We are a Baby Einstein family and I ain’t too proud to say it. We love all things Baby E around our house. Bean’s favorite books right now are two oversized toddler books about colors and nursery rhymes (Pretty Poems and Wonderful Words and Who Lives in the Pond). Our first diaper bag (which was stolen) (jerks) was a Baby Einstein bag. We listen to Baby Einstein CD‘s in the car. We watch Baby Einstein DVD‘s at home.
Baby Einstein should set up their headquarters in my house. It’d save me a lot of time and money.
A couple weeks ago I saw a commercial on TV for a new Baby E product and so, naturally, I Google’d and Twittered and Facebook’d until I got more information on it. The new products are called Discovery Kits and when I finally got my grubby paws on one (a great Christmas present idea, by the way…), there were a LOT of choices to make! There are nine different kits available now and more to come!
The one we ended up getting was the World of Colors kit.
It came with a DVD, a CD, and a book that all teach about colors through puppets, shapes, and even real, famous artwork.
Bean loves the DVD. He likes the puppets and his favorite is the blue scene. He says, “Booo! Booo!” We got the DVD at such a good time, too, because Bean’s learning colors at school right now so they support what he’s learning in real life.
Bean’s favorite part of the Discovery Kit though is the little book that came with it. It is the perfect size for him and he carries it everywhere.
He “reads” it out loud and occasionally I can hear him naming a color – which makes the teacher in me so proud!
HE CAN BE TAUGHT!
(name that movie)
The kind folks at Baby Einstein were going to sponsor a lovely giveaway the week that my new website launched a couple months ago, but I never got my act together and we didn’t get it together in time. So, I asked if they’d be interested in doing a Baby Einstein Discovery Kit giveaway instead since it has become my gift du jour this Christmas for anyone with small children. And – yay! – they agreed!
So, here’s the deal: To enter to win a Baby Einstein Discovery Kit, leave a comment telling me what kind of educational toys are popular in your house. If you post a link to this blog post from your Facebook account, enter to win again! If you Twitter about the giveaway with a link to the post (be sure to @ me so I see your tweet), enter to win again! The giveaway will close on Sunday, Dec. 5, and a winner will be announced on Monday, Dec. 6.
Whether or not you win, be sure to check out the Discovery Kits in stores everywhere. They’ll make you feel good about what your kids are reading and watching and this time of year they make great gifts or stocking stuffers for the wee ones in your life.
This is not a paid advertisement, yo.
Over Thanksgiving weekend, we spent a day at Sea World with Chris’ mom and sister. I had never been before, but I figured Bean would like it because he’s really into fish right now. Specifically whales. He has this book with pictures of different types of sea life that has sound effects for each body of water and his favorite is the blue whale page. I think he likes the long, one-note sound that the whales make.
Anyway, we thought Sea World would be a big hit.
And we were right.
We went to the Shamu show and the stadium was so big that I worried that he wouldn’t be able to see the whales or wouldn’t know what he was looking at.
But he didn’t have a problem with that at all. He focused on the whales the whole time and pointed to them shouting, “Waaaalll! Waaaalll!”
The Shamu show was actually pretty impressive. They had these massive killer whales doing the craziest things. Like this whale:
Not only did he beach himself up on this platform, but then he started spinning himself around in a circle before finally backing himself down the platform and back into the water again. It was incredible!
Bean’s favorite part though was when the whales swam around the edge of the pool, splashing the crowds with their tails. He thought that was so funny!
We also headed over to the sting ray pool. They had these shallow pools of water with giant sting rays swimming around in them and you could put your hand in the water and touch them. Notice that I said, “you could.” As in, I didn’t. And neither did Bean. But, he really loved watching them swim by so close.
We also got really close to the dolphins. There was this area where you could pay all this money to feed the fish by hand. Instead, we went under the feeding area and saw them through glass…
…and then we went up to the feeding area and stood just on the other side of the rope. Basically, we mooched off of their expensive, family experience.
And as if we weren’t already close enough to the fish, Chris and Bean actually got IN a fish tank with them.
Funny story about this little viewing area in the fish tank. I got this great idea that all three of us – Chris, Bean, and me – should climb into the hole together and have our picture made as a family. How fun! But in order to get up inside the little hole, you had to climb through this even smaller hole to get up under the fish tank. And – funny thing – I didn’t fit in the hole. My belly was too big. Awesome.
