iPad App Review - Five Little Monkeys Play Hide and Seek

~ Posted on Saturday, January 26, 2013 at 7:34 AM ~

We have a couple of Five Little Monkeys apps on my iPad and the latest one that my almost 4 years old boy still loves to read and listen to is of course the "Five Little Monkeys Collection #1" app. So when I received an email pitch on this app, I immediately requested to review it. Without further ado, here goes my feedback...

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* Title: Five Little Monkeys Play Hide and Seek
* Price: $1.99
* Category: Books
* Released: Jan 16, 2013
* Version: 2.1
* Size: 24.1 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: Oceanhouse Media, Inc.
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later.

Description from the product page:

"Mama's out dancing and Lulu is in charge of the Five Little Monkeys. It's bedtime for the rambunctious monkeys, but they persuade Lulu to play hide-and-seek. "Just one game," says Lulu. "Then it's right off to bed. Your bedtime's at eight. That's what your mama said." But there's always time for one more game! Join the Five Little Monkeys as they find the perfect hiding place where even their babysitter can't find them!"

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* 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 storyline where it tells how the Lulu the babysitter plays hide and seek with the 5 little monkeys before their bedtime and was pleasantly surprised at the cute and surprise ending of the story.

* I have just started teaching my boy counting from 11 to 20 about 2 weeks ago and am particularly enjoying this page below where Lulu counted from 1 to 24:

* I used the opportunity in this story app to reinforce the number counting (1 to 20 for now) to my 4 years old boy and also reminded him that when it is time to sleep, we must be serious and stick to bedtime and not be playful anymore.

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You can purchase the "Five Little Monkeys Play Hide and Seek" app from the iTunes App Store.

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I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code 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"

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Product Review - Camo Mint Nap Mat / Roll

~ Posted on Friday, January 25, 2013 at 7:50 AM ~

I have mentioned previously I have the weirdest and luckiest luck ever and always is thankful to God for His blessings that I get to review awesome products which benefits myself and my family! So here goes my review for the "Camo Mint Nap Mat / Roll":

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Camo Mint Nap Mat

Description from the product page:
"If you need a nap mat for your child, and like the camo pattern, then the Camo Mint Nap Mat/Roll is the perfect buy. Made by Mint, this nap mat is padded and lined with nylon and cotton materials. The mat comes with a soft, ribbon trimmed fleecy blanket. You can close the mat with Velcro. The Camo Mint Nap Mat/Roll has the capability to roll up and is able to be handled with a carrying strap. Attached is the soft fleece blanket as well as a removable foam pillow. You can clean the nap mat by removing the foam pillow and placing the mat in the washing machine. The nap mat can be embroidered on the outside pocket or on the bottom corner of the blanket for an extra fee. The nap mats are durable and sturdy. Other Camo Mint items are available to buy if you want to create a gift set. The Camo Mint Nap Mat/Roll measures 18.5 inches by 46 inches. The best place to embroider the nap mat is on the outside pocket or on the bottom corner of the blanket."

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The reason why I requested to review the Camo Mint Nap Mat / Roll is I was thinking maybe I could persuade my almost 4 years old boy to sleep on this mat and then let him get the idea of sleeping on his 'own' mattress and then hopefully transition him to his own bed. Also, I was thinking far ahead that we can bring along this Camo Mint Nap Mat / Roll whenever we go for our family holiday hehehe...

I will begin my review by describing about the Camo Mint Nap Mat / Roll. Firstly, I chose this design because my boy is into soldier-y stuff and I thought this would totally be a cute idea for him so that he can continue his pretend play to be a soldier and nurture his imagination. I also had my boy's name embroidered on the front of the mat to personalise it. I like the soft comfy texture of the blanket and really appreciate that the blanket's width is wider than the mat's width. The sewing work is very good and I like that we can take out the pillow and wash the whole mat!

Camo Mint Nap Mat

The mat came with a strap which you can open up and close easily and allows for easier carrying everywhere you go.I appreciate the simplistic way to fold and unfold this nap mat. Nothing too complicated that my almost 4 years old boy cannot handle.

Camo Mint Nap Mat

As for trying out the nap mat, I placed the nap mat on our parquet floor and then let my boy figured it out himself. He lie down on the map comfortably, adjusting the blanket, even got down to reading his book while lying on the mat and sharing his mat with his baby sister!

Camo Mint Nap Mat

I think my boy likes that the nap mat can be folded back and carried easily. "It's like going camping", he said! I also want to note that the nap mat is not heavy at all as you can clearly see the picture below how my boy carried the nap mat with ease.

Camo Mint Nap Mat

Now, I need to let you guys know this is the first product I get to review that I also hated. Read on to know why...

Yes... this is the first time my 2 kiddos are FIGHTING over something! Arghhhh! I so wished that I could have requested for 2 items to review instead of just one so that my 2 kiddos do not need to fight over it. I had to console my boy and assured him the nap mat is his (because it has his name on it!) and then convinced him to share and let his baby sister use for a while.

See pictures below of my 16 months old girl enjoying her brother's nap mat. She even pretended to nap and looked so comfy in it!

Camo Mint Nap Mat

To be honest, after a few minutes I moved the nap mat onto our bed as I was getting worried my girl might suddenly just sleep and land smack on our parquet floor. Still, my Alyson refused to budge and no matter how I tried to wiggle her body out of the mat, she just lie there happily enjoying the comfy mat!

Camo Mint Nap Mat

In the end, I told Alyson mummy need to pack it up and she even carried it away from her brother and waved us goodbye! -_-

Camo Mint Nap Mat

To sum up my review, this is a wonderful product and the only recommendation I would like to highlight is possibly to have a thicker pillow (the current pillow is fine just that I preferred thicker pillow)

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You can browse for more nap mats designs at: http://www.posylane.com/school/nap-mat.html

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I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the product 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.

I'm a full-time mummy

Do Not Enter! Breastfeeding In Progress!

~ Posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2013 at 7:22 AM ~

Just want to share this door sign that we stick on our bedroom door since our first child was born in March 2009.

That was almost 4 years ago!

Breastfeeding in Progress

Hubby made this door sign and printed it out and we stick it on our door in preparation of our first child's arrival back in early 2009. And it has never been taken off since then... even when our 2nd child comes along.

Total almost 4 years now this trusted sign has been serving us well, warning guests and visitors from simply intruding into our room (especially during the first month when our 2 kiddos were born and I was trying to establish my breastfeeding pattern and schedule)

I think this idea of a door sign is especially helpful if you are planning to breastfeed and would like total privacy when breastfeeding your newborn child. It sends a polite message that you do not wish to be disturbed at the moment and you also don't have to end up like you are being disrespectful for telling people to back off while you are breastfeeding.

What do you think?