Even though I’m only 16 weeks pregnant right now with my third child, I’m drooling over Oilo Studio’s fantastic crib bedding. We’re going to have to redo our nursery bedding again, when our third child arrives this summer. We had boring white bedding for our first child (used on my son’s toddler bed now) and our second child, a daughter, is still in a crib, using beautiful pink organic bedding, from Until Kara. #3 will be a boy and we’re going to have to start from scratch.
Oilo’s Modern Berries Crib Set ($399) would be perfect for my upcoming arrival’s crib bedding. White with sage green, it’s patterned after the red currant berries that grow in Norway and can work for a boy or a girl. Included in the set is a 100% woven cotton bumper and bed skirt, a zippered slip cover bumper, fitted cotton percale crib sheet. It’s machine washable and made in the USA. While we didn’t use bumpers until both our children approached a year old, I like to have them included in a set.
Exclusive for MWS Readers: Purchase at www.oilostudio.com — use code: mws2010 to receive a 15% discount on any order.
My son is accustomed to falling asleep while listening to ocean waves. He had a hard time going to sleep as an infant and the waves just seem to sooth him and put him to sleep. When we travel, we always have to lug his wave machine along, which is a hassle. So when we received the Dozy Dolphin On The Go by Cloud b for our recent trip, we were thrilled!
The Dozy Dolphin On The Go helped recreate his sleep time routine by bringing his familiar sounds of ocean waves with us on our trip. It plays four water-based sounds with individual push buttons: Dolphins Playing, Whale Songs, Tranquil Melody, and Ocean Waves. There is a volume control button and two sleep timer options: 23 and 45 minutes. My son absolutely adores his Dozy Dolphin! He plays and cuddles with it when he falls asleep. It is super soft thanks to the soft hypoallergenic bamboo fabric so it won’t irritate sensitive skin. Bamboo fabric grows without the need for fertilizers or pesticides, is the most renewable resource on the planet and is 100% biodegradable. It’s also antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-static and softer than cotton. Attached to the Dozy Dolphin is a Velcro strap that allows for easy attachment to cribs, strollers and car seats! Included with the Dozy Dolphin is a booklet that teaches children about endangered dolphins, a Dozy Dolphin Storybook and adoption certificate. Besides the Dozy Dolphin On The Go, Cloud B also has 2 other travel animals – Sleep Sheep On The Go and Gentle Giraffe On The Go!
Cloud b’s mission is to thoughtfully design and develop useful products that help children sleep better, and simplify parents’ lives. I agree that their products have helped my children sleep better as we also have the Twilight Turtle and Ladybug to add to our collection. My kids use them every night when their room is dark and it lights their rooms right up! They can’t be without them at night!
Check out their products and save 15% off most regular priced items on Cloud b’s site by entering code MWS-310 until March 23rd.
It’s not too early to start thinking about summer sandals! This season, Livie & Luca, who I’ve been a fan of for a long time, has come out with some gorgeous ones.
We’re wild about Bloom ($45), pictured above – a bright lime green leather sandal with a hand-cut magenta flower. It also features a Velcro closure for easy on and off. Get it in toddler/little girl sizes 4 – 13. Running true to size, my little girl will look so stylish wearing these sweet sandals in the warmer weather! I wish they made them in my size too.W
We also loved the Haru. Using commissioned artwork of Livie & Luca’s new friend Haru playing on the beach beneath the sun’s rays. It’s silk-screened onto textile and then overlaid on Livie & Luca’s soft leather. The insole is removable, which allows for sizing and hand-washing. Comes in size 4 -8.
Another product we brought along on our trip was the GoPillow! My son and daughter loved the Go Pillow! so much that they actually fought over whose turn it was to have it! The GoPillow! is a portable pillow that has a built-in blanket tucked away inside. My kids loved snuggling with it on the airplane (of course taking turns), since it is super soft and cozy. The portable pillow consists of an inner core of soft, pliable cushion/foam and a soft outer fabric covering.
The Go Pillow! reminds me of a cylinder type pillow that you can place your hand on up to your elbow inside to securely cradle your child while feeding them. The built-in blanket tucks neatly inside, providing easy access to pull out while on the go to allow for mother and baby privacy while out in public breast feeding.
Besides being great for snuggling and breast feeding, it also makes a fabulous nap blanket since your child can rest their head on the pillow while lying on the blanket. Additionally, it makes for a nice place to change your child’s diaper. The GoPillow! is washable (we were thrilled since we took it on the plane) and is available in pink and blue. Check out the GoPillow! where you can see pictures of the fabulous ways it can be of use! Receive a free breastfeeding guide with every purchase-no code required.
At February’s Toy Fair, Disney Online previewed their fabulous World of Cars Online website — free-to-play browser-based, virtual world based on Disney/Pixar’s “Cars”. Since that is my four year old’s favorite movie, he is going to love the features — which are designing your own car, making new friends and playing mini-games. The premise is that Lightning McQueen and his friends are helping new race cars train in Radiator Springs, which is growing due to new businesses opening.
Kids Can:
• Create Their Own Race Car – Pick the body style, color, name and more to make it totally their own. This was cool and kids are going to really enjoy being creative.
