Testing Toys

SI and DD investigating their new car toys

Recently, I had the very cool opportunity to play test a few new toys. SeatPets, and Tummy Stuffers. (This is pretty much the best perk of being a mommy blogger.)

After watching the promotional material that came with the offer, I was guessing that the kids would have a pretty strong preference for one over the other, so we were fortunate to get TWO SeatPets just in the nick of time to test them out under rather intense circumstances.

The SeatPets arrived in the mail on Friday afternoon.

We installed them into the car, loaded the trunk, and went to sleep.

By 7am the next day, we were off to Michigan for a wedding- a four and a half hour drive. We partied until 11:30pm, local time, and then loaded BACK into the car and drove to Chicago again.

When it works, it's great.

It was a wild 24 hours, and over a third of it was in the car.

The kids play-tested the crap out of their SeatPets.

And I can tell you, with absolute certainty, the benefits and flaws of these toys.

On the one hand, they're incredibly soft and cuddly. They fit easily onto the seat belts, and provide a pillow and pockets for other toys. This is all true, and it's all accurate, and fundamentally, it works.

Until it doesn't.

You see, the SeatPets attach with velcro, but only one side of the velcro. That means that it's pretty easy
to tear the SeatPets off, which I imagine you want to do in the event of an emergency or something. However, it also means that the kid on the driver's side of the car is kind of in trouble.

The act of resting their head on the SeatPet breaks the connection of the velcro, meaning the SeatPet just... well... falls off. One ONE side of the car. Which means if you have kids on BOTH sides of the car, you have one happy, sleepy, snuggly, somewhat gloat-y kid, and one screaming, crying, wailing, disappointed kid who can't figure out why their awesome pink pillow kitty cat car toy doesn't want to snuggle with her.

...which has the opposite effect of what you had hoped on the peacefulness and tranquility of your car ride.

There are a few design flaws in the toy that make it very much a passenger-side-only device. The zipper pocket is inaccessible on the driver's side orientation. But the front pockets are pretty much universal (although small enough that I'm not quite sure what we were supposed to keep in there).

Peacefulness is instantly restored with a box of chocolate moo juice

However, with a little bit of playing around, the kids discovered a wild array of other uses for the
SeatPets.

They velcro straps along the back turn them into very sturdy, tall puppets, which provided a TON of entertainment.

And, of course, they enabled the children to have pillow fights, while in belted into their seats, from across the car.

They play tested the crap out of those SeatPets

The SeatPets do (or can) come with straps, so you can turn them into kiddie messenger bags. THIS is a huge hit with the kids. I have no idea why- the zipper pocket is basically large enough for my wallet, but not much else. And I don't trust the kids with my wallet.

This brings me to toy #2, the Tummy Stuffer.

I thought this was pretty silly. It's not really a toy, it's a household storage device, disguised as a toy. There are dozens of that sort of thing, and let's face it, I've never seen a kid actually playing with any of them.

I thought, wow, this is a goofy thing. And then I thought... but yes, my kids live in a den of clutter and filth. This might help. I'll just give the Tummy Stuffer the benefit of the doubt, and see what happens.

And so I stood in their room, and looked around for what to stuff into the tummy stuffers.

Books? No, that's a terrible idea.

The felt pictures for their felt farm wall thing? No, you need to really see what you're looking for when you go looking for it.

Socks? Come on, they have a drawer for that. And two drawers sitting empty already for when RH moves into their room in the fall.

So I left the room and immediately spotted it.

The freakin' shoes.

My kids have inherited my love of shoes. Oh, how I love shoes. And oh, how they do as well. Which means they've got about a million shoes, half of which are "inside" shoes, or "princess" shoes, and the rest of which are "outside" shoes. now, they know where their shoes go... but I could really take care of an enormous eyesore.

And so, I called the children.

"DD! SI! Look what I have! A monkey who EATS SHOES!!!!!"

They've been utterly delighted for days, feeding the monkey all the shoes he can eat. They know he only wants to eat inside and princess shoes, or he'll get a tummy ache.

And so, much to my surprise, the shoe-eating monkey has become a part of their everyday play. And I have no complaints.

This monkey is full of princess shoes.

So my final review?

If you've got one kid, and they sit on the passenger side of the car, the SeatPet is awesome. If you have two... well... you might want to DIY yourself some snaps or something a little sturdier to keep it on the seat.

