Munchkin - Easy Squeezy Spoon Review

I recently won a little competition on Twitter being held by the lovely Liz, or you may know her as The One Handed Cook, the competition was for the Munchkin Easy Squeezy Spoon.

It was perfect timing as I had just started to wean my youngest, Benjamin.

The Product Blurb

• A baby spoon for no-mess, one handed feeding at home or on the go - feeding with a simple squeeze makes meal times a breeze!!

• Holds 4oz of baby food

• Made of silicone

• BPA free

• Suitable for 4 months onwards

• Available in blue, green or pink

My view

The spoon I received was pink but that didn't bother me, nor Benjamin!!! 

On first inspection of the product it seemed really easy to operate, you unscrew the lid an either spoon in the food from the jar or directly in from a pouch.

The spoon has an open and closed setting to lock and seal the main food compartment so the food cannot escape whilst in transit in your bag, and a clear solid lid covering the whole spoon.

When you need to feed baby just turn to open setting, squeeze food into spoon and your off!!!

The blurb says for best results use with stage one or most stage two baby foods.

Ben eating his
porridge

I found that the spoon didn't cope very well with the stage 2 mashed food due to the small opening on the spoon, so wouldn't advise to use this in the later stages of weaning, unless you want to be unblocking the spoon all the time.

Another problem I found was that it is really hard to try and prevent any air bubbles mixing in with the food as if mid squeeze a bubble is found the food in front of it rockets out over baby and highchair!!

The concept of this spoon is good but I`m not 100% there is a need for it as the pouches and pouch spoons that are available on the market do the same job with less fuss and mess.

Saying that Benjamin did seem to enjoy being fed from this spoon but unfortunately due to it blocking up and being tricking preventing the air bubble explosions I didn`t use it as often as I should of done :-(

The Portable North Pole Experience Review

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the Elves at Portable North Pole or PNP and was asked to review their premium PNP experience......I jumped at the chance. I have used PNP for the last two Christmas`s and the boys have loved it.

PNP is a concept that allows parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, brothers, sisters etc to personalize a video message from the big man himself.

There are numerous ways to tailor the experience to your child, e.g. name, age, what year at school they are in, favorite sport, siblings names etc.

Its great as you get to see the Elves finding out as to whether your child is on the naughty or nice list and the preparations of the Elves ready for the big day.

PNP`s database holds hundreds of thousands of children`s names so you will be very unlucky to not find the name you are looking for.

Over the 6 years that PNP has been running the range available of products has grown immensely to now includes a phone call from Santa, a letter from Santa, a nice list certificate, a colouring book and personalised place mat.

The free version is basic but still mesmerizing for the kids, the premium version is BRILLIANT!!

The message is emailed to you in a link which can be viewed on almost all media platforms.

The basic version can be viewed as many times as you like ONLY during the holiday period, where as the premium version is available to view till mid March.

You are asked to give alot more details for the premium video so making the experience alot more personal.

The boys faces when they watched the videos to them was priceless - a moment I will never ever forget. They couldn`t believe that Santa knew our email address or knew what their year of school they are in!!

I have to say that the premium video is a must.

I have used the free basic video before and it is good but nothing compared to the unique experience the premium version brings.

PNP is definitely going to become a Christmas tradition in the Wood household and I cannot wait to get little Benjamin involved in the next few years.

I have arranged for Santa to ring the boys nearer Christmas so will report back with their
verdict once the big man has called.

Thanks to the Elves at PNP I am able to offer all my readers a voucher code for 20% off all personalised products up until January 1st 2014....enjoy, I know you will or rather the kids will!!!

BLG20BKP

First dry night!!

This morning I woke up to find that son #2 had had his first night of not wearing a nappy with NO accidents!!

I was a little skeptical that it was too soon for us to try no nappy at night so I had been prepared to be woken up in the night to him saying he had wet the bed. I`d even placed a spare bed sheet and a couple of absorbent bed pads in a pile next to his bed ready; but no he did it!!

I know we will have a few accidents along the way to being completely dry at night, but who cares??

The smile on his face this morning when I told him I was proud of him and that he was becoming a big boy was priceless. A sight I will never forget, he looked so chuffed with himself.

It`s the little things in life that make you happy, and only parents know how it feels when their little ones hit a milestone x

UBC...epic fail :-(

Well, its now November and the Ultimate Blog Challenge is well and truly over, and its safe to say that I failed miserably at posting 31 posts in 31 days.

