I'm a full-time mummy

I have the privilege of reviewing a children's book by Alona Frankel (illustrated by her as well) called "Once Upon a Potty: Boy".

Author & Ilustrator: Alona Frankel
Publisher: Firefly Books
ISBN: 978-1554072835
Hardcover: 40 pages
Dimension: 7.2 x 7.3 x 0.4 inches

Product description from Little One Books website:

"In 1975, Alona Frankel wrote and illustrated her first book, especially for her son Michael, on how to use the potty. Thirty-two years later, Once Upon a Potty -- Boy and its companion Once Upon a Potty -- Girl are the classic books on potty training. These children's books help parents everywhere deal successfully with an often vexing challenge for the whole family. Thanks to its timeless words and beloved images, Once Upon a Potty -- Boy is being discovered and used by a new generation of parents. "

This book is provided by Little One Books for my review. Now, a brief introduction to them:

"We specialize in quality books, music, and video, for children birth through age five, and have personally reviewed and selected each and every item in our store. You'll find detailed information on why we prefer a particular product in our "Why We Chose" section of each product page.
At Little One Books, we match each product to what we believe is the youngest appropriate age group. However, our carefully selected items can and will be used for many years to come. As children develop they often find pleasure in revisiting illustrations from old favorites, and eventually learning to read them on their own."

Honestly, we've been getting hints and well-meaning advices from people around us that Ben should be potty trained already at this age (he's 19 months old btw)! I don't know how others did it but hubby and I felt that we should let nature takes its course, I mean, Ben will be ready when he's ready.

But that doesn't mean that I can't read any information pertaining to potty training right?

So, I requested this particular book the moment I saw the cute illustrations on the cover of this book. I've always been very much geared to separated gender books, meaning if there are books that are generalised for both boys and girls, and books that are for boys only, I'll definitely go for the boys books. I find it easier for my son to relate himself to the story when it's illustrated and told from their point of view.

Check out Ben's reactions as he flips through the book...

One thing I don't like about this book is how the potty is being potrayed. Honestly, it looks like a vase (with a handle) to me. I find myself subtly covering the handles when I go through the book with Ben, maybe it's just me, but I don't want him to go around seeing anything (such as a vase with handle) and think that's a potty! I also flipped through the pages where the little boy initially wonders what is the object (potty) given to him by his grandma. For example, he wears it on his head  wondering whether it's a hat (no, I don't want Ben doing that!).

As for illustrations wise, I totally love it! It's cute and doesn't seem gross at all! The paper quality of the book is good as well, thick enough for easy handling. I don't mind the terms used to represent peeing ('Wee-Wee' in the book, I used 'Pee-Pee') and pooping (both the book and I used 'Poo-Poo').

Now, I just want to highlight that the moment I received the book, I went through 1 round with Ben (just make up my own story as we go along) and I can immediately see some results, albeit a small one, but it is very exciting to see my boy approaching the potty and trying to sit on it (of course, he's still wearing his diapers and pants), but the point is he approached the potty without us coaxing him into doing that! It happened so fast that I don't have enough time to grab my camera to snap this memorable moment!

Pictures below taken 2 days after we received the book:

Picture on the left of Ben sitting on the potty (with his pants on) when I asked him to show me how the little boy sat on the potty. Please note that prior to this book, Ben never approach nor even touch the potty at all (it's in our bathroom to get him to familiar himself with) and now, he's sitting on it!

Picture on the right of Ben passing back the potty to me when I asked him how the boy gives the potty back to his mummy when he's done with his poo-poo and pee-pee.

Amazing milestones I would say! I'm still very happy and glad I chose this book! It'll definitely be used again and again until Ben is potty trained successfully. In the meantime, I'm already a very happy mummy seeing the mini milestones achieved by my boy within such a short span of time!

Overall, I give this book a 9 out of 10.

You can get this book from Little One Books and many more.

But wait!!!

I'm not going to leave you reading this long review of mine without something right? Now hear me out, ONE of my lucky awesome blog reader/visitor will be able to win a $25 gift certificate from Little One Books! Yup! You read that right!

