continued

continuing my review of toys (part one can be seen by clicking here), here are four more:

baby monet crib toy: this is great fun and of comfort to me at night. it is generally the last thing i hear before i drift off to sleep, and many times the first thing i wake up to (because it is interactive and i can press it and it plays music). there is a mirror on it and different pages with a different season-scape picture on each page. if i press a certain season page, i hear that seasons accompanying piece from vivaldi’s four seasons. mommy headache factor: the volume control is good, having two settings and the lowest setting lulls me to sleep. 4.5 out of 5 stars (unfortunately they no longer make this, although there are other kinds – too bad)

learn & groove musical table: dad got this table from a friend at work for $15. this has been well worth that – it has been one of my favorite items to play with since then and is so much fun. there are two settings – music and words. there are so many things to push that respond with some noise that no matter what i do, i get some sound. there are keys like on a piano, doors to open, handles to pull, knobs to slide and buttons to push. my only complaint is that it is top heavy and i can push it over fairly easily. mommy headache factor: volume control is loud or really loud. that’s my only complaint – the lowest setting seems like it should be the loudest setting. 4.5 out of 5 stars

brightlings exploration station: dad picked this toy out at the store, i think because it reminded him of something from a dr. suess book. it is a pretty interesting toy, and one that i’m sure will make more sense to me as i get a bit older. like the musical table, the settings it has are music and words, though this station raises the stakes by throwing in five different languages – english, japanese, german, french, and spanish (what no italian?). it comes with three orbs that have faces on them to drop down the shute. there is a good variety of music and will eventually help me with my alphabet. mommy headache factor: the two volume setting are good and the music is kind of fun and gets mom dancing every once and a while. 3.5 out of 5 stars

baby einstein activity center: this toy i have outgrown but enjoyed enough to give to a friend – or soon to be friend. mom’s cousin jami is having a baby boy later in august and we handed this toy down to them. i have my jumperoo like to bounce to much to sit and play in this. at the time this was a good toy and allowed mom to take showers and do other things without having to worry about what i may be getting into. it had all sorts of noisemakers and one weird and seemingly pointless (and attached) puppet. i could spin around in the chair and also rock around in it when the legs weren’t in place (it has a rounded bottom). mommy headache factor: the noisemakers are not very loud at all, and the music only comes after pressing one of the animal buttons 4 times in a row (plays a sound from the animal, says the animals name in english, then spanish, then music). 4 out of 5 stars

any other toys i feel like reviewing i will put in the new toy bin page located here.