we have! Please email me or send me a DM to @mmeeee on twitter with your postal address so we can get your prize sent out to you.

Silent Sunday

Saturday is Caption Day

Can you think of a caption for this photo?

You can then check out some more fab entries for Saturday is Caption Day over at Mammasaurus blog by clicking the badge below. Happy Saturday!

Halloween Costume Review and Competition

I had just been thinking about Halloween costume ideas for Ben when *ping* an email from Fancy Dress Outfitters arrived in my inbox asking if I would like to review some children's costumes so needless to say I was delighted. I had a look at their site and I was well impressed by the selection, there really is something for everyone from a cute Baby Smurf to a Crazy Spider costume.

Ben has just turned two and mostly wears age two in clothes now so I wasn't sure about what size costume I should pick but in the end I went for the Monster costume in age 1-2 and the Cutie Skeleton in age 3-4. There was much excitment when they arrived and Ben saw what the package contained.

There were lots of "Wows" when Ben saw what had arrived

I was instantly delighted with my choices, the Monster costume fits Ben perfectly and is big enough to go over his clothes but I think we will have to wait until next year for the Skeleton to fit. There are lots of extra details in the costumes that you don't fully appreciate by looking at the pictures online like the little Frankie badge on the Monster jacket and the pretend stitching on the jacket and trousers. The jacket also has little shoulder pads which give it a great effect. I love how the Monster costume comes with shoe covers and the headpiece is fantastic with two silver coloured bolts just like Frankenstein's monster, however Ben is one of those toddlers who is never very happy wearing a hat so I'm not sure he will keep it on too long nevertheless the costume looks great without it as well. I like the fact the costumes are made out of a light material which children will find easy to wear, have velcro ties which makes them easy to put on and they are not restrictive as Ben well and truly put to the test by doing his usual climbing up on the table and running about so I can definitely say they are perfect for active toddlers and children alike!

Ben doing a scary monster impression

My little monster relaxing in his costume

Little Charley Bear kindly agreed to model the headpiece for me

The great news is that Fancy Dress Outfitters are offering you the chance to win either a boy's or girl's costume of your choice*. To enter all you have to do is pop over to their site and pick the one you would like to win (preferably one that is currently showing as in stock) and leave me a comment telling me which costume is your favourite along with your contact details (twitter id / email). For a bonus entry tweet "I want to win a Halloween costume from Fancy Dress Outfitters with @mmeeee http://bit.ly/pWM4RJ" The competition closes at 2pm on Friday the 21st October 2011 so get your entries in quick! UK Entries only.

*Please note the costume of choice is subject to availability - if your selected costume is out of stock you will be asked to choose a different one.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. I received costumes for review but this has in no way biased my opinion - they really are great costumes for Halloween and other fancy dress events.

Ben's Latest Love

Ben loves to help me around the house, although I'm not sure if 'help' is the right term as it sometimes ends in disaster but it won't go into that here. His latest obsession is the Dyson which he has told me he "loves" and has taken to "huggling" and saying it is "nice".

Ben with his 'nice' dyson

'Huggles'

innocent Tweet and Eat

Have you heard about the discount scheme which innocent have launched for their veg pots called Tweet and Eat? "If not you will love what I am about to tell you, basically it's a campaign by innocent that is based on collective buying power - the more people that tweet, the bigger the discount innocent will offer for a veg pot which ranges from 50p to a free pot. It's a simple yet brilliant idea and all you have to do is spread the word to get more and more people tweeting about it which means the tweet-o-meter gets pushed higher and everyone saves more and more on a veg pot each day by downloading a voucher from the innocent site.

Personally I love the veg pots but in these price conscious times where everyone is watching the pennies that bit more I find them a little expensive at full price so #tweetandeat is, in my opinion fantastic! My favourite out of the eight varieties has to be the Portuguese red pepper piri piri, it's such a yummy spicy way to get three portions of your daily veg.

So what are you waiting for? Go on get tweeting #tweetandeat - you can do it straight from here and don't forget to start telling everyone you know to do so too and we might all get a free lunch!

The veg pots are widely available from Waitrose and selected Tesco and Sainsburys stores and normally cost about £3.79.

*Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. I received vouchers for free veg pots in exchange for a post but this has in no way biased my opinion I think this is a great campaign and I am happy to spread the word about it on my blog.

Toddlerdom

Ben has always been pretty good at saying "Ta Ta" when he is given something but yesterday he really surprised me by turning around and saying "Thank you!". I was a little taken aback to be honest and a tiny bit disappointed that his baby words are on the way out which signals that my little son is no longer a baby *sigh*. I finally have to admit he is a fully fledged, very willful but wonderful toddler. This in turn started me to question what age a toddler is still a toddler and when exactly are they considered a little boy or little girl so I consulted google and here is what I found.

According to Wikipedia, A toddler is a young child, usually defined as being between the ages of one and three. I have to say I am pleased that Ben can still officially be termed a toddler - I am only just getting used to him no longer being a baby and yes, I do know according to this he has been a toddler for over a year already but it has taken me awhile to accept it. As I read on I found this article really interesting. I am a firm believer that children do things at their own pace and hit the expected milestones when they are good and ready but I also think it is important to be aware of the expectations and I have to say the overview table in this wikipedia article sums it up well so it is definitely worth a look if this is something of interest to you.

