SURPRISE! The Minions are in KINDER SURPRISE eggs! #KinderMom

Everyone is excited that the Minions are coming. Everyone except my kid that is.

A few months ago we were at a fair and Hannah was given a minion Stuart. She didn't like him. At all. I'm not sure if it was his yellow body. Or jean overalls. Or the fact that he only has one eye. But she definitely wasn't a fan.

However the rest of the world seems really excited about their new movie - including KINDER Canada. Minions toys are inside specially marked limited edition KINDER® SURPRISE® Classic eggs, in stores now! There are 11 Minion toys to collect.

Spring has sprung at Hallmark Canada #LoveHallmarkCA #Review #Giveaway

It's officially less than two weeks until spring! Whether or not the winter weather will completely ease up on us is to be seen, but we can dream of spring - especially Easter and Mother's Day - with great new plush toys, books, home gifts, stationary and gift bags from Hallmark Canada.

Spring has always been my favourite season - notably because my birthday is in April. As I got older I also became a big fan of Easter, and of course, when I was blessed with Hannah I now like spring best because of Mother's Day.

For all the occasions that occur in spring, Hallmark Canada has you covered.

Create #KinderSmiles this Valentine's Day #KinderMom

The only thing that makes the cold week back at work bearable after a week with palm trees is an upcoming Family Day long weekend. Last week at this time, Hannah was building me sand birthday cakes on the beach as I laid under a palm tree. She was also putting Kinder Sorpresa in her child's shopping cart at the Mexican Walmart.

Little does she know that this weekend she'll be surprised on Saturday morning with more Kinder eggs as a Valentine's Day treat - including Disney Fairies and Transformers heart trains (OK, so the Disney Fairies or "tooth fairies" as she calls them are for Hannah, the Transformers will be for me).

Disney Baby encourages creative, fun play

One of my favourite things to do with Hannah is play. Her personality shines through when she is pretending to talk into a phone (really a credit card), not colouring in the lines of her colouring book or attempting to sing Ring-A-Round the Rosie.

She really likes music. She likes to sing. She likes to dance. And she LOVES to play instruments.

We recently introduced her to the Baby Einstein: Discovering Music Activity Table and she’s a big fan. As soon as it came through the door, she was pressing the keys of the keyboard and was impatient as Chris and I got it out of the box and put the legs on (I guess a few minutes to a toddler for their dream toy feels like forever.)

She loves switching the toy from English, to French, to Spanish. There are various “areas” of the toy but her favourite remains the keyboard. (I like this area best too, it plays one of the melodies from her Baby Neptune Ocean Adventure Gym – a toy I HAD to purchase before she was even born.) The way the keys light up keep her attention and she loves hearing the different sounds.

Tummy Time made entertaining

Hannah enjoys being on her tummy, although when I place her on her tummy with nothing to do she gets bored quite easily.

Thankfully one of Chris' cousins gave us a Tiny Love Tummy-Time Fun Ladybug Pillow & Mat at Hannah's shower. Not only does she look more comfortable with the pillow to lay on, but she's interested in looking at herself in the mirror, or the lady bug's face. She also enjoys grabbing on to the toys that make up the lady bug's hands all while she develops upper body strength in the neck, shoulders, and improves her head lifting skills.

© 2012 YYZ Bambina. All Rights Reserved.

Baby's First Fish

There were two gifts on Hannah's registry that were really meant for me. As much as I am all about her being her own person with her own likes and dislikes, I'd at least like to give her opportunities to enjoy what I do.

I really like fish. Like REALLY like them. When I was younger, my dream job was to be a marine biologist or, you know, work at SeaWorld. When I realized you needed to have good marks in science and math, those dreams removed themselves in high school. My marks in those classes just wouldn't cut it (I took Grade 12 Advanced Math TWICE in order to see if I could pass an OAC Math class - no dice).

Anyhow, the two gifts I wanted for mysel- er, Hannah, were the Baby Einstein Baby Neptune Ocean Adventure Gym and the FisherPrice Ocean Wonders Aquarium.

We purchased the Baby Neptune Ocean Adventure Gym for Hannah before she was born with gift cards we received at our coed baby shower. It comes with an "electric water-filled toy" that was almost a small version of the Ocean Wonders Aquarium.

Hannah likes the Gym, and as she gets older I'm sure she'll take advantage of all the different toys it has to offer.

As for the Aquarium I would hmm and ha every time I saw it in the stores. I even showed it to her once and she seemed pretty interested but I just didn't know if I should buy something somewhat similar to what she already had in the "electric water-filled toy".

Then a couple of weeks ago Chris' parents threw Hannah a family shower. And one of her presents WAS the Ocean Wonders Aquarium. When we were setting it up in her crib, I think Chris and I were more impressed than she was. OK. I definitely was more impressed. It plays five songs, has three white noise settings, the fish move, there are bubbles and lights. Once Hannah realized what it could do, she will stare at it and coo at it for a good 20 minutes. Which is amazing, 20 minutes for any parent, knowing their baby is entertained and happy, is priceless. Later on, if it helps the baby go to sleep, the Aquarium also has a remote so you can turn it off without entering the room and disturbing their sleep.

So don't hmm and ha like I did - if you want to buy this toy it's totally worth it!

The Baby Einstein Baby Neptune Adventure Gym retails for $99.99 at Toys R Us (we got it on sale for $60) and the Fisher-Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium retails for $44.99 at Sears.

Glo Worm 2.0

When I found out I was pregnant, a small part of me looked forward to playing with all the cool, new toys that are out there. It's amazing what a few decades can do to the toy industry and how advanced some toys have become.

Case in point - Playskool's Glo Worm.

Here is the one I had as a child, who served as my nightlight:

Here is what my Mom bought Hannah:

Other than the photographic evidence of clear differences, the only "whistle" my Glo Worm had was that his face lit up WHILE you were squeezing him.

In addition to a glowing face, Hannah's "Gloworld Sensory Glo Worm" plays an assortment of songs - some meant for daytime (upbeat, louder) and others meant for nighttime (slower lullabies). And the songs aren't terrible! They are actually quite catchy and I will find myself humming them at random points in the day. Hannah's Glo Worm also has a setting for the face JUST to light up with no music at all. Furthermore, he has rings, a teething toy and even a crinkly flower. At first I thought the crinkly flower was a weird add on that she would never use, but she actually likes the sound and feel of it quite a bit.

Sometimes when Hannah is fussy I'll play the songs for her and she's actually soothed by the music. She also spends hours staring at her Glo Worm taking in all his fun accessories. He is often placed in the diaper bag for outings and he is as important to pack as her sleepers are for an overnight trip.

I have no idea how much my Glo Worm cost back in the day, but Hannah's retails for around $30. My Glo Worm is currently in my old toy box that's now in Hannah's bedroom. When she's a little older I'll show it to her so she can see what I had when I was her age. Hopefully if I put a battery in 80s Glo Worm he'll at the very least light up.