Hannah's Pick of the Month - Baby Einstein Exersaucer

Forgive me, Hannah's Pick for October is a day late.

Her pick of the month is her Baby Einstein Exersaucer. Hannah's first experience in an exersaucer was at a Toys R Us - my Mom put her in there, and Hannah squealed with delight in the store. And as a mom, when your daughter squeals with delight your first instinct is to buy said toy then and there. And I could see Grandma reaching for her debit card. Alas, since she was 6 lbs away from the maximum weight, I couldn't imagine paying full price.

Enter Kijiji. I found last year's model at less than half the retail price of the current one (Hannah's has zoo animals, this year's has sea life). Daddy made a call, and the next day Hannah was enjoying her exersaucer. We saved money, and all Daddy had to do was take the exersaucer on the subway.

We bought this back in August, and she's still under the weight maximum, and probably will be until spring. However, I'm still happy with our decision to buy used. There are products I believe you MUST buy brand new for baby, but toys are certainly not one of them (especially considering a few months from now she'll be playing with a bunch of toys at daycare that a billion other kids probably have already play with.)

But back to the exersaucer - she loves clinking the panda bears on the tetter-totter, playing music from the keyboard and jumping up and down. She's also started to stand more on her legs, so I hope playing in this toy is working her leg muscles. It's also the perfect toy because she'll play in it while I'm making food or cleaning and would prefer to have my hands free.

Does/did your child have an exersaucer?

© 2012 YYZ Bambina. All Rights Reserved.

Hannah's Pick of the Month - Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Smart Screen Laptop

Hannah's pick for September is her Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Smart Screen Laptop.

She really likes playing with my MacBook. Really. And at first I didn't mind, and thought it was kinda cute when she saved my "Pics of Hannah" folder as "mgvvvgb". But when she pulled off the F3 key I knew I had to find a better solution.

Enter the Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Smart Screen Laptop.

I really like this toy. There are nine colourful keys (that can't be pulled off) for her to press, teaching her numbers, shapes, colours, object names, opposites, letters, and more.

When she rolls the extra cute mouse (that's shaped like a mouse) it cues songs. And the songs are catchy. So catchy I find myself singing them in the shower.

Hannah likes watching the LED screen that brings the laptop to life with fun images and light patterns.

She also really likes to open and close the lid.

But the best part of this toy is the fact that it's Canadian. When the laptop sings the Alphabet, it sings ZED not zee. And it teaches French numbers too.

It's no MacBook, but for an eight-month-old Hannah has a pretty snazzy laptop.

The Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Smart Screen Laptop retails for $24.99. You can find it at Sears or Toys R Us.

© 2012 YYZ Bambina. All Rights Reserved.

Hannah's Pick of the Month - Fisher-Price Whirl n Tumble Elephant

Hannah's Pick of the Month for August is her Fisher-Price Whirl n Tumble Elephant.

She likes the orange and red "tumbling character" much better than than the purple elephant, alas they are a duo and must be treated as such.

When the tumbling character is placed inside the drum of the elephant and baby (or Mommy) pushes it along (the wheels making a mechanical sound), the tumbling character spins and somersaults inside the vehicle. Then baby usually picks up the tumbling character in one hand, and the elephant vehicle in another. When the tumbling character is dropped and rolls out of baby's reach, baby whines until Mommy comes to the rescue.

That being said, this toy does keep Hannah entertained and happy. And I've already seen her move a lot more by herself when using it.

You can purchase the Fisher-Price Whirl n Tumble Elephant at various outlets for around $10.

© 2012 YYZ Bambina. All Rights Reserved.

Hannah's Pick of the Month - Carter's Jungle Activity Book

Hannah's Pick of the Month for July is her Carter's Jungle Activity Book. And yet another gift from my Mom (is anyone else sensing a pattern here?).

Like her Bug and Elmo, this book keeps her busy in her pack n play, her high chair and most importantly, her car seat.

She loves the texture of the book (the entire thing CRINKLES!) and she likes to hold the black and white polka-dotted handle to hold the book up and down. Up and down.

The book is colourful and has six pages, featuring a bear, a tiger, a monkey, a hippopotamus (proudly I spelled that WITHOUT spell check, thank you Adam Sandler and Big Daddy), a lion and a giraffe. The hippo's mouth has a mirror, the monkey has a tail and the tiger squeaks if you squeeze his stomach.

It's SUPER easy to clean, which is great considering Hannah has entered her "Go fetch, Mommy" stage of throwing her toys.

My Mom picked up the Carter's Jungle Activity Book at the Carter's store. According to the website it is currently out of stock, but you may be able to find it at Winners.

© 2012 YYZ Bambina. All Rights Reserved.