Celebrate our country with Canada Doodles! #printables

In less than a week, Canada turns 147!

Celebrate with your kids with colouring in the Raincoast Book Canada Doodles by Megan Radford, drawings by Peter Cook.

Dine & Dish with Dawn (#PGmom)

With a toddler who eats everything (and I mean everything) with her hands because it's faster than using a fork or spoon, poutine is a food we have yet to let her try.

But I love poutine. Especially poutine with Montreal Smoked Meat. Yum.

If you'll be downtown Toronto on Wednesday, June 5 you should check out the Dine & Dish with Dawn in Yonge-Dundas Square.

You can RSVP to the event on Facebook by clicking here.

Enjoy your poutine Toronto!

Disclosure: I am a P&Gmom. As part of my affiliation with this group I receive products and special access to P&G events. The opinions on this blog are my own.  

© 2013 YYZ Bambina. All Rights Reserved.

Free Kidzfest returns to Yonge-Dundas Square

The best (free!) children’s event in the city, Kidzfest, returns for its sixth year. The event, which runs from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday, December 1, 2012 at Yonge-Dundas Square offers stage shows, activities and meet and greets with favourite kids characters. If I wasn't moving, Hannah and I would definitely be in attendance!

The jam-packed schedule of events includes meet and greets with Strawberry Shortcake, Puss In Boots, as well as Moshi Monsters and the minions from Despicable Me 2.

Direct from Lower Ossington Theatre, the casts of Pinkalicious and Freckleface Strawberry will be entertaining audiences with excerpts from each play throughout the day. Other live entertainment includes magician, Rick Rossini and performers from Wonderful World of Circus.

Additionally, children will have the opportunity to play at the Chuggington Activity Area, based on the popular television series, enjoy free rides, holiday crafts, face painting and more.

For more information on Kidzfest, and other events running as part of Winter Magic by Downtown Yonge, please visit http://www.wintermagic.ca.

 © 2012 YYZ Bambina. All Rights Reserved.

Win Pampers for a Year!

One of my favourite parts of the recent P&G Mom event I attended was learning more about their Pampers diapers.

Before hearing a presentation from Dianna Kenneally of Pampers Scientific Communications, I only thought about diapers in this way: Do I have enough? Are they on sale? What's the cent cost per diaper? Will they protect Hannah's clothes?

I feel like a horrible mom admitting this, but I never even thought about Hannah. Will she be dry and therefore happy? That's the question I should have focused on.

Thankfully Pampers does their research - however difficult that may be. As Ms. Kenneally pointed out, imagine having a consumer who is only loyal to your product for a few years. And during those few years their needs change constantly and dramatically, sometimes overnight. Oh, and they can't tell you areas that your product needs to improve. 

Welcome to the world of baby products. 

So Pampers talks to moms AND watches how babies use their product in a special lab. Last year in North America they conducted 25 studies - talking to 9,000 moms acquiring 250 hours of interviews.

Pampers technology includes the use of AGM (absorbent gelling material), which can hold 30 times its weight in urine. It locks away liquid from the top sheet which keeps baby dry. And it holds the liquid under pressure, so that when the baby moves the liquid does not. 

I can't help but share some neat diaper facts (although some people may find this a gross topic, I find it quite fascinating). On average, caregivers change a diaper every four hours. During the day, these diapers consist of 100 mL of urine. The overnight diaper? 180 mL of urine. Also, babies pee in gushes, not all at once. 

So, now that I may have grossed you out, I will tell you about an amazing contest Pampers is running. Remember earlier how I mentioned that cost is a major factor in determining how I buy diapers? I'm sure it is for you too. How would you like to win free Pampers for a year?

This contest is open to Canadians starting TODAY, Monday, November 19th at Pampers.ca and at the Pampers Canada Facebook page. The first draw is December 6th and there will be a draw for a year’s worth of diapers each month until the end of June 2013.

Disclosure: I am a P&Gmom. As part of my affiliation with this group I receive products and special access to P&G events. The opinions on this blog are my own. 

© 2012 YYZ Bambina. All Rights Reserved.

I'm a new PTPA Blogaholic!

Hello friends.

I don't know if you noticed, but a shiny new button appeared in the right column today.

I am a proud and excited (newbie) PTPA Blogaholic!

PTPA stands for Parent Tested, Parent Approved. It’s a community of parents across North America sharing valuable feedback about the products we bring into our homes and to our families.

You too can be a parent tester (with or without a blog!). Check out the Parents section of the PTPA website here. And the best part? It's FREE. All you have to do is make sure your profile is at 80 per cent and fill out an evaluation to reviewing the product to help determine whether or not it gets the PTPA Winner's Seal.

So make sure you watch out for the seal in my upcoming posts!

What would be your dream item to test?

© 2012 YYZ Bambina. All Rights Reserved.

Mabel's Labels Back-to-School Free Package Offer

The temperatures have begun to get cooler and the sun is starting to go to bed earlier. Fall is upon us, which means one thing for most people - it's almost time for back-to-school.

Help the little scholars in your life stay organized this school year with Mabel's Labels. Identify clothes, footwear, books, backpacks and more. Best of all, spend $100 and receive a free package of Write Away labels now through August 31. Enjoy! 

© 2012 YYZ Bambina. All Rights Reserved.

Baby Time is FUN Time at the Toronto Public Library

On Wednesday morning, Chris and I took Hannah to her second "class". I was quite nervous about how she would react.

The first class we ever attended she cried loudly for a good 10 minutes and then fell asleep for the rest. I guess to be fair I should mention her first class was a breastfeeding class at Sunnybrook and she attended before she was even 24 hours old.

Regardless, I was still curious as to how she would behave when we took her to Baby Time at the Toronto Public Library.

The 30 minute program for babies 0-18 months old includes songs, rhymes and the reading of interactive storybooks. The class gives parents and caregivers suggestions and ideas on how to encourage reading as the child ages.

Turns out, Hannah was an almost perfect pupil (other than starring at the blond baby boy beside her for a good 10 minutes - first crush already?!?!).  She cooed and even joyfully squealed while we sang some of the songs. I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed bouncing her, tickling her and singing to her too. And I even learned some new songs that I now sing to Hannah at home!

We will definitely be going back when the program resumes at our library in July. In the meantime, I can't wait to take her to Baby Sign at our branch which is starting in a couple of weeks.

To learn more about Baby Time and to find a library near you that runs the free program, please visit www.torontopubliclibrary.ca. Please note some locations require registration before the class.