I'm a full-time mummy

Seriously people, the moment I saw the words "Little Critter" in the latest Oceanhouse Media's press release in my email inbox, my heart went "Eeeepppp! I gotta have it! It's 2am and I don't care, I've gotta request to review this! And it's a bunch of its story in the first collection! Eeepppp!!" The moment I received the promo code to redeem this app, I quickly download it and then I slept happily... and really excited and can't wait to show it to my boy when he wakes up!

* Title: Little Critter Collection #1
* Price: $11.99
* Category: Books
* Released: Mar 26, 2012
* Current Version: 1.08.3
* Size: 95.3 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: Oceanhouse Media, Inc.
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 3.1 or later

Description from the product page:

"Little Critter Collection #1 features 10 popular Little Critter stories that lovingly address all the major issues of growing up. Children will easily identify with Little Critter's adventures as he maneuvers through childhood one day at a time.
* All By Myself Little Critter doesn't always do everything perfectly, but he always does the best he can.
* I Just Forgot On rainy days he remembers his raincoat but forgets his boots. At home he takes a bath but forgets to use soap. Poor Little Critter!
* I Was So Mad He wanted to keep frogs in the tub but his mom said he couldn't. He wanted to paint the house but his Grandpa said no. Little Critter was SO mad.
* Just Me and My Mom Little Critter enjoys a special day in the city with his mother. He means well, but gets himself in trouble all along the way.
* Me Too! Little Sister tags along wherever he goes. Whether he's playing football with friends or hiding in his secret tree house, she always finds him. "Me too!," she says.
* The New Potty This light-hearted story of common potty training frustrations encourages children to keep trying, just as Little Sister does.
* Just Grandma and Me Little Critter becomes a good helper when he and grandma decide to spend a day at the beach!
* Just for You Sweet Little Critter wants to do something special for his mom, but he's a little too little and a lot too silly to get anything quite right.
* The New Baby At first, getting along with the new baby seemed like an impossible task, but soon enough Little Critter learns how to be a good big brother.
* When I Get Bigger Little Critter day dreams about all the exciting things he'll do when he gets bigger like having a paper route and staying up late watching movies."

I have some of the Little Critter story apps on my iPad such as "The New Baby", "All By Myself" and "Just Me and My Mom" (Lite version which Ben loves because it has trains, dinosaurs and stuff in the story). I realised my boy likes listening and watching Little Critters so yes, I am definitely happy I get to review this collection! (and I've gotta keep my eyes open for the next collection hahaha!)

What's good?

* It is engaging and interactive and I love that we can also touch the objects in each page on the screen and the words pop out to tell you what it is!

* I like "The New Potty" as Ben is off diapers during daytime now and I think he can relate to the idea of using potty well and likes watching how Little Critter tries to help his little sister in her potty training process.

* In "Just Grandma and Me", Ben got excited when he saw the beach as it reminded him of our recent family trip to Penang where our hotel is just right in front of the beach! I took this opportunity to show him how Little Critter enjoys spending time with his grandma.

* The rest of the story in this collection are very good as well as it comes with lessons to learn which we can instill on our children - such as to be helpful, to stay calm, to be more responsible and so on.

You can purchase the " Little Critter Collection #1" app from the iTunes App Store.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code by the sponsor to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"

I received 2 booklets of the PocketRescue Series by Katrin Bain for my review. So here goes my review for the 2 booklets:

Title: Tension, Tears and Tantrums & Family Meals
Author: Katrin Bain
 ASIN:  B0065EBXXI & B007DI15WY
Paperback:  33 pages
Dimension:  inches

Description for "Tension, Tears and Tantrums":
"PocketRescue is a series of short books that offer parents no nonsense advice on one particular topic. They are short and to the point without condescending the content.
Have you ever
• shouted at your child and regretted it afterwards?
• got angry because your child is behaving
unreasonably?
• been embarrassed by a public tantrum?
Then this booklet supports you in reducing the stress your children’s behaviour causes you and enables you to respond calmly to your child.
It covers tantrums and unreasonable behaviour and includes:
- Why do children have tantrums?
- 3 ways to respond to a tantrum.
- How to stay calm, clear and connected when responding to your child."

Description for "Family Meals":
"PocketRescue is a series of short books that offer parents no nonsense advice on one particular topic. They are short and to the point without condescending the content. Have you ever
• Wished your child would eat a wider variety of food?
• Tried to coerce your child into eating?
• Been disappointed that your cooking has been rejected?

If your life as a parent of small children is anything like mine, you will be familiar with fussy toddlers, messy meal times and the frustration when yet another meal has been left untouched. This booklet supports you in reducing the stress around mealtimes in two ways. First, it looks at the meaning of food and messages you are sending out. Secondly it offers practical advice to plan, shop and cook delicious family meals without spending all day in the kitchen."

I find that the booklets are pretty nifty and easy to carry along.The information are easy to refer to as well.

For the "PocketRescue: Tension, Tears and Tantrums" booklet, it has helpful information on trying to understand the reasons for your child in having tantrums. It provides good tips on what we should do when such incidents occurs, how to stay calm and yet try to resolve the situation using the best ways possible.

For the "PocketRescue: Family Meals" booklet, it contains practical advice on how to shop and do meal planning for the family. It also comes with some recipes as well.

You can get the PocketRescue: Tension, Tears and Tantrums and PocketRescue: Family Meals from Amazon.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the booklets by the author in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous book reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My Book Reviews"

Last week, my cousin's daughter passed away. She was their first child and was just 3 months old.

I didn't know the exact details of the cause of death, I was told by another cousin that the baby was found not breathing by her nanny on Monday morning and her parents rushed over to pick her up from the nanny's place and then rushed to the hospital. The doctors managed to resuscitate her but she's practically brain dead even though the heart beat was there. She passed away 2 days later.

Just like that, a life cut short...

You know, sometimes when you feel frustrated with your kids:

- think about the parents who lost their child like this

- think about the parents who suffered miscarriages or had stillborn and never get to see their or touch their baby at all

- think about the couples who cannot even get pregnant and never get to experience being pregnant and feel the growing belly bump and being kicked by their baby

Think about that and start appreciating your children...