04/05/201226/03/2018 by jo

iPod vs iPad and games

I previously mentioned my new iPod Touch – I had a second generation one and was starting to find I was out of date with apps – and with a toddler who is starting to show more interest in learning and playing games, this was not a good thing – plus I had a load of Amazon vouchers which need spending!

I’d been following a few groups where everyone alerts each other when a game is free – and saving up the apps for when I got some updated Apple gadgetry.

My fantastic friend Jos has given us her old iPad – so within a week we have a brand new iPod Touch and a 1st generation iPad – and all of a sudden a whole new world has opened to us – the world of apps.

I’ve bought for myself in the past and haven’t thought about games for H – but there’s so much good stuff out there at the moment – and the majority of it is educational too, so from time to time we’re going to review apps we love.

Actually, as well as the iPad and iPod, we both have Android phones. Mine is stuck in a vintage Android system, but Shaun’s runs on 2.2 or something higher, so can do more modern things with it – and we’ve already got a few games we’re testing.

Funimal Phonics on the iPod

Over at Mummy’s Space there was a giveaway for a fabulous app by School of Happy called ‘Funimal Phonics’. We played this for a while on the iPod Touch, not realising just how great it is – and found it lovely – english accents and beautiful clear graphics too (there is a US accent option).

But then! We loaded it onto the iPad and everything was so much larger and clearer – each animal moves, you get to hear the letter it begins with, as well as the name. We’re really impressed – but even more so H loves it too. I love you can feed a carrot to the rabbit and flick a switch to watch a bubble in the X-Ray Fish.

H is learning more animals and on one of her first plays had already corrected the game “No Mummy, O is for Owl!” and so on… it’s a game we’ll be playing for a while – and one H picked up immediately. H is two and a half and while her speech is excellent there’s words she needs to work on – this is perfect for that – and it’s something she can control.

Funimal Phonics is out now, and costs £1.49 from the app store.

03/05/201206/01/2015 by jo

Mia Tui iPhone/iPod Purse

Mia Tui iPhone/iPod purse

Okay, so the most irresistable offer landed in my Twitter feed on Monday from that wicked Rachel lady (you know the one, she persuaded me to buy bags – she’s always right, and is very wise, she knows me too well!) – Mia Tui are selling their iPod/iPhone cases for £5 – they’re normally £12.99.

I bought myself a new iPod Touch for my birthday, and got a lovely retro cassette type case for it – but it didn’t feel completely protected, and I’m not 100% happy with it – how I wish I’d bought this from the start. It’s the perfect size, but most importantly of all, now iPod Touch players have a camera, there’s a correctly positioned hole, so I’ll never need to take it out of the holder!

inside the purse, with iPod Touch inside!

There’s a suitably sized gap at the bottom to recharge it, and there’s also space for three cards and receipts I’ll no doubt pick up along the way – and if I really wanted to pose I could pretend I’ve got an iPhone (well quite frankly anything would be better than my current Sony Ericsson Experia X8 right now…).

I bought the black case which matches my Mia Tui bags perfectly and once again I’m impressed with the quick delivery, and the fantastic price – so another huge thumbs up from me – my iPod is really well protected.

If you do go for the purse, don’t forget I’ve a Mia Tui code you can use for your first order!

30/04/201206/01/2015 by jo

Moba Moses Baskets

How cool are these? I love the colours, and they’re so much more interesting than your average moses basket! Moba are set to launch in the UK in Summer 2012.

The Moba Moses Basket has been updated to suit modern standards of quality and safety – and is a safe and cosy place for your baby to sleep.

It’s designed and made in the UK and cleverly combines a contemporary, ergonomic design with practicality. It’s extremely chic, eco-friendly, hygienic, fully ventilated and very light to carry (which is pretty important in those early days).

Because it’s made from smooth recyclable material with special soft touch handles, the Moba is tough, safe and very durable and is built to last. It also comes with additional safety features to maximize air flow and breathability – and comes with a recommended retail price of £89.99.

Find Moba here, and also on Facebook & Twitter

27/04/201226/03/2018 by jo

Nippaz With Attitude – A Giveaway

I started my current job (working for a group of record labels) in 1999 – one of the labels A&R people was Ian McLaren – he left, and after a while word got back that he’d started his own company making extremely cool baby clothes. We knew it would be really cool company as we knew Ian, and his attention to detail – he’d worked for Beggars for many years as well as running his own label in that time. You know when you know? (plus when he came to visit he’d had metal business cards made!)

