Steph – Page 2 – MostRoyal.com

This toy has a pull string. It does so much more! [Update!]

The VTech Chomp and Count Dino asks the user to feed it certain foods, which are provided on little pucks with an image of the food. The child is supposed to put the pucks into the dinosaur’s mouth and they then fall into its stomach where the kid can retrieve them. He also loves watching us tow the dinosaur by the attached pull string. …more on that later!

Our son loves taking the little “food” pucks out of the compartment and he tries to feed the dinosaur. At 13 months he doesn’t know the difference between the pucks, and therefore doesn’t follow its instructions, but he is starting to become successful at getting the pucks into the dinosaur’s mouth. It took him a few weeks to understand that he really needs to push the puck through, as it doesn’t just easily slide through the hole (the puck needs to trigger a small switch inside the mouth so that the toy responds). My son really enjoys this toy and he has spent a good amount of time sitting and playing with the pucks, putting them in and taking them out of the Dino’s belly.

He grew so attached to this toy, that when he would play with it he would hold the pull string in one hand while feeding the dino with the other. He was so insistent on not letting go of the string that he took his first 10 steps while pulling the dino across the room! We were thrilled to say the least. Bonus points for that! Up until that moment he had really only been walking while holding onto our hands, even if it wasn’t needed. I think it was a security thing. The string apparently fulfilled that role and now he walks on his own. If only we could keep up!

Being a VTech toy, the music is lacking any sort of… musicality. I have decided that VTech puts no effort into creating decent songs and tunes for their toys. They are often out of tune and each song just ends, strangely. This is a bummer since the VTech Chomp and Count Dino seems to sing incessantly. I swear, these are undiscovered songs written by the Shaggs.

UPDATE:

Our son is now almost two and half and this toy has come back into our lives with a whole new level of excitement. He loves feeding it, dragging it around, pretending that he’s a dinosaur and tons of creative play. I’m really glad we held onto this because it’s had a whole new second life…and I’ve gotten a bit more used to the music. 🙂

I give the VTech Chomp and Count Dino 4 out of 5 stars because my son really enjoys playing with it, but I just can’t stand the music!

Is It a Book or Is It a Puppet?

Curious George Pat-a-Cake has been a fantastic book in our house. One of the many items we received at the Holidays from family, this book was a hit from the beginning. Thanks to my husband (a complete character in his own right,) my son LOVES puppets. He also loves books (yay!) and the combination of the two is a win-win for everyone.

Basically, George’s arms are little finger puppets. You simply stick your hand in from the back and make him go through the motions of Pat-a-cake.

Along with “Munch” by Matthew Van Fleet (previously reviewed) this book is a go to when needing to distract and cheer up my son. He knows Pat-a-Cake now, except that when I do it on my own, he needs to find the book and pull it out. “Only George does Pat-a-Cake, Mom!!” (George also gives great hugs. …Talk about making your kid love books.)

Beyond the simple rhyme and puppet action this toy has been an interesting learning experience for our son. He kept wanting to figure out how it worked. Watching him try to do so was obviously super adorable. Watching him eventually put it all together, stick his fingers in the puppet and make it move blew his mind.

This book has provided us with non-stop laughter and excitement for the 7 months we have owned it. In fact, we had to eventually ban it from the bedroom or else nap time would never happen.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Fond Memories Were Created With This.

The “Playskool Poppin Park Elefun Busy Ball Popper” was a gift to my son when he was 5 months old and he has enjoyed this toy from the beginning. First, this was a great developmental toy that really encouraged him to develop his hand and arm coordination, something he needed to work on due to a birth injury. His excitement for this toy made movements like grasping and wrist supination something he would do due because of his own motivation.

At six months, when he was standing supported, he loved feeling the air gently blow in his face as he would watch the balls pop out of the trunk. As he matured he began figuring out how to push the button, cause and effect, and began playing with the toy independently of us. I think that is when it became the most exciting for him. He would screech in excitement every time he would start the elephant up again, this was probably around 7 or 8 months, and a huge highlight for us. We have lots of fond memories of those days.

At one point, around 10 or 11 months he became frustrated with the toy, and would get angry when the balls ran out and stopped coming out of the trunk, but this phase was very short. I have since brought it out again now that he is 13 months old and he is loving it like a new toy.

