Tag Archives: child

It Is Time to Use Your Imagination With Kazoops

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This post is part of a sponsored campaign for Kazoops. I received compensation for my participation, but my review and opinions are my own.

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Andrew and I watched the first episode of the new Netflix show, Kazoops. It was adorable. The show is for children ages 3-6. It is bright and colorful and there are some cute songs, which did not get stuck in my head, so that is great. I’ve watched so many kids shows in the past 10 years that I am grateful to ones that have solid songs that you can enjoy, but not find yourself absentmindedly singing. The show follows the adventures of six-year old Monty and his best friend, Jimmy Jones, the family pet pig. Monty has a mom, dad, grandmother and older sister also in his family. Monty uses his vivid imagination to challenge preconceptions about life such as “you have to wear matching socks” or “all games need rules” and, in doing so, demonstrates the value of critical thinking and creative play.

You can watch the official trailer on the Kazoops YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWdf8VLC8sjQ0D0-aI8_59A

Creative is an excellent way to describe the show. From the episode I saw it was a nice show with some creative animation. There are moments in the show when Monty closes his eyes and tells his pig, Jimmy Jones, “just imagine”. It is then that the animation changes from a 3D sort of animation to a more 2D animation. Those moments the animation has a real paper feel to it. It is quite beautiful. You just know that Monty is in his creative zone during those moments of imagination. Monty is a kid who is so full of life and curiosity. He’s looking for ways to accomplish things, but in his own unique way. The problem solving is also more subtle than other kids shows, it does not hit you over the head with the message. Kids pick up on the message without hearing it over and over. Continue reading It Is Time to Use Your Imagination With Kazoops

Searching


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Andrew is searching for something. Something to soothe him. Something to play with. Something to say. He’s been working on vocalizing every day. He has “Dada” down pat. He’s been saying pretty much just that for a few months now. We keep trying to have him repeat Mama but no dice, nor Eva nor anything else specifically. He’ll say “dat” or something similar, he’s starting to get some of the sign language things down like “More”. We continue to work on his language skills so that he can communicate more with us.

That being said he’s been very tough at night. He gets up many times each night. The only thing that is soothing him is to feed. Rocking him makes him inconsolable. I pick him up and rock him from side to side and talk calmly to him and he just pushes and cries and screams. I try as hard as I can to remain calm and soothing until it is just too much and I have to put him into his crib and walk away. I love the kid so much but he’s just so up and down. He’s either fun loving and happy or crying and screaming his head off. We haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in over a year. But we certainly love him.

Time for Dance Pictures


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Tonight we went to get Eva’s dance photos taken. Her second recital is this June and she is in two numbers, Tap and Jazz. She was so cute in her Yankee Doodle Dandy costume. I took a bunch of photos of her but she is so fidgety that only about half of them came out on the iPhone. She is just so excited about everything and I love that about her. It is just hard to photograph without the DSLR. I guess I got to start carrying that more often.

Bring on the Strained Peas!

See a photo a day on BenSpark's ShutterCal
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Andrew is now big enough to sit at the table with us in his High Chair. He seems to enjoy it for now. He’s not eating food yet but he’s going to get used to being up at the table with us. I think he likes it more than being on the floor in his bouncy seat or in the swing as we eat. At least this way he can see us as we eat and that makes him smile.

So does his Manhattan Toy – Winkel. We got this from Isis Parenting and he adores this toy, it makes him laugh so much each day.

Feed Me!


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Our little eating machine. That wobbly little head is always looking for something to eat, when it is not completely passed out. I had Andrew in my arms and he was making all sorts of faces. I got out my phone and took a bunch of shots of him. I’ve been taking a photo every day of Andrew and posting it to a special ShutterCal account. I actually purchased the ShutterCal app for my iPhone and so I cna take photos and post them quickly and easily. I love that option.

Getting to Know Andrew

Getting to Know Andrew
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Last night was our first night with Andrew at home. He did pretty well. I was up with him for a few hours trying to sooth him and get him back to sleep. Allison was pretty tired after being so tough the past few days, she needed some rest. I was nice to have today to ourselves so that we could adjust a bit to having Andrew home. Eva was off at the Cape with my parents and her Aunt Tara, Uncle Erik and Nana Bonnie and Uncle Howard. She came home a little more spoiled too. That kid makes out like a bandit. There are games and toys and treats galore for us to play with. Continue reading Getting to Know Andrew

BenSpark’s Doodle Roll Contest Winner

The winner of the Doodle Roll contest is Melissa B. (@Angelia818). I’ll be sending her instructions for claiming the prize and get that right out to her. I hope that she and her daughter have as much fun with it as Eva and I do whenever we go out. There have been several occasions where we wished we had the Doodle Roll with us. We really need to keep it on us no matter where we go.

Doodle Roll contest

A couple weeks back I had a review up for the Doodle Roll. Many people commented on how that was a really fun product. Well, I asked the company that gave me the Doodle Roll to test if I could run a contest and they agreed. I’m giving away a Two Doodle Roll package. That is one of the small (4 inch wide 15 feet long) Doodle Rolls and one of the large (6 inch wide 30 feet long) Doodle Rolls. And you can win: Continue reading Doodle Roll contest

Dadda!

Dadda
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Eva’s taken to the expression, “Dadda you’re Frustrating me!” She’s testing her boundaries and more. And for some reason she’s very fond of the expression having to do with frustration. Which, as a child trying to figure out the world is very accurate. There is so much that can be frustrating to a child, being able to fully express themselves, being able to do the things they want to do and more. Continue reading Dadda!

The Doodle Roll: Review

Eva loves to color draw and doodle. We were sent two Doodle Rolls to try out and review. This morning Eva saw them and immediately wanted to play with them. The Doodle Roll is a very ingenious product. Basically it is a completely self contained doodling station. There are two sizes: A 4 inch wide 15 foot long roll with 4 crayons and a 6 inch wide 30 foot long roll with 8 crayons. The plastic case has space for the crayons and then the roll is contained in another space. You can open up the contianer for the roll and there is a built in cutting edge. The roll comes out so it fits flat against the table and doesn’t roll up on your child. Continue reading The Doodle Roll: Review