Nippaz With Attitude was born in 2001 out of an irrational fear and loathing of baby and toddlerwear covered in bunnies & bears – as well as an almost religious love of graphic design and cultural shoplifting – Ian is a man with an unhealthy obsession with good typography, terrible puns, tattooing and sunshine.

These days Ian lives in Brazil where he still does all the designs and sends them over to the UK where, it being a very small world, it happens one of his friends runs Nippaz for him, who again is one of my old music friends – Leza! All the production; manufacturing and printing is all made right here in the UK helping to keep other small companies like Nippaz in business.

Nippaz brings you cool clothes, or rather in their words, clothes for ‘little gangstas, punks, rockers and ravers’ – indeed I believe Nippaz were the first to do the BA/BY AC/DC style tops way back when Kate Moss’s girl was little and Madonna’s also was… Jack White’s kids wear Nippaz, all the cool kids do.

There’s more than just cool clothes there – there’s music too (lullaby versions of all the music you never thought you’d hear done that way), some cool toys (how ace is the rock hand?)and books and some extremely cool wall art.

So it’s with great sadness in my heart that the coolest t-shirt of all has been launched, and H is TOO BIG to fit in it. Now, if you’re getting the idea of what Nippaz is about – check this out – and if you love Sonic Youth, then you’ll get it immediately.

How utterly fantastic is this?

How about some Tupac Shakur inspired clothing then?

Even better than that, Nippaz are giving this months competition prize – you can choose any item of baby clothing for free – just enter using Rafflecopter below – good luck! You’ve got until the 18th May 2012.

Continue reading →

27/04/201218/02/2014 by jo

We Love Books – My First Justin’s Jokes – Justin Fletcher

Okay, so Justin Fletcher as we know, rules tv, in particular Cbeebies where it is impossible to avoid him (and why would you anyway?).

Having said that, he’s also holding strong in the album chart with his ‘Hands Up’ album, which went Top 20 on release (and still gets regular plays on the stereo here at home).

There’s the ‘Something Special’ magazine which is still going strong, plus plenty of books for older kids…

My First Justin's Jokes by Justin Fletcher

What could Justin possibly do next? Oh, just an utterly excellent joke book, that’s what!

It arrived in the post today, and was eagerly ripped open by.. me. I am a woman of few jokes, but my jokes I’ve carried with me through the years are ones that I’ll continue to take with me – and they’re BOTH IN THE BOOK. My sense of humour is obviously not as advanced as I thought.

Now, H is two and a half (going on twenty-two and a half), so we had our next hurdle to conquer – explaining jokes. I wasn’t sure how she’d react, as Christmas Cracker jokes were just a bit too advanced last year but actually, this book is just right. There’s a few jokes that she’ll get as her vocabulary improves, but on summing up the book, she got ‘Knock Knock’ quite quickly (and even started inventing ones of her own), her own personal favourite (we repeated it 15 times) is ‘Why does a giraffe have a long neck? Because his feet smell!’ – so nothing too taxing, but enough she understands why it’s funny.

Every page has Justin in a different costume (mostly in cartoon form with a photo of his face), and she did spend a bit of time saying “ooh, silly Justin, what’s he doing now?” and having a good giggle about it.

My First Justin’s Jokes is available to preorder now at Amazon, and will be released on the 3rd May 2012. ISBN 978-0-571-28823-6, published by Faber and Faber.

I was sent a copy to review, and all opinions are my own (and H’s!).

EDIT – We have a copy to give away in a competition – stay tuned…. we’ll get it up as soon as we can!

23/04/201201/01/2019 by jo

We Love Books – The Sound of Music Family Scrapbook

The Sound Of Music Family Scrapbook It’s no secret my favourite film of all time is The Sound of Music. It’s a film I’ve grown up with – from wanting to be Marta or Gretl to being so old that if I wanted to be a character now I’d have to be a nun.

My first wedding anniversary was spent in Salzburg (my husband is a good man) – and yes, we did the tour. I will also happily admit to having at least three copies of the film… so yes, a fan.

I’ve also a fine collection of books relating to the film (and the real-life Maria Von Trapp), so I was pretty excited when it was announced last year that the seven actors and actresses who played the Von Trapp children would be releasing a book of their memories from the film. There’s a lot of information out there – and indeed most of the ‘children’ have their own websites with memories and photos – so what can this book offer that’s not already out there?