Your awesome bloggy pal here has got the greenlight to hold a giveaway for a gift certificate worth $25! Woohoo!!

* Eligibility: OPEN WORLDWIDE!

* Giveaway expires on 15th November 2010 (Malaysia time)

* You must fulfil the mandatory entry 1st (which is to provide your valid email address & answering the question), else you will be disqualified.

* Winner will be randomly drawn using Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to  my email notification or a new winner will be drawn.

* Winner will receive their prize sent directly by Little One Books.

To enter the giveaway, kindly click at the link shown below and the entry form will appear in a new window:

* $25 Gift Certificate Giveaway Entry Form *

(Link has been disabled as entry closed at 12midnight past 15th Nov 2010)

It'd be great if you could leave me a comment once you have submitted your entry so that I can check and ensure it's safely tracked into my database.

So what are you waiting for?!! Hurry up! You have 1 month time from now to join in the fun and try your luck!

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a copy of the book by Little One Books 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"

You have no idea the amount of trouble and time (FYI, almost HALF A YEAR) taken for both the company sponsor and I to be able to do a review for this cool product:

Before I begin my review, I'd like to give a note of thanks to Casey from Bummas, for all the trouble taken to get this product to reach me safely. It took a total of THREE attempts just to get this cool product safely into our hands (I hope the earlier two falls into the hands of someone who makes good use of it, I totally dread the thought of someone stealing my parcel!)

Now in my experience of doing products and book reviews, I personally have not encountered anyone as helpful as Casey in trying and trying and trying and not give up hope in this. Well, what can I say, this company is such an awesome one to work with!

Bummas come in 5 varieties of colors and they are:

Product information taken from the Bummas website:

* Eliminates the use of talcum powder.
* 100% Cotton - Woven Velour Terry Cloth milled in the USA. 
* Variety of color combinations for nursery themes.
* Handy 5” x 7” size. Won’t pill, shrink, or fade.
* Durable. Just throw them in the wash and use again.
* They will last until your little one is out of diapers and beyond!    
* Made in the USA

I received "The Wild Ones" for my review and it is definitely a good choice!

I love the vibrant colors!

Beautiful right? Like a cute little bouquet of roses, only that it's actually baby cloth wipes instead of roses. Took me a while to finally willing to take out the cloths... they look so pretty and comfy and nicely cocooned up together that I hate to break open the band holding them together. Sigh, alas, for the sake of doing a product reviews and bringing you guys my honest feedback on this, I had to do it.

I love the soft feel of the cloth wipes. It's even softer than the handkerchiefs we're using for Ben.

One thing I don't quite like is the size of it. We've been accustomed to using handkerchiefs which are like at least 6 by 6 inches and I have to admit I still very much prefer if Bummas are a bit bigger in size. My MIL actually offered to sew up 2 of them to make into 1 bigger piece. Arghhhh! I had to nag her not to touch my products which are meant for reviews then only she relented.

My feedback in general:

* Touch - Love the soft cottony feel, comfortable on Ben's skin
* Colors - Vibrant colors which are easy for the eyes and easy for me to locate! Though I do wonder why some are in solid colors.
* Size - Should be bigger a bit
* Durability - Good, have been using for a month on now and no shrinking or fading yet

You can purchase your own set of Bummas from their own website at http://www.bummas.com/buy-bummas.html or for those around my country area, you can get it from the Singapore distributor at Heart @ Mind website.

But wait...!!!

Casey has offered to give a set of Bummas (your own choice of ONE set) and delivers it FREE OF CHARGE to one of my lucky blog reader/visitor!

Yipeee!!

Do the following steps:

1. Become Bumma's fan on their Facebook page (you can also find them on my Facebook page)

2, Leave a comment on Bumma's Facebook page saying "@I'm a full-time mummy sent me over!"

3. Leave me a comment in this very post telling me which set you like (choose wisely, it will be the one you're going to get if you win)

That's all! Three easy-peasy steps to enter this awesome worldwide giveaway!

