Animal Bags

Boon has done it again with the new range of beanie bags called Animal Bags. I love how practical they are that not only do they hold stuffed toys but these also serve as the kids seats when they are taking books off their book shelves. Another use is that the kids use this as a landing pad as they jump from the sofa to the floor.

It was not easy ordering these though and getting shipped to Shanghai. But the whole effort was worth it.

Posh Baby Room

On our recent Christmas vacation in Hong Kong, we decided to check out the new mall in Kowloon called Elements.

Mall seems with lots of high-end retail shops of known brand names. The 'highlight' was getting into this baby changing room which felt like a hotel bathroom! There was a bench, a marble changing table with sink and faucet, nice pictures on the wall, another private room for breastfeeding moms, fresh flowers, and clean towels!

It is the poshest changing room we've been in ever!

Magna-Tiles on the plane

Magna-Tiles on the plane
Originally uploaded by arlyna

These magna-tiles are really great to keep kids occupied. I tested these with the kids before our flight to HK and they spent a lot of time building stuff. These kept them occupied not just during the flights but also in the hotel room!

The downside is that they're a bit pricey.

Homemade Play Dough

Came across this small article on the latest issue of Craft magazine (Issue 3) about making homemade play dough. I thought it was cool to try this recipe out and see if the kids would be interested in playing with this before actually splurging to buy the real Playdoh. The kids were curious onlookers but of course they also wanted to 'help'. I let them put some ingredients into the pot. The recipe/instructions called for mixing the food colouring in after which was tricky trying to knead the colour in while at the same time trying to add more. Except for missing the cream of tartar from the recipe, it turned out alright.

I let the kids use my cookie cutters, pasta cutter and other cooking tools I could find. It was great to see that the kids enjoyed playing with the doughs. It kept them quiet and busy for a while. So now we're planning on getting the real one... the doughs I made did not last until the following day. Still trying to figure out what went wrong...

Another similar recipe I found only yesterday was from the Nick Jr. website. Same ingredients but with a slightly different cooking instructions. Maybe I will also try this one to compare which is better...

Coolest frog

When I saw this pod, I thought the whole concept was really cool. It took awhile before I actually went all out and ordered one from Sparkability.com.

When I got my package, this was bigger than what I had somewhat imagined. Anyways, first thing I did when I got home was install the attachment to the bathroom wall. The set came with the adhesive backed panel. Followed the instructions carefully but after a couple hours, the whole pod fell! The adhesive was not strong enough to hold the pod alone. Tried even using my own 'strong' double-sided adhesive tape but still not had luck.

Just when I thought I'd have to put this into storage and writing this off as a disappointment, I found out from the Boon site that they now also offer a suction cup attachment instead of the adhesive-backed one (of course I cannot use the screw option as we're only renting the apartment). Immediately contacted Boon and they replied within a couple days! They offered to send me this suction cup attachment without any cost and their manufacturer in Taiwan was immediately in contact with me that same day! I was very impressed with the service and speed of response esp. after getting the attachment via courier within a few days later.

So now I am a proud owner of the coolest frog in Shanghai! Holds a lot of the small toys the kids play with in the bath and keeps a few other items dry.

Potty Training Time

It's that time when the kids have to start potty training and for this, I went all out and bought the Potty Bench from Boon. Actually I've been eyeing this online at Sparkability.com for some time before going ahead and buying it.

The design is really cool with the 2 storage compartments on the side and being able to use this also as a step. I'm still trying to convince to get the kids to use this for potty...

My First Homemade Boardbook

A while ago, I came across a blog entry on DaddyTypes.com about making your own homemade boardbook. And since then, I've been planning on making one for the kids but never found the time to do anything about this plan.

So a couple months ago, when we had a bit of 'quiet' time at the office, I started thinking about this again. While 'researching' on some TV characters that the kids like, I came across some downloadable colouring book files that can be found on the Nick Jr. site. And this gave me the idea for how to start my own homemade boardbook.

Printed all the printables from Kipper the Dog into PDFs then used Photoshop to colour in the 10 pictures. Using InDesign CS2, I did my own layout by having big numbers side-by-side to the coloured in pictures. For the cover, I printed to PDF one of the other files available. Once all has been done, sent it to the printer to get it printed onto a 300gsm weight paper stock.

Putting the book together took some time. Did not really follow the instructions on DaddyTypes.com to a 'T' but used this as a basis esp. with the way the pages are put together, folded, and glued. I did add some laminating film on top to give it some more protection. Unfortunately, I had a bit of a slip-up when I stuck the cover on the wrong side hence you will see a 'cracked' strip near the cover's edge (after I pulled this apart). This happens when you are putting something like this together at 3am!

After I finished putting everything, the feeling of having made something for the kids is simply rewarding, and esp. after seeing their reaction to the book. Unfortunately, I had to do a lot of persuasion to share the book. Both wanted to hold the book!

I'm planning on v2 which is a book about the ABCs of Dora the Explorer possibly with a slight approach and a few improvements... so stay tuned.

Warm spring day

Warm spring day
Originally uploaded by arlyna.

Spring is finally here. It's great to be seeing more greens and wearing less layers of clothes. The kids are enjoying being at the Ruijin Guesthouse even more now that there are a lot things to explore. Audrey loves picking the wild flowers growing everywhere. Samuel enjoys collecting the dead leaves that has fallen on the ground.

Shanghai Ocean Aquarium

Shanghai Ocean Aquarium
Originally uploaded by arlyna.

After trying for almost 6 months to convince Simon to checkout the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium with the kids, out-of-the-blue, he suggested we go on this cold and rainy Sunday.

Both Simon and I expected this place to be a bit tacky and crowded. We were both very impressed with the whole place. Very well done. Some tanks had open top so you were really 'up close and personal' with the fishes. Both kids seemed quite amazed with the huge fishes swimming near them.

There was even a petting zone for baby sharks. We did not get to try it this time but definitely we will do the next time we go. And yes, it is definitely the place to visit again when we have ran out of places to go with the kids.

Eczema

We've finally found the product that is very gentle and solves our twins' eczema problems.

When the kids were born, we used Mustela products as these seem to be the best one we can find in Shanghai. Mustela has stopped selling their products in Shanghai for unknown reasons. Avent has also slowly faded from the Shanghai shelves. We tried Johnson's & Johnson's but they are too harsh and has these heavy scents.

On a trip to Hong Kong some time ago, I managed to get a couple of the California Baby Calming Cream from the only distributor in Asia. Since then, we've been hooked especially after noticing the improvements on the twins' sensitive and eczema-prone skin. The nappy cream is also the best from the ones we've tried. Importantly we can order these from their online store and get shipped to us within a week from ordering!