The Heat of the Kitchen

Olivia has been given a play kitchen by her cousin and is absolutely entranced by it. This isn't something we would normally buy her, as it is made of plastic, but as it is second hand she has managed to score a good new toy. She has already has hours of fun playing with it and only got it a few days ago. Today I raided Grandma's to find all the plastic food that went with it and so this morning sat in the living room while I was served tea and cake by my new chef :)

In Which You Will Always Be the Star

As our regular readers will know, Olivia is rather into the Whoozit range of toys.

By which I mean, of course, that we rather like the Whoozit range of toys; Olivia has yet to show much inclination to go out and choose her own. The latest addition is 'Whoozit Starz'. Starz is much the same size as Tizoo and Mr Whoozit but has the added attraction of lights and sounds. Starz has a small Mr Whoozit face on a pull chord that when tugged causes the whole shebang to vibrate whilst it plays 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' and tiny LEDs in the star appendages flash on and off.

I will confess to having nicked the picture above from another website. I found it via Google Images and was faintly amused by the caption on one version of the toy that read, 'Pull my Whoozit to make me play 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star'. I think I'd play something rather more agressive if someone pulled my Whoozit, but there you go...

I've also learned that Starz (who I have decided is a girl toy, despite any overt indications either way, because Olivia needs good female role models, she's too young for Buffy and what better than trying to get her to understand that she's only got a short while before we'll be expecting her to put out compositions of the standard of Twinkle Twinkle, like Mozart did?) has won the Oppenheim Toy Gold Award 2007. At first I thought it was a bit odd that the 'Shatterer of Worlds' should have a toy award named after him, but then I remembered that it was Oppenheimer who developed the atomic bomb. Still, might have been a nice way to make up for unleashing that on us all... It seems that the Oppenheim Awards are considered quite a credible thing, being an independant consumer reviewer of toys, which hopefully means more than 'it sold a lot'.

K___ got Starz from eBay. Rather bizarrely, and unlike the photo above, our Starz has the LED-containing stars and the hoops the other way around. We think she might have been a second, but she works just fine, so she can stay.

Olivia seems impressed anyway.

Dancing in the Spotlight to the Sound of Clapping Hands

As she is too little for chocolate Olivia got toys for easter. Amongst her extensive haul of loot were some cute fluffy bugs that strap round her wrists and a pair of striped socks with bugs attached. She looks VERY cute wearing them and amuses herself with the jingling bells inside the toys. She is also learning that a key way to explore stuff and see what it does is to put it in your mouth so the wrist toys spend a lot of time covered in dribble!

Here she is playing with her toys. Apoligies for the quality of the photo but it was taken with my phone.

Connected and Ready to Play

Two things that help Mummy get things done. Chardonnay and Aero Bubbles... No I jest! There are, however, two invaluable tools in our household which let Mummy go to the toilet, change the water in the sterilizer, make a cup of tea and other exotic tasks. Those who have taken a look at our movies will be familiar with the wonders of the 'wobble chair' and Mr Whoozit. Mr Whoozit is genius and I would recommend him to any parent. Olivia spends ages staring at him, grabbing the rattles and shapes. Hours of entertainment guaranteed.

The other is her Disney cot mobile. She lays in her crib and stares in wonder as Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet go round and round to the tune of ' Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh' etc.etc. This is invaluable for those longer tasks like hanging out the washing but has two major problems: a) you have to keep running in and winding it up before she starts crying that it has finished. b) you have to listen to the same song OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER.

So there you have it - the secret to my success.

Here she is hypnotised by the Pooh mobile.