SO MUCH MORE.

The Sound Of Music Family Scrapbook - inside Oh my. You know when you get a book and it’s been put together with love? Where the littlest things are shared but make you feel a part of it? That’s this book. It’s one I’ll have to keep out of my daughter’s way until she’s old enough to appreciate it (and wants to be Gretl), as within the book of memories (and some photos which have never been seen before) there’s a DVD of their (being Charmian Carr, Nicholas Hammond, Heather Menzies, Angela Cartwright and Debbie Turner) home movies from 1964 (which I shall be watching later on), and four fold out envelope-type pages with various bits (called ‘facsimile items’) the cast have saved – we’re talking letters to home from a 5-year-old Kym Karath (Gretl), a plane ticket to and from Salzburg to film. I’m a bit of a hoarder and this kind of stuff is something I can really appreciate – it’s an insight into the kinds of things that went on behind the scenes and how well everyone got on.

The Sound Of Music Family Scrapbook - facsimile items If you’ve followed anything to do with the film, then it’s no secret the seven actors are all still in touch and remain close. This book brings their sense of togetherness – how they were all there for each other when there’s been heartbreaking things happening in real lives, as well as the happier moments.

This isn’t the kind of book you’d sit and read in one sitting – it’s one you’d keep dipping in and out of (is this what a ‘coffee table book’ is? Damn.) – with each individual ‘child’ giving their history and what happened after the film.

At the moment the book is unreleased in the UK. I’ve no idea why. I’ve no idea where my husband bought it (probably Amazon), but I have it, and I treasure it – if you love The Sound of Music, then chances are you’ll treasure it too. One day H will also grow to treasure it, but maybe when she’s a bit older. I wouldn’t want to have my facsimile items all coloured in one day…

We Love Books at Mum Friendly

19/04/201226/03/2018 by jo

We Love Books – I Spy

My child-of-the-seventies and living that through H resurrected itself last weekend when we made a trip to Hatchlands Park, and went into the National Trust shop. There on the shelf in front of me was a row of I Spy books – which I have to say, excited me a bit too much.

H is only two and a half, so they’re probably still a bit advanced for her, but that didn’t stop me buying another book on Amazon which arrived this week – so now we have I Spy in the Garden and I Spy in the Car. H is an inquisitive toddler, and while it’s not the kind of book we’d read together, it has the kind of things she’d spot on a journey in the car and be excited about – so it made sense to get her something which rewards her for spotting them.

At £2.50 for each book they’re not breaking the bank, and yep, there’s still the chance to get a certificate and badge in the back (as long as your 1000 points are independently verified by a responsible adult), which of course these days is delivered by email.

All you need to do is spy the relevant things and add the date to the book – so I suspect we’ve got a few years of use to come – although on Day One H did say “I’d like to colour in my new book” – so let’s hope it lasts…

I Spy books were apparently relaunched in 2009, but I was too busy being a new mum to notice – keep an eye out if you want something to occupy your easily distracted toddler too!

12/04/201226/03/2018 by jo

Peaks Of London Breastfeeding Dresses

I breastfed H for almost two and a half years, and in that time often found myself feeling quite frumpy and wishing I had a bit more style about me. I’ve always been a jeans and t-shirts kind of girl, but there were occasions where I wanted to dress up a bit, and feel a bit more special.

Peaks Of London have some really stylish dresses and tops which fit the bill – and even better, they aren’t the kind of designs you’d stop using once you stop feeding.

All their designs have discreet panels so you can feed easily when you need to, my own personal favourite is the Apron Breastfeeding Dress. At £195 it isn’t cheap, but looking at the design it also isn’t the kind of dress you’d stop wearing once you’ve finished feeding – the stretch is curve-enhancing, while the waist adjusts to your waist size.

Peaks of London supports UK factory mills, every item is manufactured in London, with minimal packaging and not much waste. Check them out, as they’ve said, many people have commented and said “what a lovely outfit” rather than “what a lovely breastfeeding top”.

Find them on Facebook.

This is a Sponsored Post.

12/04/201226/03/2018 by jo

We Love Books – Topsy & Tim

I am going to write-up a lot more about Topsy and Tim very soon, as the books are one of the rare occurrences where I read them as a young ‘un, only to find H is now reading them with just as much enthusiasm.

