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.
The newest Palm Web OS update, 1.4, is here — and now the Palm Pre Plus has video, among some other great functions. Disclosure: I am taking part in the Verizon Palm® Pre™ PlusMommy Blogger Program and will be testing out the phone for the next month on Mommies With Style.
Now, I can easily shoot video from my new Palm Pre Plus. but I can also make edits and upload my footage to YouTube or Facebook (or send them via email or MMS). It was really easy to shoot the video — here’s one of my first attempts.
Another feature of the update I liked were enhanced notifications: LED in the Gesture Area now lights up (and pulses) if I have a notification (even when the screen is off). I can also customize my notification sounds in messaging, email, and calendar. And there are new notification sounds in the ringtones library.
See more details of the Palm webOS 1.4 update in action here. The Update will automatically happen once Palm webOS 1.4 is available on your carrier, but you can also trigger the update using the Updates app (which is what I did). It will take a little while to upload and install.
Verizon supplied me with the new Palm Pre Plus and are paying for 1 month of service, including internet access.No other compensation was received. All opinions expressed are my own.
My kids have recently gotten into PBS show Martha Speaks. It comes on right after we get my son off the bus (along with Cyberchase and WordGirl) and true to PBS Kids, it’s not just entertaining but educational.
Are you or your kids fans? Then you should know that there’s a new Martha Speaks DVD releasing today. Martha Speaks: Say It with Flowers has 8 episodes and is over 100 minutes long. If you have a child who is fan of Martha Speaks, check it out.
Disclosure: I received a screener copy of this DVD for review.
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.
I picked up the Palm® Pre Plus last week at the Verizon Store and was really wowed. I am taking part in the Verizon Palm® Pre™ Plus Mommy Blogger Program and will be testing out the phone for the next month for Mommies With Style. While the phone is terrific, I admit I’m little overwhelmed.
They’re called smartphones for a reason — and I was so excited I was able to turn my phone on and automatically see my missed calls, email, twitter and Facebook notifications at the bottom of my screen. It makes this SAHM feel in touch with the world! I love the touchscreen and also like that it also has a slide out keyboard. It also features multiple calendar syncing and a 3 mega-pixel camera with a flash.
Phone: I was impressed with the quality of the sound. It was much better than my basic Motorola Flip Phone model. The speakerphone can be accessed right from the touchscreen. In future posts, I will test it out with a bluetooth headset.
Use the touchscreen to select your contacts and to dial numbers. The cool thing is when you take the phone from your ear to hang up, the screen lights up and you can touch the screen to end your call. The phone locks when it’s not in use, so when you get a call, slide your finger up the touchscreen to unlock and answer. (more…)
Middle is afraid. One night its the dark. Another night its a noise. I’m starting to think he’s not really afraid, but that he just likes using the word. Regardless, it was definitely time to bring out the Scare Me Not monster, an adorable friendlly monster that’s easy to hug and cuddle.
What makes Scare Me Not monsters unique is their long, attachable tail. So if there’s a monster under the bed, your Scare Me Not Monster can peek under and tell the monster to stay away. Have a goon hanging in the closet? Just hang a Scare Me Not. They come with an adorable story that you can read on the website explaining how Scare Me Nots “get” monsters because they’re monsters, too.
Middle loves that his monster’s eyes are wide open all night, looking out to protect him, so its easier for him to close his eyes at night. And the introduction of Scare Me Not monsters was perfect for him. We had just returned from a trip to Disney where we had to visit the Laugh Floor (from Monsters Inc.) several times because we loved it so much. Now that the Monsters Inc. monsters are funny, we introduced Middle to Scare Me Not monsters as friends of Mike and the gang. Of course, he bought it. Middle’s Scare Me Not monster goes everywhere with him. From his bed to our bed to the family couch. I haven’t heard a dark complaint since. And anytime he gets worried at night, we just remind him to pull his monster a little closer.
Thanks to Innovative Toys for providing sample Scare Me Not monsters for this review.
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.
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.
Looking to buy a first Lego set? Here’s a great deal for today only: the Lego My First Duplo Set is on sale at Target today for $10.19. Such a great deal! If you’re there in person, pick one up.
But even better, buy it online as they’re offering a rare free shipping as well on this sale. That’s a deal in and of itself because everyone knows you can’t get in and out of Target with one thing. But online, just maybe…
The newest Palm Web OS update, 1.4, is here — and now the Palm Pre Plus has video, among some other great functions. Disclosure: I am taking part in the 
10. March 2010
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