Review of Baby's Big Box of Little Books

You might have noticed in Bed Time Routine of my 7 Month Old that Rhodri has a little collection of books slowly building on his bookshelf. Every night either me or my husband read him a bed time story before he is put in his cot and left to drift off to sleep. I've done this since he was about 8 weeks old and since he has gone to bed in his own room. 

Story Time

Why, you might ask, have I read to him since he was so little? Well I think it's important to encourage all children to read, it sets them in good stead for school. For babies it encourages them to learn to talk and communicate with others.

I think the earlier we introduce books in to their routine, the easier it is for them to fall in love with stories and characters. I'm a bit of a book worm myself, often escaping in to the pages of a good read. I hope that Rhodri will one day enjoy the comforting pages of a book and enjoy reading more than games consoles... I can hope!

So when Puffin Books kindly sent me Baby's Big Box of Little Books to review I couldn't wait to give them to him and see what he made of them! The books are written and illustrated by Janet & Allan Ahlberg. They wrote and illustrated one of my all time favourite childrens books - The Jolly Christmas Postman, so I had high hopes for these little books. I wasn't disappointed!

Having first received them, I was full of ooo's and aahh's at the presentation on these lovely little books in their presentation box.

I was also impressed with the box itself as it's quite sturdy and has a magnetic flap to keep the box closed. This keeps them all neat and tidy, minimising the room they take up on his relatively small book shelf.

 

 Inside the box, there are 9 little books. Each book has a different 'topic'. There are Mornings, Toys, Baby, Inside, Pets, Outside, Games, Family & Night-Times.

 

 Each little book is sturdy, always good with an 8 month old who has managed to rip a few paper book pages already!

The pages are thick, perfect for little hands to grab and keep hold of. Rhodri hasn't quite grasped how to turn pages yet but he held the book letting me turn pages for him, which is definitely progress!

 Inside each book words relating to the 'topic' are printed, illustrated with a clear and easy to relate to picture. They are very easily recognisable for babies and young children, which seems to keep Rhodri engaged. The words, at the moment, don't mean a lot to him. But the pictures keep him engaged, which will eventually make the words mean more to him.

 Each book has 5 words in, so a nice little bite sized portion of learning.

I love that these books introduce simple, everyday words. They are familiar words and concepts to him which keeps him interested in the books and pictures. Although Rhodri will sit and listen to a story every night, I feel that is partly because it is routine or habit, and because he is getting a cuddle at the same time. Normally a book in the day time would be considered a toy for chewing and throwing. These books have escaped that fate and Rhodri has enjoyed looking at the pictures with me.

I quite enjoy the fact that there are different topics that relate to every day life, so I can pull the books out at different times of the day for us to look at together. We have a cat, so if he's trying to play with the cat I will pull out the 'Pets' book and show him the animals. He definitely seems to enjoy that he recognises certain things from the books.

I really love these books and think they are perfect as a gift for a baby or to give Mum at the baby shower. It's a lovely little addition to our book collection and I think every Mum and baby should have these! The books are good quality, well illustrated and perfectly aimed at children who are learning, babbling and starting to gain a vocabulary. I would definitely recommend all my Mummy friends add this to their collection!

You can grab your self a set from Amazon or Waterstones. RRP £9.99 but both retailers are selling this lovely set for £7.99 (prices correct as of 21/01/2015).

**Disclosure: Puffin Books kindly sent these books to myself free of charge in return for a review. All opinions are honest and in my own words.**

Christmas 2014 / Welcome 2015!!

So it's that time of year where we start to pull down the Christmas decorations and find places for all the gifts. I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and wish you all a Happy New Year!

For Christmas this year Baby R & I spent Christmas Eve visiting family while Hubby had to work. Christmas day we spent the morning with my side of the family and the afternoon with Hubby's side of the family. It was a really lovely day. Watching Baby R sit and unwrap gifts (well sit on the lap of the person unwrapping the gifts for him) spend time with his cousins, aunties, uncles & grandparents really was magical. I was lucky enough to catch a cold from Baby R so by Christmas dinner I was starting to feel pretty rubbish. So on Boxing Day, Daddy took over Baby duty and Mummy rested. We got our first taste of a Christmas of purchasing more batteries than I've ever bought before. Should have taken out shares in V-Tech, Leapfrog, Fisher Price, Duracell and Energiser. I'd be a rich woman by now! Even the cat is less than impressed with the addition of multiple musical toys!

Originally we planned on spending Baby R's first Christmas at home just the three of us, but my sister, brother in law, niece and nephew who don't live close to us came to stay for Christmas and New Year. So we decided to make it a family occasion instead and I'm really glad we did. It was such a fun and lovely Christmas. For NYE we saw it in with my side of the family, as it won't be long and they will return home. We ate too much food, played party games and watched Baby R playing with his cousins. It seems like in the short time our family have been visiting, the little man has learnt and changed so much!

