{Guest Post} Five of my baby's favourite things

Today’s guest post is from South African mom blogger Nicola Subben who blogs at Peanut Gallery 24/7.

I’m Nicola Subben. For just over ten months, I’m honoured to have the privilege to be a mum to my son, Kayden, the first and only child we plan to have. During the day, through my full-time job, I motivate, inspire and develop individuals in the Corporate environment, where I specialise in Learning and Development. My passion for motivating and inspiring individuals led me to create my blog, Peanut Gallery 24/7, which I have been enjoying thoroughly since its creation, early January this year.

Peanut Gallery 24/7 encapsulates my lifestyle, as I use it as a platform to share my thoughts, my views and my personal experiences. As a new mum, I find a shift in my lifestyle and the things I blog about are therefore things that resonate with me at this beautiful stage of my life – motherhood. It is certainly something I underestimated and only since Kayden graced us with his presence, did I realise the depth of joy of being a mother.

One of the lessons I’ve learned over these past 10 months or so, is that you can’t put a price on happiness, when it comes to a child’s toys. Of course, the child doesn’t know the value of the toy in terms of the cost, but the value it brings to your child, in the way he or she smiles, is enough to melt your heart. I’d love for you to read my post on “My baby’s favourite things”

My baby’s favourite things

At just over 10 months, my baby has preferences for entertainment. It is an amazing feeling to watch him experience the joy that these things bring to him. Each of them, has some way or the other to stimulate him. What I have learned over the past few months as a new mum, is that it’s not necessarily the most expensive toy that creates this joy, curiosity and/or excitement.

In no order of preference, here are my baby’s favourite things:

The Baby Einstein Neighbourhood Friends Activity Jumper™

We purchased this Jumper from Baby City, for more information and/or product details: click here.
Kayden has been loving his jumper since he was just over 6 months. There is so much happening around him, literally, as it has a 360-degree feature which allows him to stimulate all senses. The various sounds and textures cause him to jump with excitement. He is fascinated with the variation of bright colours, shapes and features of every little item on this jumper – he is in his element, in his own little bouncy world whilst on his jumper

Bright Starts Hide ‘n Spin Monkey

We purchased this toy from Baby City, for more details, click here.
Kayden isn’t walking yet, he is at this stage where he wants to stand up, so this toy is great at this stage, as it encourages him to stand and throw the balls into the monkey’s hat (of course whilst supervised). If this is too much of an effort for him, he is on his knees, feeding the balls through the monkey’s tummy (cup shape). The lights and sound amuse him so much! He loves to catch the rolling balls to put them back into the Monkey.

“Tommy”

This stuffed toy boy doll, I found at Dischem. It was the last one there and as I almost walked pass it, it gave me that puppy dog look, saying, “buy me, buy me, please….pity please…”

So, I did and I am glad I did so. He had no name when he came home, Kayden’s grandmother helped give him a name, i.e. “Tommy”. Tommy has become a good travel companion for Kayden. We play hide and seek, using Tommy to say “boo!” to Kayden and he loves that!

For more details on this toy, click here.

Disney Winnie The Pooh Walker

“I’m young and free…watch me go…!” – that’s the feeling Kayden depicts when he is on his walker. He loves being mobile, sometimes in reverse, sometimes running not walking, always happy-go-lucky. There are various shapes, colours and sounds on the large play tray in front to keep him entertained. It has 3 height adjustments which is great as we have been able to adjust it as he grows taller.

We also bought this from Baby City, for more details, click here.

Dave and Ava

We stumbled across these videos whilst looking for songs to make Kayden sleep one day. The graphics are eye catching! I think the developers did a fantastic job. Dave and Ava help bring alive a variety of nursery rhymes, all that we learned as kids and you will find yourself singing along to them as well. If you don’t want to rely on internet connectivity by watching these on Wi-Fi, you can make a once-off purchase and download these songs/rhymes to your smart device which you can playback even when offline. Kayden’s face lights up when you just mention Dave and Ava. He watches them so engrossed, with expressions on his face that are priceless. The slower songs are very soothing for bedtime. I think every child should be introduced to Dave and Ava.