Father Of The Blog

Elizabeth is curious and makes a challenge of everything, the NoThrow strap was next on her list of objects to master. NoThrow arrived the day before, Olivia thought it would make a great leash for one of her numerous toy stuffed animals, but I wanted to see what Elizabeth would do with it.

NoThrow Strap

Elizabeth had been jolted from a short nap and hurried into the Odyssey as I was running behind on a forty minute long pickup schedule, first Olivia at camp then rendezvous with Hailey who was with my sister Rach. A perfect opportunity for an extensive test of the NoThrow.

Underestimating my little genius one and a halfer, I filled a 50/50 apple juice/water mix into her big girl squeeze bottle.  Elizabeth cautiously stared me down as I easily looped the NoThrow strap securely to her car seat and then velcroed it around her bottle. A puzzled look raised her brow and she pondered the tether while sipping her watered-down goodness.

Typically, once enough of the juice has been consumed, the cup or squeeze bottle gets thrown down with the same gusto as a dunk frat boy throwing down his last empty beer can. However this time the bottle remained in Elizabeth’s lap while she investigated and experimented with the No Throw’s Velcro strap, since I was driving I only caught a few glimpses through the rear view mirror, but I definitely heard the sound of tearing Velcro.

Once home I noticed the NoThrow was still securely fastened to the child seat, sadly the Velcro loop was hanging unfastened, the squeeze bottle lay on its side, open and slowly dripping sticky stuff on the floor of Kim’s van.

What do I think of the NoThrow? Elizabeth’s advanced unfair test aside, I think it is perfect for the ages of 3 months to 18 months, maybe longer depending on how inquisitive or determined your little one is and I know this product would have come in handy when my kiddos where in that age range, (where were you when I needed you NoThrow), because all three of them have pitching arms. Bonus points for reusability value as the NoThrow can creatively be recycled into the toy chest or used to attach the remote to my wrist, yea I tried that. Many uses for the NoThrow once the kiddos have outgrown. This product receives the FOTB seal of approval.

Everyone likes a party and it is time to P.A.R.T.Y with Life Starring the Kids & Me, The Poshprenur, Blessings Abound Mommy, Cool Baby Kid, The Divine Miss Mommy and Father of the Blog. What are we partying for? BABIES! That’s right, Victoria, Clarissa, Jacqueline, and Aaron’s (from Father of the Blog) wife are all preggo. Wait…so why are Stacie and Cecelia in it? Cause they love babies too.
So what can you expect from this Baby Shower Extravoganza? Well some great reviews from companies like CSN (check out their selection of cribs and toddler beds!) and you can expect to see great review and giveaways from companies like Cloud b, Ergobaby, Hotslings, Bravado, and MORE! That’s right, we are compiling everything and anything a new baby or new mom needs!
When: Oct 2009 (exact dates TBA)
Where: Life Starring the Kids & Me, The Poshprenur, Blessings Abound Mommy, Cool Baby Kid, The Divine Miss Mommy and Father of the Blog (that’s right, drool at all those chances to win!!!)
Stay tuned for more info and updates on what you could win!

Pink Tag Reader

The LeapFrog Tag Reader was waiting at our front door upon our arrival from preschool last Thursday. Priority shipped directly from the good people at LeapFrog Enterprises as part of a giveaway promotion and literacy program, the Tag Reader and two extra books became an instant favorite, can’t live without, necessity for my preschoolers. 

An agonizing (for the kiddos yet hells kitchen type stress for me) six minutes past as I unboxed the Tag Reader and followed the simple two-step setup. Olivia and Hailey both could barely wait that long for me to scrounge up two AAA batteries and install the Tag Reader software to their desktop computer. The Tag Reader’s packaging was clear in direction and thankfully the software loaded up quickly. Within a few minutes I had the two extra books’ (A Scooby Doo and Green eggs and Ham) audio files downloaded to the Tag Reader and just in the nick of time, before the kiddo’s anticipation deteriorated and excessive nagging mayhem ensued.

Scooby Doo Shiny Spooky Knights

As I fumbled through the instruction booklet for several minutes trying to figure out how the smart toy worked with the books, Olivia intuitively had the Tag Reader completely mastered. I didn’t need to explain anything to her and before I knew it she was teaching Hailey how to operate it. I put the instruction booklet back in the box, sat back and enjoyed the (rare) cooperative moment.

Hailey, four years old, was not a book person before last week. In the past, during the nightly routine of story time with Kim, she would flit around, her attention elsewhere. The Tag Reader has turned that around. Within a week she has become engaged in books and not just the Tag Reader books but all their books which combined, out numbers the amount of toilet paper squares within our household.

Olivia is a book connoisseur, a journal writer, a story teller and scribbler of sorts. She must have at least five books on her nightstand before the final tuck-in and sometimes she falls asleep with a book covering her face shielding her from reality or maybe she’s just hiding her eyes from the strong light emanating from Hailey’s bedside lamp. She does enjoy the story telling aspect of the Tag Reader especially the recognizable characters, for instance the voices from Scooby Doo. She also enjoys the thought provoking mini games and likes hearing the Tag Reader tell her that she has received a new award for an accomplished challenge.

Surprisingly, the Tag reader was not tossed into one of many bottomless toy chests where most their stuff ends up, but instead, has been trophied by Hailey and proudly resides on her nightstand where it is readily accessible. It didn’t take long for Olivia and Hailey to convince me to buy them two new Tag Activity Storybooks, “Olivia” the pig and Disney’s Ariel “Adventures Under the Sea.”

I thought it would be a fun activity to “play” journalist with the kiddos and set up an exclusive interview with each of them. This is what transpired:
FOTB: When is your favorite time of day to do the Tag?
Olivia: When Hailey doesn’t want to play with me, I play it.
Hailey: Friday

FOTB: Where do you use the Tag Reader?
Olivia: By the computer.
Hailey: The Living room

FOTB: Who do you like to play the Tag Reader with?
Olivia: Daddy
Hailey: Daddy
FOTB: [Hold on, head is swelling].

FOTB: How does the Tag work?
Olivia: Press the Tag on the book and enjoy the story or play the games.
Hailey: By pressing the buttons [icon buttons].

FOTB: What is your favorite aspect, err, thing about the Tag?
Olivia: The games.
Hailey: Playing Ariel.

FOTB: [Here comes the hard nosed journalist]. What don’t you like about the Tag?
Olivia: I don’t like the present [icons] that reads just one page.
FOTB: [Here comes follow up]. So you would rather hear the whole story all the way through?
Olivia: Yes.
Hailey: Playing the diamonds.
FOTB: What are the diamonds?
Hailey: I’ll show you [points to diamonds in the Ariel book].
FOTB: What do the diamonds do?
Hailey: You have to catch all the diamonds.

My assessment of the Tag Reading System; one small limitation (sorry ‘bout this LeapFrog folks but I have to be honest here), I found with the Tag Reading System is the lack of memory. Only fifteen or sixteen megabytes of storage and each audio file consumes about three megs, meaning that the Tag can only hold five books. However anything that helps kids get into reading and literacy is a great thing and has my seal of approval especially since books have to compete with computers, video games, DVDs and so many other high tech toys.