Elmo See 'n Say

I was a pretty fussy lady today so Mama opened the Elmo See 'n Say (which I got my from cool Auntie Jen for Christmas) to keep me happy. I probably would have been happy drawing on my face with the blue pen, but Mama thought this might be better.

The toy looks like Elmo ate a huge circle, which is pretty silly at first, but then you get used to it. Ah-nie, Beht, Ab-bee, and Elllmo are all in the circle. When you put a piece in the right place, Elmo talks and sings to you. I played with it a lot today. I am pretty good at putting the orange circle over Ah-nie's face and then finding him again. I clap my hands when I find him.

Mama is really happy that I like this toy so much, but there are a couple of things she doesn't like. First of all, I like to walk around with the little pieces and I drop them wherever I happen to be. She doesn't like stepping on them. Also, Elmo is pretty LOUD. He sings and laughs A LOT and she can't find the "be quiet" button.

Overall, I give this toy 5 out of 5 binkys. This toy is awesome...I just have to make sure Mama helps me find all of the pieces before I lose them all.

Sock Monkey

I like to play with a lot of different toys at once. Mama and Dada have toys all over the house for me to play with. Mostly, I like to play with things that aren't my toys...like credit cards, lip gloss, dee-vee-dees, and pictures. But. Every once in a while I really, really like a toy.

Today I am playing with my sock monkey pop-up-and-almost-scare-me-most-of-the-time-but-then-make-me-giggle box that Auntie Jen gave me for Prezziemas. I'm 13 months old now and most things don't scare me. I'm actually pretty brave. But sometimes this monkey scares me. You turn, turn, turn the handle and it plays music. THEN. A sock monkey POPS out of the box! I like to say "bye-bye" and push him back down. Mama then turns the thing and makes the music play...sock monkey pop out...sock monkey go away...turn, turn, turn...sock monkey come out. It's pretty fun.

I give the sock monkey pop up toy 4 out of 5 binkys. I really don't think it's meant for someone my age...so the turny thing is too hard for my small [pudgy] little hands to turn. That's why I have a good Mama to do it for me. Just as long as I say PEEZE first.

Barn

Today I am playing with my Fisher Price Little People Animal Sounds Barn. Grandma Jackie gave this to me for Christmas and I love it. I knew what to do with it as soon as I opened it. Here are all the things I like to do:

• Open and close all of the doors. Over and over again.
• Put all of the ani-ma-mals in the SILO. I think that's the big tall thing. Anyway, I like to throw them in there and then open the door and let them all out.
• Put the farmer in the barn and shut the door. Sometimes I throw him (her?) inside the barn but then he (she?) falls out the other side. Uh oh.
• Grab the sheep and say BAH.
• Take the cow and walk around the house with him. Leave him in the dog cage (where all of my other special toys live).

I give this barn 4 out of 5 binkys. The only thing that doesn't make a lot of sense is the sound. It's not very good. The animals sound a bit sad. Which is okay. I like to make all of the ani-ma-mal noises myself anyway. Really, every little 1 year old should have a big-kid barn like this!

Poppin' Pals

Today I am playing with Playskool's Busy Poppin' Pals. My Auntie Lori gave me this toy for my birthday. She's a cool auntie. She knows JUST what I like to play with.

This toy is pretty simple. Mama twists, pushes, and turns little thingamabobs on the toy and then ani-ma-mals pop up! I then SLAM them down again and turn and look at Mama and say PEEZE so she will pop them back up again. I LOVE it when the panda pops up. Mama pushes a little yellow button that makes a SQUEEK SQUEEK noise...and then...UP pops panda.

I don't know how to make the ani-ma-mals pop up yet on my OWN. I keep trying to hit that yellow button but no SQUEEK and no panda. I'm fine with Mama doing it for me, but I think she doesn't want to do it anymore. She's trying to be nice, but let's just say, I think SHE thinks I should be able to do it on my own. Harmph. Silly Mama.

I give the poppin' pals 4 out of 5 binkys. The only thing that could make it better would be for the ani-ma-mals to pop up all on their own and stop being stuck inside for so long.

***Update: I can now POP up the panda! I'm SOOOO big!

Ball Popper

Today I am playing with the Playskool Busy Ball Popper, thanks to my good friend Anja who got it for me for my birthday. I'm not sure if you heard, but I turned 1 last month. I'm a pretty big deal.

I just learned how to say BALL. This toy has 5 BALLs and they FLY up in the air and then pop back into the toy. I like to try and stop them from going back down the hole. I take one and put a ball in each hand then run around the house shouting BAAAAUUUUULLL. Mama laughs at me and then asks me to put it back in.

Put it back?

My ball?

Both of them?

Hmmmm...will they come back out?

Promise?

Oh, okey dokey then.

The ball popper also has REALLY good music. The songs only play for about a minute - just enough time to be fun but not annoy Mama.

I give this busy ball popper 5 out of 5 binkys. The only thing I can't quite do it is turn it on. I know the big red button turns it on, but only Mama or Dada is strong enough to do that.

Anja, you can come over any time you want to and play with it...ee-special-ee if you can turn it on.

Puppy

Today I am playing with my singing puppy, also known as the Laugh and Learn Puppy. I have to let you in on a little secret. I have not liked this puppy for a very long time. He has been with me for many months now, but I often stepped over him in search of better toys.

But today? We got along very well in my new tent. The puppy sings songs! I like to clap my hands when he starts to sing. Sometimes his little heart lights up and turns off and lights up and turns off. I wish more of him would light up. Sometimes he also starts singing one song and then when I touch him he starts singing another song. He is a very sensitive little puppy.

Overall, I give singing puppy 3 out of 5 binkys. I like the songs he sings (Pat A Cake, Happy Clap Clap, Piggy to Market, and HeadShoulderKneesAndToes) and I like his voice. Mama sometimes turns him off when he makes too much noise. I don't think she likes it when he talks to me when I don't try and talk to him. He is a very nosey little puppy.

Baby Says Book

Today I am playing with the book, What Does Baby Say?

This book has a lot of babies in it. They are eating and drinking and playing with doggies (get!) It also has little pages that you can flap open and SEE what the baby is doing. Pretty cool. I like to flip open the pages myself, but sometimes Mama helps.

I like it when big people read the book to me. I like to bring the book over to them, put it on their legs, and then cry and pat their arms until they pick me up and read it with me in their lap.

Again.

And again.

I give this book 5+ out of 5 binkys. (It gets a bonus half binky when I get to read it with Gram-pa Tom).