And if you have kids who think that animals eating their footwear is hilarious, go for the Tummy Stuffer. It's actually way cuter and more fun than it looks.

Third's First

Three days shy of one year old

Today, my littlest little one is one year old.

One whole year old.

Day one, and the light of my life

And I feel sadness, along with all my pride and joy and shock.

I'm sad because I know I haven't given my little girl as much of me as I gave her big sisters.

One month old and enamored with her sisters

I worried about that during the pregnancy- I knew that she would never experience having me to herself. SI and DD never really had that either- they always had to share me.

But with RH, it's different.

During the girls' first year, I took about 8,000 pictures of them.

Two months old and already full of smiles

That is not an exaggeration.

I haven't even taken a third as many of ALL THREE of my kids in the past year. Because I don't have the luxury of snapping photos of every amazing moment, of every outfit, every smile, every new food, every first.

I haven't even blogged the majority of those things.

Three months old, fat and sleepy

RH is amazing. She might not walk, but she talks up a storm. At one day shy of her first birthday, she learned a new word. She could already say, "mama," and "dada," but she can also garble DD's name... which she uses for both sisters indiscriminately. She says "baby" to her reflection, to baby dolls, to pictures of babies on boxes of diapers. She says, "Hi," "Hello," and "Buh-bye" while waving. She says "banana." And now? "Book!"

Four months old and full of wonder

She blows kisses. She gives sweet, tender little kisses with an adorable little "mwah!" sound. Every few minutes, when she's playing, she'll see me and crawl over as fast as she can, and bury her face against my skin. Like she's checking in, making sure I'm still there. Still warm and snuggly, ready to pick her up and rock her and sing to her if she wants me to.

Five months old and sweet as anything

At the table, she's a riot. When you're feeding her, she puts her fists up and bobs around in her chair like a boxer in the ring, bob and weave, bob and weave, bob and weave... as though she's going to get the plastic spoon of squash with a mean right hook. She LOVES to dance, which she does while sitting or in anybody's arms. She's incredibly social, and friendly, and curious.

Six months old and already loves books

She studies things. She watches and mimics. She is a remarkably serious baby.

Seven month old and growing teeth

But when she's on the changing table, and I give her loud, wet kisses under her chin, she laughs with a belly laugh that you just want never to end.

Eight months old and a lover of the great outdoors

Whenever the front door opens, she makes a break for it. She loves being outside and going for walks, or playing in the grass, more than almost anything.

Just like her sisters, she is absolutely and inseparably attached to her frog lovey. She holds it so tight, tighter that I think anyone has ever held a lovey, and then faceplants into it on the floor.

Nine months old and learning to share

Sometimes, when I rock her and sing to her, and feel her small body pressed between my arms and my chest, it's all I can do not to cry. Because I can't believe that this has happened- that she has grown to this wonderful little person who looks so much like me and bizarrely so much like my father-in-law.

Ten months old with a mind of her own

And I can't believe how soon it will be that she has the strange, hard feet of a three year old, stomping through my house, and the long, curly locks of the little girl I haven't yet met. Who I long to meet, and can't bear the thought of replacing this sweet, sweet baby.

Eleven months old and on the move

One year ago, I spent the night in agony as she tried her best to rip her way out of my abdomen, alien style. After I saw the incredibly long, chubby infant with ancient eyes who stared and me as though I had somehow insulted her by forcing her into the world, I became a mother all over again. Everything changed again. Everything was amazing again.

One year old and the life of the party

Today, RH is a whole year old.

At a wedding on Saturday, she and the bride became BFFs

I still haven't taken good pictures of her nursery, all the work I put into it to show you.

I still haven't finished it.

My three favorite girls

I don't play favorites with my kids, not intentionally. I don't give RH the attention her sisters got when they were her age.

But I love her just as intensely as I have ever loved another person. I revel in her babyhood in a way that I never did with DD and SI. I long for it to somehow last long enough for me to drag out the same number of perfect moments that I had with her sisters, when they were infants. But it can't be, and it won't be, because my family is different now than it was a year ago.

The SuperMommy clan

Now, we are a family of five.

Happy Birthday, littlest one.

We're crazy for that baby

I love you more than I can say.