Baby Baker Friday - LeapFrog Interactive Goodies

So as you know, I decided that Friday's on the blog would be dedicated to my pregnancy and now, new mummy status.

I know it's not something everyone wants to read about but it is something that I really wanted to do - so I'm doing it - after all, being pregnant and having a beautiful new baby is a huge thing to be happening in my life and I really wanted to share bits and pieces of what is going on amongst these pages.

So here we go

~ Baby Baker Friday ~

~ Hello ~

Well here we are - back in action.

I think the last time Baby Baker Friday was in operation it was way back in February - a whole four months ago - and a lot can change in that amount of time, especially in the world of a baby.

Willow is now fast approaching the eight month mark (on the 15th) and I just don't know where the time has gone - it is whizzing by way too blooming fast.

She is on the cusp of crawling, she has two bottom teeth with a top one just breaking through this morning and she really is starting to get into everything.

It's very true when people say "they don't stay babies for long".

~ Wahhh ~

I have noticed a real change in Willow recently too - she is becoming so inquisitive about her surroundings and you can almost see her little mind weighing things up and processing everything she sees.

I would love to know what she thinks of everything...but because I can't (obviously) I want to help push her development and help her learning progress in any way possible.

And for little ones the best way to do this is through play.

Which is something we certainly do a whole lot of...

~ We babble away to each other all the time and hold some very riveting conversations...

~ We attend a weekly "First Friends" group which helps Willow (and me!) build up social skills by interacting with other similar aged little humans.

~ And we have toys...

So many toys.

Our already way too small house has totally been taken over by hordes of them - at the minute my usually quite organised black and grey themed living room has a huge, brightly coloured ball pool taking residence slap-bang in the middle of it.

But I can't complain - they all serve a very important purpose and it is a purpose which I am one hundred percent all for - educating my little lady.

At the moment, within her vast collection, Willow has a few favourites and I thought I would introduce a couple of them to you...

The first was a gift she received from her Auntie at Christmas and is the "My Pal Violet" teddy from LeapFrog.

I am quite a fan of the range of toys LeapFrog offer at the moment because each one is packed with a whole host of different educational aspects - they light up, they sing, they play music, they count - there's a whole lot going on in the one product.

Fabulous at keeping little minds engaged and busy - and great value for money too.

Violet the teddy is no different - she is not just cute and cuddly she is also interactive and by pressing her paws different games and song modes can be activated.

But Violet doesn't just stop there - oh no - Violet also has a unique personalisation option to her too.

By connecting the teddy to a mobile device and using the LeapFrog website, Violet can be programmed to say specific things - it's really clever actually - we currently have her talking about "Willow", her favourite animal -"a cat", her favourite colour which "is pink" and her favourite food which "is cake" (naturally).

It's fab.

And the toy is really soft to the touch too - I can see it being a firm favourite in our house for a long time to come.

Now the second toy Willow loves right now is something fairly new to us which again comes from LeapFrog and was very kindly gifted to us to have a little look at.

The "Roll & Go Rocking Horse" is perfect for Willow right now as it's aim is to coax little ones into beginning their crawling and exploring journey.

The horse has various different songs and phrases all aimed at helping to aid speech and language development, however the main purpose of this is to help motor development, in particular, crawling.

The slightest touch or nudge to the horse makes it move across the floor a little bit and by doing so it is the hope that baby will want to go and get it again so will begin to crawl and move around.

And it really does work too - Willow will make an attempt to go after it if it is pushed out of her reach but at the moment she does this in more of a roll around the floor style than actually attempting a crawl, but she is getting there.

I really like that the Roll & Go Horse is bright and colourful and that it has a very sturdy, chunky design.

Willow has been comping on the nose area for most of the morning (those pesky teeth are coming through) and there is absolutely no damage to her or to the horse - perfect - because one thing is for certain with babies - they sure do like to chew anything and everything.

As I said, LeapFrog are a favourite of mine and I know that over the years our home will be littered with even more singing, rhyming, moving devices from their range.

Well, there is a little inquisitive mind which needs prompting and pushing over here and when you find something you like that does the job well, why change it.

I actually do wonder how many more toys I can realistically fit in my living room though...

* Roll & Go Horse sent to us for the purpose of a review. All words, photos & images 100% my own