I started 2015 visiting both sides of the family again and also my best friend ... who is family to me, so I could have just said I spent the day visiting family, how verbose of me. I won't share the intimate details of all the visiting but needless to say it was a lovely start to 2015 and I'm hoping for many more family days and memories in 2015.

So what does 2015 have in store for Blogging Mamma...

Well in a few short months I will be returning to work. My little man will spend more time with his baby sitters than his mummy and that does make me a little sad.

I will be attending my sisters wedding, which I very much look forward to. I'm hoping my little man will be standing by then and manage a little dance with his Mummy.

My little man will turn 1 this year. Another celebration he won't understand, with the best of intentions I will not go over the top, but then will totally spoil him and probably write a blog post about how much of a disaster being sensible was!

Also in 2015 I look forward to spending time with Baby R's cousin who was born just before Christmas and his twin cousins/besties born just before New Year.

How did you spend your Christmas/New Years? What plans do you have for 2015? Let me know in the comments below and as always, thanks for reading! xoxo

0-3 Month Must Haves

If you haven't already then check out my Newborn Must Haves by clicking here.

Babies grow so quickly, and as they grow they seem to need even more 'stuff'. Things that were 'life savers' for our newborns don't necessarily have the same importance as our babies learn & grow and their needs change. As parents, we find ourselves buying many different things to fulfill those needs. Some things work out and some not so much. Here are my 0-3 months Must Haves.

1) Bright Starts Snuggle & Teethe Giraffe - The perfect cuddle/teething toy. At 6 months old my son still loves his 'George'. It was originally purchased as a gift for my son off his Auntie. It's soft and cuddly but also has a crinkly material in parts that babies love to scrunch. Silky patches, which just like labels seem to make babies very excited, and the 'feet' are a plastic that they can chew on. I loose count of how many teething items I bought and tried on my son. He still has no teeth but has been teething since he was 2 months old. George was the first toy he put in his mouth and used for teething. I love that he uses it for comfort, play & teething. It's the perfect take a long item if you are going out... although possibly I should have bought a toy ring to attach George to the pram. George #1 fell out of the pram on a very rainy day and was never seen again. George #2 was accepted and loved with no issues. Thank goodness!

2) Baby Einstein TV - Found this Youtube channel while looking for nursery rhymes and lullabies to play for him (as my son loves music... or maybe it's just noise he likes!)  I stumbled across Baby Einstein TV and my son loves it. His attention span for watching anything isn't great usually but he will watch these videos. Or if he's playing and this is on in the background he seems more content to play. I don't feel as bad about playing these to him as I would if he was sat infront of a cartoon as they introduce music, art, maths, science and language to infants. 

3) Baby lotion - Once the initial newborn perfect skin was replaced with milk spots and baby acne slowly my sons face started to get very dry. It didn't take long for dry patches to emerge on his arms, legs & body. I tried baby oil, it did nothing for him. I tried different bath products to ensure it wasn't a reaction to his bubble bath. But there was no change. So I pulled out the Johnsons Baby Lotion and after every bath I rubbed in some lotion all over making sure to cover the dry patches. Within a week the dry patches were gone. I use the lotion after every bath now and although he does sometimes still get dry skin, it's nowhere near as bad.

4) Bibs - Initially I began to wonder why I had so many bibs. My son didn't really dribble much and was rarely sick after a feed. That all changed around 8 weeks when he had a double bout of bad luck. First off his teething began super early (and with still no teeth to show for it, I can't help but feel for the poor boy), drool covered clothes were no fun. So the bibs were a must have.

In addition to this he started showing signs of reflux out of nowhere. He was sick, and I mean really sick. It didn't matter how well he was winded, or how long I sat him up for after a feed. He would start being sick anywhere from 5-20 minutes after a feed and would continue being sick for the full 3 hours between his feeds. I went through bibs like there was no tomorrow, but at least I didn't have to change his clothes every single time he was sick!!

I only have 1 'I wish I hadn't bothered - The Clevamama On The Go Bottle. It was a 'lets give it a try' moment. I suspected the issue my son had was reflux but was trying to get the help I needed to solve the problem. I thought this might be an interim solution. If he could take a bottle sitting up then maybe he wouldn't be so sick? 

In theory it's a great idea. Except the straw system pulls apart way too easily for little hands and milk goes everywhere. In addition to this it seemed to require a lot more 'work' for my son to drink his bottle and after three separate attempts with this bottle he point blank refused to even try. Maybe it was just me & my son, maybe it just didn't work for us, but I really wish I hadn't bothered with this purchase.

That's it for my 0-3 month must haves. As my son is 6 months in just 4 days I will soon have a 3-6 month must haves post for you. 

Hope you enjoyed, and as always thanks for reading! xoxo