See that clown fish right there swimming by Bean? He kept calling out, “Nemo! Nemo!”
After a morning of all that excitement, Beaner was worn out.
So Chris and his sister, Annie, took advantage of the downtime to get a few rides in. Personally, I am not a roller coaster person. I’d rather sit on a bench and drink lemonade while I wait for other people to attempt death while strapped to a small, upside down train. It’s just who I am.
Chris though? Totally would rather be on the upside down train.
That’s him in the third row back. The one on the end with his hands in the air.
Next they rode Manta, another roller coaster at the park.
Honey? Did you remember to lock the car?
What’s that? I can’t hear you over the death screams…
Honey? I think Bean’s got a stinky diaper.
Oh, I guess you expect ME to change him since you’re hanging upside down about two feet off the ground going 60 miles an hour at the moment.
You’re so demanding.
While Chris and Annie attempted death, Jackie, Bean, and I took in a more serene experience.
We watched sea turtles swim.
And we talked to the flamingos. But you can see in this picture that Bean was really concerned about his dad who was flying around in the roller coaster over our heads. He wanted to be up there with him, even though we tried to explain that he was too small for the roller coaster.
All in all, it was a pretty great day. I loved Sea World and Bean was just the right age to take it all in. Plus, we got to spend the whole day with family, and what’s better than that?
The next time we go though, Chris says he’s going to bring one of those baby backpacks and strap Bean to his chest so he can go on the roller coasters with him. I said over my dead body. And then Chris laughed.
I think he thought I was kidding.
Thanks to everyone who entered to win the Baby Einstein Discovery Pack giveaway! Our lucky winner was number 62:
Congratulations, Colleen! Contact me at katie@marriageconfessions.com to claim your prize!
Special thanks to Baby Einstein for giving away such a fun prize!
06Dec
When we went to Sea World last weekend, we went to the penguin viewing area. I love penguins. I love that the lines on their fur (do penguins have fur?) are so neat and clean. They always look well dressed to me. Do you know those people in your life? Those people whose hair is always in place and whose make up is always perfect and who never, ever be caught screaming across the aisle at Target, “BEAN! PUT DOWN THAT HEMORRHOID CREAM RIGHT THIS MINUTE!” They just always seem to have it together?
That’s a penguin to me.
They mate for life. They’re clean. They’re communal. They’re self-sufficient. They’re never in their PJ’s past nine in the morning. They’re just those people.
But on this particular day, the penguins were having a rough time. It was weigh-in day in the penguin pen and so there was a doctor in there with a big scale and a clipboard and we all watched as she herded the penguins one at a time up onto the scale and took their weight. Only, the penguins didn’t really understand what they were supposed to be doing. They all wanted to stand on the scale together. So, the doctor would have to gently hold the penguin friends back as each was weighed individually.
And as I sat there watching, I thought to myself, “Now THERE’S friendship.” These penguins were so supportive of each other that they would stand on the scale together just so the one guy didn’t have to go through the embarrassment by themselves.
The next day I had a doctor’s appointment and as they weighed me in, the nurse kept having to push the little weight on the scale further down. Like, way further down. Like, I thought that, surely, there must be a penguin standing on the scale with me.
Like, maybe THIS penguin. That fat guy on the right there.
Surely, that big, fat penguin was so supportive that he had climbed up on the scale with me when no one was looking and was standing there beside me in total support, causing the scale to tip unnaturally.
But when I turned around, there was no penguin standing there next to me. It was just me. All me. And I was tipping that scale all on my own.
In the beginning of this pregnancy, I was so sick so often that I lost about 15 pounds. Crazy, huh? Then when I finally stopped getting sick, I completely lost my appetite and so I wasn’t gaining any weight then either. But in the past month, I gained 11 pounds. IN A MONTH! Even the nurse who was weighing me in looked at the scale and said, “Well, let’s try that again. That can’t be right.”
Oh, but it was.
When we confirmed that, yes, I had actually gained 11 pounds all on my own with no help from a fat penguin, all the nurse said was, “Wow,” as I muttered something like, “I had a really good Thanksgiving…”
And then I looked around one more time for my penguin, but he was no where to be found.