It is crazy how fast and how much babies and toddlers learn and achieve in their first few years, no wonder they need at least one nap during the day! I have found when you are around your little one everyday, it is sometimes easy to take what they are doing for granted and not always recognise that they are actually exhibiting increased development in areas and little things like hugging a teddy to show affection is an emotional development milestone, as sorting toys is a mental milestone and turning pages in a book is a physical one. There is so much happening so quickly - it really is a very special and exciting time.

I love playing with Ben and watching how he plays with his toys. I have noticed recently that the way in which he plays with some of the toys he has had since he was about a year old has changed quite a lot. He now wants to tell stories with them, it is like his imagination has sprung into action and he puts things from various play sets together and there is a lot more fantasy play. His plastic Upsy Daisy makes imaginary cups of tea and cakes in his rocketship kitchen for us while the little rubber duck bath toy rides up and down the lift of his whizz around garage. He has created a little jungle on our lounge window sill where his giraffe munches on my bonsai tree, the hippo observes and the lion roars. There is no limit to Ben's imagination and everyday there is a new fun fantasy world created. I love it!

Ben and his jungle

Wordless Wednesday

Review of Bunny Fun: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes iPhone / iPad App

Bunny Fun: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes by the very talented author and illustrator Rosemary Wells is another great app from Auryn Inc in association with Fourth Story Media. This app brings the classic and well loved children's song Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes to life not only in English but Spanish, French and Japanese, which is in my opinion a very clever feature of this app as it gives children the opportunity to learn the song in all of these languages. You also have the ability to personalise it and record your own voice which I think is a great feature and you and your child can have a lot of fun doing so.

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

According to Rosemary her inspiration for, and reason behind creating this app was her twin granddaughters “I wanted to make an app that could not be done as a book. When I saw my twin granddaughters singing ‘Heads, Shoulders’ in Japanese I said, ‘That should be an app!’ And now it is.”. Young children will love the cute little bunny rabbit character which Rosemary has created and enjoy singing along with him. There are two modes, one where the bunny dances to Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes pointing out the various body parts while the names are displayed on screen. The other mode is more interactive and allows you to touch the screen to select the various body parts, the name is then said and the words appear on screen which is great for teaching the names of body parts and their spellings to young children. In addition when you touch the bunny's tummy (or "tickle it" as Ben says) he laughs which Ben loves.

Interactive mode in French

Sing along mode in Japanese

On first glance this app seems like a simple app where a bunny sings "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" but there is more to it than just that. It not only enables a child to learn the song in four different languages hence learning the names of body parts in English, Spanish, French and Japanese but as the bunny dresses in clothes representative of each country and the background reflects the country itself, (for example, the Eiffel tower in France and a piñata in Spain) it teaches children to identify different countries by their traditional dress, landmarks, symbols and so on. Personally I think this is really rather clever.

Spanish version - note the traditional dress & pinata

Ben really enjoys playing this app and switching between the different languages. He likes the interactive mode which allows him to select the different body parts and as already mentioned he loves to make the bunny laugh. He has yet to start naming his head or toes in Japanese but I am sure he will any day now as children Ben's age really are like little sponges, soaking up new words at such an unbelievably fast rate.

Ben enjoying playing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Bunny Fun: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes is available to download from the AppStore for just 69p for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. It is a fun educational app young children are sure to love.

*Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. I received a promo code to download this app but this has in no way biased my opinion - Ben has had a lot of fun playing it.

Review of Kitchen Monsters iPhone / iPad App

I had never heard of Kitchen Monsters, which is a fantastic online cooking club for kids before I was asked to review their iPhone app Kitchen Monsters - Cooking for Kids. I must say I think it is a great idea and is a fantastic way to get kids involved in cooking. The online club itself is ideally suitable for boys and girls between the ages of four and ten and you can choose between two different levels of memberships which includes various things such as a Kitchen Monsters branded kids apron,‘Kitchen Monster in Training’ certificate, activity poster, reward stickers, monthly cooking challenge, monthly Kitchen Monsters e-newsletter, Kitchen Monsters Graduation e-certificate at the end of the year. The site also has a range of kid friendly recipes available to try. Kitchen Monsters, in my opinion is a really fun way to teach kids cooking skills which I think it is great!


The app contains thirty five recipes divided into six categories including Baking, Breakfasts, Dinners, Desserts, Drinks and Soups and there is definitely something for everyone and every skill level from easy to make Top Hats, Crunchy Quesadillas to Scottish Cranachan with each recipe featuring a Fascinating Fact. Kids will love choosing a new recipe to try. Other nice features included in the app are a Timer, very handy conversion tool and the Kitchen Monsters Code of Safety to ensure young children are aware of how to keep safe while cooking.

I really like this app, it has given me inspiration for lunch and diner ideas already on many occasions along with being the source of fun baking ideas to do with Ben who is a big fan of the Gingerbread Biscuits. The timer and conversion tools are also a great inclusion and come in very useful! I like how you have recipes, timer and conversion tools all available and easy to access on your iPhone or iPad with it. This is definitely an app worth checking out - both you and your children will have a lot of fun with it.


Kitchen Monsters - Cooking for Kids is available to download from the AppStore for £1.49 and is compatible with the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

*Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. I received a promo code to download this app in exchange for a review but this has in no way biased my opinion it is a great app worth checking out.