Eddie Bauer Car Seat Bag

We recently went to Chicago to meet up with mommychoy's college friends. It was the first time that we had traveled without my mother-in-law; it was also the first time that we brought along the twins' carseats, instead of the portable ones we had been carrying back when they were younger.

I looked at several car seat travel bags before finally settling in on the Eddie Bauer Car Seat Travel Bag. It got great reviews on Amazon, and not coincidentally, the car seats were Eddie Bauer as well! Unfortunately, it was impossible to find on-line; other people were scouring the web, desperate to find one.

Then I lucked into one at Target. It was on clearance for around $12, and I immediately snapped it up. After looking at other Target stores in the area, I found another one. Success!

The bag itself seems to made of heavy vinyl. The material seemed very durable, not flimsy at all. A carry strap was provided as well. At first, I was worried that the bag was too small. I kept trying to put the car seat in, but it just wouldn't fit! Finally (after twenty minutes of struggling) I figured out that I was putting the car seat in incorrectly. So much for my college degree.

How did it handle the travel? Very well. No scratches, no holes, and the car seats made it through without any rips or tears. The only con is that it's a bit awkward to carry, but that's probably the car seat's fault.

BOTTOM LINE:
Rating: 5 out of 5. Protects the car seat extremely well. The only bad thing is that it's almost impossible to find now. Check the Target store near you--it might still be on clearance. Otherwise, eBay is your best bet.
Bought at: Target

Little Artists Table

One of the things we've been looking for these past couple of weeks is an activity table where the kids can draw, play puzzles and have fun. PJ had her heart set on an activity table from The Land of Nod; unfortunately, it was a bit expensive ($189, $219 with the paper roller), and you had to buy the chairs ($69 for a chair) separately. Still, though, we were gearing up to buy it.

This past weekend we dropped by Costco (one of our favorite hangouts) and lo and behold, they were selling an activity table, complete with four chairs and a paper roller! It was the "Little Artists" activity table by Bayside Furnishings. The price was just right, too--$193, if I remember correctly. That got you the table over at The Land of Nod. I pushed PJ pretty much to buy it, as she was hesitating; there were only three sets left.

I went and assembled it today, and my impressions? Well, aside from two washers that were stuck together (I had to go and grab another washer from my toolbox), assembly was pretty much a breeze. It was harder to disassemble the boxes and put them in the recycle bin! The table itself is pretty sturdy, and the included roll of paper was a nice touch. The chairs seemed strong enough to hold me--although I tried not to tempt the chair gods too much.

My only quibble so far is that the chair colors are a bit too primary, but I can live with that (I can always repaint it if I were so inclined). Other than that (and the stuck washers), it's a dream.

The kids love it. Which is probably the most important thing.

BOTTOM LINE:
Rating: 5 out of 5. Easy to assemble, and compares quite favorably to the more expensive The Land of Nod activity table. Much, much, much cheaper as well.
Bought at: Costco

Baby Babble

Baby Babble is a video created by two speech therapists in order to help babies and toddlers talk. It's a godsend for us, because the twins are a bit delayed in talking. They do talk, forming words, sometimes sentences (mostly Camille), but on the whole they should be talking more than they should be. Part of it is probably due to the fact that Mommy and Daddy are reserved themselves; but we'd rather they be like their grandparents, who are pretty outgoing.

At first glance I thought this was just another Baby Einstein wannabe, cashing in on the huge media craze; indeed, when I first watched it with the kids, it seemed like a cheap imitation, using obviously home-made sets, and public domain music. Not surprising, given that Baby Einstein is now owned by Disney, and thus has a budget that allows them to hire celebrities like Marlee Matlin; the folks who made Baby Babble probably just had a video cam and some editing software. Heck, I might be able to put together something like it, using something like Adobe Premiere.

However, all that doesn't matter if the content itself is good. And it is--the girls were entranced, repeating the syllables and words in the video. There's also a great guide for parents at the end, which tells you how to "speak" to your babies and toddlers to help them along in their quest to talk.

Baby Babble may not be as polished as the Baby Einstein series, but it's well worth the purchase.

BOTTOM LINE:
Rating: 4 out of 5. Production values are somewhat low, but the content well-worth it.
Bought at: Clever Shoppers (on-line)

Why?

There are a lot of toys, books, DVDs and other media out there that purport to help children learn and grow. I know; I've gone through so many of them, trying to help my kids along. I figured that I could share what I thought of these toys, books and DVDs, and possibly help others decide whether they're good buys or not. I know I've spent a lot of time researching things before I buy them; more often than not I get frustrated, not finding anything.

Also, this helps me (a) write, and (b) take photos. As much as possible I'll try to post actual photos of the toys being used, rather than just using stock pictures. If nobody else reads this, fine; at least I get practice.

I'll also try to let you know where I bought the item I'm reviewing. I don't get paid or anything--just want to let you know where the cheapest price is.