My only complaint of this toy, is that it is rather noisy, but I suppose that is to be expected as it has a little motor to blow the air and plastic balls out of the trunk. That fan sound combined with the music can be a little intense at 6am. But, if that is my only complaint then I’d say it is still a great toy! My son loves it, and that’s really all that matters.

We read on forums that other users were unhappy with this toy because the balls don’t always shoot out of the nose and instead tend to hover at the tip. I would actually say that this is a positive. When the balls would pop out consistently (fresh batteries) many times they would overshoot the ears designed to catch them and then they would roll away on the floor. When the balls hover it gives our son more enjoyment. It startles him less and it actually gives him a chance to grab the ball and put it back into the ear. (About 30 percent of the time the ball will eject fully.) He loves to place the ball back into the trunk and feel the wind blow it into his hand again. Overall the battery life is great. We have had this over 6 months and have not needed to replace them.

My husband adds that this toy can also be great when you are feeling exhausted. It always gets our son laughing, bouncing and keeps him fully entertained – and it does this all in one place! So after an especially hard day at at work you can sit with your kid, play along and catch your breath for a moment. Seeing the HUGE smile this toy put on our son’s face made it a great experience for us and it always energized us to keep playing once he moved on to the next thing.

I give this toy 5 out of 5 stars because our Little Prince really liked it from the beginning. I also know that a cousin of mine enjoyed this toy well beyond 2 years old, so I know it’s a keeper.

Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?

“Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too”, by Eric Carle, is unpopular in our house. I purchased this book because Eric Carle is such a beloved author and illustrator, but I definitely felt that this was a thrown together, throw away “story.”

It has the typical Eric Carle illustrations, but the “story” is very repetitive and uninteresting. In short, it’s just a series of animals and each time the author asks, “Does [insert animal] have a mother, too?”

Guess what, they all do.

This makes the book into a long and tedious read and not one that I enjoy sharing with my child; and, isn’t that an important part of reading to our kids? We should all like the books!! My husband HATES this one.

I give this story 2 out of 5 stars for its tedious and repetitive nature. We give it the one star for the illustrations. Although my husband wants to take away that star, too.

Anti-Spill Sippy Cup? [updated]

I feel like I am constantly on the search for the perfect sippy cup. We have tried maybe 8 so far, and of those I am happy with three. The Nuby No-Spill Flip N’ Sip Cup is not one of them. Maybe it was human error, but I put water in this cup for my son the first time we used it, shook it upside down, squeezed the straw, and was I happy to see that it did NOT spill. Off to a great start.

I gave it to my son, turned around to put something away, and when I turned back I found that he was splashing his hands on his high chair tray and that he had sufficiently soaked himself.

I am not 100% sure how he managed this, but I suspect it is all in the straw. It seemed that if he squeezed the straw with the cup upside down the water poured out, which he apparently figured out very quickly! I have not used the cup again since. I am willing to give it one more try to see if I just assembled it incorrectly. But, before that happens all our other cups will need to be dirty! 🙂

UPDATE

Dad here. So we’ve given this cup several more tries, and it is better, but not perfect. We have some issues trying to reassemble it (getting the straw through the hole in the top can be frustrating,) but the leaks are minor. Our son did like the flip top a lot. So much that he would get distracted and play with it . …Not sure if that is a pro or not. 🙂

We give the Nuby No-Spill Flip N’ Sip Cup 3 of 5 stars because it leaked heavily upon first use but seems to be improved after additional usage.

A heartwarming story!

The Crown On Your Head, by Nancy Tillman, is a beautiful, sweet book and I enjoy reading this to my son. The illustrations are unique; at times they can feel a little overly Photoshop-ed, but this does not bother me.

I have to admit, I am typically not a sentimental person, but my son has made me a softy. When I first received this book as a gift I kind of rolled my eyes thinking that it was going to be sappy, but it really wasn’t, and I really like the message. I don’t want to spoil anything so I won’t give away the story but for those wanting more info you can go to Amazon and and read a section.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars, only because it isn’t something my son gets excited for, but at 12 months, I wouldn’t expect him to be interested just yet.