I did try my hardest but October has been a hard month for the Wood household as we all had a stomach bug which hit little Benjamin the hardest, bless him, its taken him almost 3 weeks to fully recover :-(.

I am proud of myself for doing what I did for only to of been blogging 2 months now.

My aim now is to still blog as often as possible, learn how to schedule posts, increase my blog traffic and maybe try a few competitions.

Keep checking back to see what happens!!

Pets and Fireworks

Halloween is over and fireworks night is well and truly upon us; it may be fun for us but we must remember our pets.

As a Veterinary Nurse this is a crucial time to help educate pet owners on how to help their pets with the stresses of fireworks.

Yes animals get stressed and so do owners but the main thing to remember for you is to to not get too anxious about it as your pet will pick up on it and in turn be worse.

Fireworks will be going off around you and there is nothing you can do about it so DON`T STRESS!!

Here are a few pointers that could help with the firework period.

Please note that these pointers are not guaranteed to work with every animal, each animal is different. These are my own recommendations, your own Veterinary Surgeon`s advise may differ.

• If possible try to act as normal as possible, do not make a big scene if fireworks start up suddenly; animals, like children like routines.

• With dogs try to take them for a long walk before it gets dark to tire them out and to minimize the chances of them being out in the dark when the fireworks start.

• A meal of pasta can be given early evening to dogs to help make them slightly dopey, downside is that if they become too stressed and vomit it wont be pretty!!

• Keep the curtains shut and TV on a little louder than normal, or turn the radio on to help drain out the noise of the fireworks.

• Make sure all windows, doors and cat flaps are kept shut as soon as it gets dark.

• Keep cats inside overnight and provide a litter tray.

• Ignore bad behavior or signs of stress, eg panting and pacing.

• Provide distractions eg new toys or treats.

• DO NOT discipline your pets if they do mess in the house, this will only make the situation worse.

• There are many products available from your vets that can help calm your pets down prior to the fireworks going off. A diffuser called Adaptil for dogs and Feliway for cats can help to reduce anxiety. Plus natural remedies such as Zylkene tablets and even Bach`s Rescue Remedy!!

• For rabbits and guinea pigs that live outside DO NOT bring them inside for only a night or two, this can do more harm than good as they are acclimatized to the temperatures outside. Just provide plenty of bedding materials for them to nestle down in.

If you have any questions or concerns about your pets please do not hesitate to ring your local Veterinary Surgery for advise, we don`t bite and aim of our job is to prevent problems before they happen!!!

Halloween fun - am I a hypocrite??

Am I preaching a double standard and being a hypocrite???

I have no problem with my 2 eldest boys having fun with the preparations of Halloween, e.g dressing up, carving pumpkins, going to Halloween parties, but NOT participating in the actual act of `Trick or Treating`.

I don`t believe that it is ok to let them knock on strangers doors and basically beg for sweets.

Why is it ok for our kids to do this when every other day of the year we drum it into them not to speak to strangers, not to take sweets from strangers and to not beg???

This issue may put a few peoples backs up but this is my view and its the same of a few friends of mine.

Saying that my boys loved getting ready for Halloween this year and didn't even want to go `Trick or Treating`.

We carved pumpkins; well hubby carved whilst the kids played with seeds and insides, made kid-safe jack o-lanterns (milk bottles with glow sticks inside and drawn on faces!!), made scary eye lamps (cardboard toilet roll holders with cut out eyes and glow sticks inside), chocolate rice crispy spiders and scary shapes, and went in fancy dress to a friends house for a kids Halloween party.

They loved the whole experience and I don't believe that they missed out on not going `Trick or Treating`. Do you???

My First Apple And Cinnamon Crumble

This is sad to admit at 32 but I have never made a crumble of any kind!!

I like to try new things in the kitchen but for some reason never thought of trying a crumble.

After the recent `storm` my mums garden was covered in cooking apples which had fallen from her neighbours garden. Initially I thought about gathering them up to make some apple puree for Benjamin but whilst I was stood peeling the apples I decided to give a crumble a go.

The smell of the house whilst cooking it was amazing.....just like Christmas.

And I have to admit it was lovely!!! Hubby, who is very picky with his food, ate all of his serving and even asked for more.

After this success crumbles are now going to be a regular on the Woods`s dinner table, I may even take a stab at a pie next time!!!

Has the blackberry season finished now??