But! Did you know there’s still new books being released? The illustrations are new modern ones though Topsy still has her familiar pigtails, but these days T&T are very much small children of these times and are just as popular as they were in my day.

The Book People had a set of the books, twelve in all for a really good price, and given my addiction for buying books, we splashed out. The books were a hit, so we added more to the collection. There really is a book for almost every occasion you could think of (‘Safety First’ is good for warning about dangers, and ‘Itchy Heads’ has been updated and is very useful should headlice enter your world), it’s written in a way which your little one can relate to, and if they’re anything like H when you’ve got to the fifth reading of the same book, there’s still plenty to talk about on the page and spot on the pictures each read.

Oh, and then there’s also my addiction for car boot sales, where I’ve picked up some 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s T&T editions.

Our newest additions to the collection arrived in the post today, and I have to admit, of all the books I’ve seen, Topsy & Tim Visit London was one I was particularly excited about. Despite living 20 minutes by train from Clapham Junction, so just a little bit further from Central London, I’ve never really ventured that far. Now H is a bit older we’ve done bits here and there, and this book is perfect – it’s filling in a gap – I know where I’d like to take her, Topsy and Tim also happen to be visiting those places, and I know once we get there that she’ll be excited and will relate to it – so we get the Tower Of London (with Tower Bridge in the background), Horse Guards Parade (via the Underground), Big Ben, The Natural History Museum, Kew Gardens and Diana’s Playground in Kensington Gardens – which are all places I want to take H! Add to that there’s a London map in the back where I was able to point out where daddy works (that’s H’s daddy, not T&T’s one), and I think H is starting to understand a bit more about where she lives – seriously, if you live in London and needed a way to help your little one remember places, this is the book. It’s not too complicated and the pictures are great.

As a sidenote, the coolest thing we spotted was Topsy and Tim arriving at mummy’s friends house in London, and both of them have Trunki’s! Proper children of the 2000’s now, they are.

We also received Topsy & Tim Go For Gold – a sports day related story. This one is very much your standard T&T story, with the various races on sports day – but this time Topsy and Tim have fallen out. Now I’m not entirely sure, but I don’t remember this having happened before in any of the books – but in the end there’s a happy ending, and as Shaun pointed out, also a lesson to be learnt that arguing doesn’t get you anywhere, and working together does.

H loved the story straight away, and asked for it to be read several times, which is always a good sign!

Both these titles are being promoted by Penguin in their Olympic themed book promotions – plus if your little one is at a Busy Bees nursery, they’re doing a promotion there for the London book – complete with T&T handpuppets (how cool? I wish!!), so keep an eye out.

I received these books from Penguin, all opinion is my own, and I’ll be gushing over Topsy and Tim a little bit more very soon – we’re big fans in this house!

27/03/201220/10/2014 by jo

Easter On Nick Jr.

We’re very much a Nick Jr. house here, thanks to their almost constant Peppa Pig repeats, and some Yo Gabba Gabba in the early hours (recorded, don’t worry, we’re not that bad!), and of course Dora The Explorer.

Easter is coming, and there’s some specially themed programmes coming up too – we’ve got Dora’s Easter Adventure – and Team Umizoomi have an Easter themed episode too.

We were sent a preview DVD, so having found the time in our busy schedule to sit and watch, all programmes get a huge thumbs up from H, a proper Dora addict these days, demanding we go to Car Boot Sales for Boots – and we’re not talking footwear any more (I think she thinks Boots The Monkey will be there).

Dora’s Easter Adventure involves Dora and Boots rescuing eggs from the Hip-Hop-Bunny’s basket after Swiper swiped them (always a great excuse to shout “SWIPER NO SWIPING!”) – and what’s worse is it’s for their Easter Egg hunt. Oh, and the Hip-Hop-Bunny does have some slightly hip hop sounding songs too – as ever, it’s standard fab Dora stuff, the map of course makes an appearance and Swiper is just plain bad again!
Dora’s Easter Adventure is on Nick Jr Friday 30th March at 4.30pm.

Team Umizoomi have the Umi City Egg Hunt coming in April – they’re on a hunt for the extra special Rainbow Egg – it takes a tumble down a rabbit hole, so the tiny Team have to jump in after it – where they discover a world of rabbits – they’ve got to be quick as if they don’t get the rainbow egg, it’s set to be scrambled!

Keep an eye out for transmission dates for this.