• Explore the Road – Drive beyond Radiator Springs to explore Carburetor County. Enjoy backroads racing and adventures with Mater and others!
• Community – Kids can see when their friends are online and interact with them to create a Cars Community.
• Race and Play –Cars can warm up the road on a variety of tracks to win badges and trophies. They can also play mini-games like Lightning Storm and Ramone’s Paint Blast to earn coins and more!
If you want to upgrade from Free-to-Play to Subscription, you’ll get access to:
o Paint jobs, gear and accessory purchases to customize your Car and home
o A Pro Racing Career and access to exclusive Piston Cup race tracks
o Special Events and Adventures
Bottom Line: Kids are going to really like the World of Cars Online. It offers children a chance to be creative with making their own cars and have adventures driving around Radiator Springs. Best of all, it’s mostly free (if you want to change your car more than once, you’ll have to get a subscription). Parents create an account, and then create sub-accounts for their children. They can monitor their child’s progress on the site.
The site will officially launch later this year – but it’s in Beta now, so take a look!
Mattel/Fisher-Price introduced many cool new products for 2010 at the recent ToyFair. As I walked around Mattel’s press section, I actually got overwhelmed. Broken down into sections and by sub-brands, they had so many products to show (and super-enthusiastic demonstrators)
Here are a few of my favorites.
The iXL (shown in picture above) is a story book, game player, note book, art studio, music player and photo album. It looked amazing and I would love a closer look! It will retail for $79.99 and was named the hottest toy for this holiday season by Mattel’s President. It features and attached stylus pen, an SD card slot for expanded memory, and a USB cord to connect to the computer. Users will be able to add their own photos and songs (MP3s and WMAs)! It can store multiple software titles, songs, and pictures. While you won’t need cartridges, you will be able to purchase licensed software CDs ($24.99 each/sold separately). Ni-Hao Kai Lan, Disney Princesses, Handy Manny, BatmanTM, Toy StoryTM and SCOOBY-DOO!TM software cds will be available June 2010; Shrek® and SpongeBob SquarePantsTM software CDs will be available Sept. 2010. It will come in 3 colors – pink, blue and silver.Requires 4 “AA” batteries.
We love Happy Baby Food in my house! This organic baby food company, recently finalists for NBC’s Shine-a-Light award, has some terrific, healthy products for your children. We swooned over their Happy Bites (the salmon fish sticks were awesome), but our absolute favorite products were the HappyTots and the HappyPuffs.
We’re crazy about their HappyTots – which are handheld toddler meals. I actually found these at Target and keep a few in the car for quick nutrition when we’re on the go — which is pretty much all te time. The pouch looks like the Trader Joe’s pouch applesauce that we buy, so my kids knew instantly how to eat them. My 4 year old was into them, as much as my 2 year old. He loved the Spinach, Mango and Pear flavor and didn’t realize he was eating a vegetable (which brought a smile to my face). HappyTots come in flavors such as: Green Beans, Pears & Peas, Sweet Potato, Carrot, Apple & Cinnamon, Banana, Peach & Mango,Spinach, Mango & Pear, Butternut Squash & Apple, andBanana, Peach, Coconut & Prunes.
*Reviewer’s note: There was a recent voluntary recall of HAPPYTOT Stage 4 and HAPPYBABY Stage 1 and Stage 2 pouches (not the HappyBites, as mentioned incorrectly) for possible bacteria contamination due to a packing defect. The products were sold at certain Whole Foods and Targets. The company handled themselves admirably, being open and honest about the recall, which made me like them even more. At press time, no child had become sick.
We also loved their Organic HappyPuffs– which are larger and actually puffier than the standard popular non-organic puff. I was pleased to see they have a organic greens version!
So people are loving my nephew Sully’s review on YouTube of new game Battlefield Bad Company 2. Apparently it’s the hot new game to have. (It’s currently ranked #4 for games on Amazon so that has to say something, right?)
Here Sully does a review of it – it’s hot off the shelves so check it out. If you want to impress a nephew, grandson or teen boy, get this game.
How stinking cute is my 13-year-old niece Abbie in her vlog showing off Mac’s Mineralize Skinfinish product. She’s doing such a fabulous job on these videos and I can’t wait to bring you more!
Not to mention that I’m wondering how sad it is that my 13-year-old niece now knows more about make-up than I do?
Here’s the product she’s reviewing – you can get it on Amazon, in-store at Nordstrom or MAC as well as any other retailer that carries Mac. The Mac Mineralize Skinfinish.
This post is one in a series of reviews by my nephew & niece, Sully and Abbie.
I recently attended Toy Fair 2010 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. There were so many great products shown, from big and small companies.
Kidkraft seriously blew me away. We were already big fans of their Hannukah Set (my cousin bought it for my son 2 years ago). Kidkraft makes some terrific wood items. From wooden pirate ship playsets (see above), to firehouse sets, play kitchens and religious sets (they have many Jewish and a couple of Christian sets) — their toys are all terrific quality. The company was also promoting personalization on benches, toy kitchens, and fabric-covered chairs. You can add your child’s name and choose a graphic.
13. March 2010
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