Leap Frog: My Discovery House [Video Review]

My son received the My Discovery House for his first birthday. It is a very simple toy, with moving doors and windows, a light switch, a couple of birds. etc. For a child who is obsessed with doors and light switches this toy entertains him really well.

He played with this in the beginning for a long time. It was a lifesaver during a recent long car ride, where he played with it for over an hour! But, I have stopped giving it to him as it doesn’t keep his attention like it used to. I expect that I can bring it out every so often and he will love it again [see the update to this review below].

The birds on the roof “talk.” [See video] The little bird has a cute high pitched voice, but the bigger bird has a low adult voice. It’s rather amusing, but I feel like it could have been a little less of a man voice even though it is the bigger bird. My husband loves when the man’s voice belts out, “TWEEEET.” It’s become an inside joke in our house now and he walks around and will randomly go, “TWEET.”

All in all, we like this toy. My son loved it at first and he really was entertained. He did get bored with it after a few days, but as I said, I think it will come back in rotation soon enough.

UPDATE:

We recently took this toy on a family vacation. Because it had worked so well in the car before we decided to try it again. It held our 1-year-old son’s attention for multiple hours during the long car ride to our destination. Once again, multiple hours.

This kept him happy and us sane! And, it was a hit with his 3 and 8 year old cousins for the week we stayed with them. We were really surprised by how popular this was.

UPDATED RATING: 5 out of 5 stars. We strongly recommend.

A Good Naptime Book

I thought I would write a short review of this book because it is one that I can recite at a moments notice if needed.

We received this book from a family member and found that it was a duplicate in our library. I chose to make this book part of our nap time routine when I began crib training at nap time (admittedly WAY too late in my child’s life: 7 months of sleeping with a baby on top of me at every nap became quite tiresome!!!)

I like this book. It is simple, it was easy to memorize, and now that I have read it a minimum of twice per day for the past 5 months, my son is beginning to interact with it as well. There is a section of the book where all of the characters are exercising and I always take the time to point out each animal and what they are doing (based on my own interpretation of course.) At this stage, my son actively points to each animal with me, which I find very charming. Soon enough he will be telling me what each animal is and what they are doing! Kids grow up too fast!

What I like most is that as soon as I pick up the book my son settles in, starts rubbing his eyes, and acts sleepy. This could have happened with any book I selected, of course, but I thought this was appropriate since its title happens to be “The Going To Bed Book.”

4 out of 5 stars

Rainforest Melodies and Lights Deluxe Gym

The Fisher-Price Rainforest Melodies and Lights Deluxe Gym was a big hit for our son. He spent a lot of time laying under this as an infant swatting and kicking at the toys and staring at the lights. For us this toy was especially important for development due to an injury my son ended up with at birth, leaving his left arm weak at the earliest stages of life. (Thankfully he has recovered completely and is an extremely strong little man!) Seeing him lift his arm to reach for the toys as he regained his strength day by day was wonderful.

I also liked this toy because it entertained him for long periods of time (in baby minutes.) The lights and music, along with the moving butterflies kept his attention well, and the spinning and rattling toys were particularly attractive to his developing mind.

I would recommend this activity gym for any newborn. It is currently being used by a cousin’s newborn son, who also gives it a high rating!

5 out of 5 stars

You can purchase the Fisher-Price Rainforest Melodies and Lights Deluxe Gym on Amazon.com

Best Book So Far!

Munch, by Matthew Van Fleet, has proven to be one of the most exciting items my son could have received. As with most children, I am sure, he loves books, especially interactive, pop-up, and lift-the-flap books. This book gets my son to screech with excitement at the site of the cover. We can’t even read the book anymore because he is so excited to get to the moving pages he begins turning them himself. And, as soon as the page is opened to the first munching alligator he shrieks with excitement.

If this book is within site of my son all other toys are dropped. I even tried showing him a new pop-up book, which I thought would be more visually exciting, and he pushed it out of the way to find Munch.

It is a simple, rhyming, delightful little book. Unfortunately, and I knew the day would come, one of the moving parts has been damaged, but I will not hesitate to replace it!

If I had to choose one book to add to any child’s library, it would be Munch, by Matthew Van Fleet.

5 out of 5 stars