No need to be my blog follower (although that would be a sweet gesture) or Tweet this and that. Just make sure your email address is valid else if I can't contact you, I'm choosing the next lucky winner! I will accept comments from now until 12th November 2010 and the winner will be selected via Random.org.

Oh, just to be clear, this giveaway is OPEN WORLDWIDE!

So come on, what are you waiting for?!

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a free product by Bummas 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.

You have no idea how hard it is for us to keep this to ourself! I've been contacted by Nathalie from the Musebox a couple of weeks ago to do a review for her latest project, The Rattles, a lively band of furry, family-friendly critters who released their debut album, 'Rattle On' on August 17th.

Excerpt from Nathalie's email to me:

"With a fresh, modern fusion of classic rock and power pop, similar to The Beatles, They Might Be Giants, and The Monkees, this colorful quartet has set themselves apart from the average children's music group by creating a listening experience that parents and adults can enjoy as well. Similar to the music of Yo Gabba Gabba, this project is about creating music EVERYONE can groove out to!"

The moment I clicked on to the link given (sample 3 songs provided in The Rattles website), Ben just got down to dancing and shaking and nodding his head. I've never seen my boy reacted so quickly to a song!

Believe me, even just by listening to the 3 songs provided in The Rattles website are enough proof for us that this music album is totally awesome!

If you don't believe me, see for yourself by clicking the following thumbnails to view Youtube videos of Ben dancing to one of the songs.

Pictures below are taken when I received the actual music CD from Nathalie for my full review. 

Ben checking out the album cover and brochure inside.

Picture from left to right: Back cover, CD cover and the "Made with Recycled Materials" symbol.

What I love about this music album?

* Ben gets down to dancing and grooving to the songs!

* The members in the band are a band of furry, family-friendly critters, all cutely illustrated

* The music video and sound is perfect for Ben at this age who loves fun, groovy and cartoonish stuff now!

* The music is not just for children. Even hubby and I are dancing along to the songs too!

* Their music CD is made of recycled materials! How eco friendly is that?!

* Our favorite songs: Rattle On, R-A-T-T-L-E-S, Lucky Sam's Banana Stand, Wavy Lane, Goodbye Yesterday.

You can purchase the album at: http://www.rattlesrock.com/Shop.html

But wait... did I mentioned I received another copy of the music CD for a giveaway to one of my lucky awesome blog reader/visitor?

Yup! You read that right!

Your awesome bloggy pal here has got the greenlight to hold a giveaway for a copy of The Rattles music CD!

Okay,

First condition:

The giveaway copy of The Rattles music CD is with me now (all sealed nicely and beautifully), so I can only open up this giveaway to my blog readers and visitors with mailing adress in MALAYSIA only as I'm actually bearing the delivery charges myself.

Now, I repeat, this giveaway is only for people with mailing address in MALAYSIA.

Second condition:

Just leave me a comment in this post telling me "I DESERVE THIS MUSIC ALBUM BECAUSE...". Make sure your email address is valid so that I can contact you if you win! (Don't worry, only admin can view the email addresses and I don't have time to collect and sell your email addresses :P)

I will accept comments from now until 31st October 2010.

The lucky winner will be selected based on the best entry on why you think you deserve to win the giveaway music CD. If I find out your mailing address is not based in Malaysia, I have the right to pick another winner!

Simple right? One comment to me on why you deserved to win. No need to be my blog follower (althought that would be a sweet gesture), no need to do extra things for additional entries or whatsoever. And selection of 1 lucky winner is based on the best entry instead of random draw. So what are you waiting for? Go and think of an awesome reason for winning this and submit your comment in this post.

(*Note: Internet Explorer users please comment via the Google Comment widget on the top right sidebar)

Our whole family would like to give a note of thanks to Nathalie from the Musebox for this wonderful opportunity to review this fantastic album! You have no idea how much Ben loves dancing along to The Rattles's songs!

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with an actual The Rattles music CD to assist 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.