Pardon My Poppet

Posts Tagged ‘Toddler Travel’

WINNERS HAVE BEEN CHOSEN, SCROLL TO THE WIDGET BELOW TO SEE IF IT’S YOU!

Hello wonderful readers!  This is another awesome giveaway I’ve been eagerly anticipating sharing with you!

It all started when we had the issue with Toys’R Us and the diaper genie. I am very happy to say that I was contacted by their Executive Manager of Customer Relations and in the end was issued a gift card for the outstanding balance of our returned product!  But what to use the gift card on?  I looked around the store…..oooooooo, what’s that?  I walked closer.  It was a fabric, fully collapsible and storable doll house – and it was GORGEOUS! It was PERFECT!  I’d been looking for something compact that we could take for Poppet as we travelled from hotel to hotel, something that would be familiar and that she’d grow into, not out of.  This looked like just the thing.  I figured it would keep her occupied for a bit, but I was completely wrong.  It keeps her occupied all the time!  Bonus!

The only issue I found, was that Poppet is SO excited every time she sees it being set up that she has actually tried to climb into the bottom floor before I even have it assembled!  It is exactly what we needed:  small enough to keep in the van, light enough to carry from place to place, quick to set up, durable, and full of imagination!

Upon returning home from that first week-end with the doll house, I headed right back to Toy’s R Us and bought another for my niece.  The house comes in 2 styles:  vintage and modern.  Vintage for Poppet, Modern for her cousin.  My niece noticed every little detail, counted all the kitties, and went right to playing with it.  Even this past week-end when she saw it on Face-time with Poppet she cried out that she wanted to come play with Poppet’s  in our hotel room too!

In this world of ever-changing demographics, where space is at a premium, this is an exceptionally well priced product, ideal for every situation – even in the smallest condo in downtown Toronto, you would not have a hard time finding a place to store this doll house.  You simply collapse it and slide it under a bed, or in a corner of a closet, or the bottom of a dresser drawer.  It really is that brilliant.

I can set up Poppet’s doll house in about 90 seconds.  It’s super easy with the colour match velcro.  And I’m proud to say it was completely conceptualized and designed in Montreal, Canada!  And, as we approach Earth Day, it is an environmentally perfect toy made of non-woven fabric!

Now for the best part,  Calego has generously given 3 doll houses for giveaway to our readers!  One will be shipped directly to the winner, and 2 are for local pick-up in the Guelph/KW Tri-Cities/GTA area directly from moi (sorry, try as I might, I can’t figure out how to ship them).  To enter simply use the rafflecopter below, and if you live locally and are able to pick up please leave a comment letting me know so you don’t get overlooked for the 2nd and 3rd doll houses!

As always, please take a moment to share the love and visit our wonderful sponsor, Calego International, and let us know which of their licenses is your favourite in the comments below!

We had 3 local entries as well as the entries in the Rafflecopter.  The results were generated by Random.org and are as follows:

Congratulations to Brett and Holly as well as our main entry winner below!

Read the rest of this entry »

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Usually when we travel, we try to find anything and everything that might, in a pinch, be able to keep a tired Poppet happy long enough to keep us sane enough!  We hand books back one at a time, replenishing little hands when the previous item has been tossed into the nether-regions of the belly of the van.  When this supply runs out we try food – Poppet LOVES food (of course she does, look at who her Mummy is!).  When even food won’t fit the bill we turn to the iPad.  Poppet, at 16 months old, has been easily maneuvering her way around Papa’s iPad for months now.  On this latest 8 hour trip he suggested we actually grab some video of it.  Usually she is a bit more apt, but it was very late and she was very tired.

We use the iPad for everything from helping to educate her, to keeping her busy, to helping her relax with music or a movie.  I personally think that Apple has made it super easy for a toddler to use, not too sure if she’d have the same success winding her way through an Android or not.

Her absolute favourite apps are BabyFirst TV (with VocabuLarry being her favourite character – Papa’s too) and Toddler Stamps where she’s given a background image and can throw up any number of sound producing and animated stamps to decorate her scene.

While I’m at it, I should mention that we are now on YouTube!  We’ll continue to post relevant content from time to time and hope you enjoy seeing us in our element!

Warmest regards,

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I am thankful for travel time as a family

This week-end my hubby is in Newfoundland by himself.  Of the 10 places he travels for work, we are able to go to 6 of them with him.  When he is gone I really notice the difference in Poppet’s attitude.  She picks up the picture of him on her change table and kisses it.  She is more whiny, more grumpy, more difficult in general.

Sometimes I can grumble about the amount of travel we do, but in the end, I’m glad we get to be a part of it!

Warmest regards,

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Today is not as frenzied as most Fridays. We already did our travelling yesterday and are now settled in our hotel in Montreal. The lead up to today, on the other hand, has been quite the adventure.

It all started on Tuesday if I remember correctly. Yep, now I remember. I had just gotten Poppet dressed for the day. Clean bum, clean clothes, clean face, good to go! I hopped in the shower. No sooner did I get wet than I heard a thud. What in the world? I opened my eyes, and there was my iPhone in the tub with me. I sternly reprimand Poppet and continue on my way to relaxational bliss. I get as far as washing my hair and start to rinse it out. THUD! Come on! Not again!!!!! I look down. This is what I see:

A fully clothed Poppet sitting in the tub, playing with her toys. I didn’t even know she could climb over the ledge! Argh! Now I have to dry and dress two of us! She was good until after her afternoon nap. The bird woke her up after only 1 hour (she normally will go close to 3). Grumpy as all get out, she spends the rest of the day whining and screeching for absolutely everything she wants. No pleases, no thank yous, no smiles, just whines! The neighbor girl comes to visit Poppet and lasts a whole of 15 minutes before running for the hills. The dog pukes 2 times in the front hallway in 20 minutes. I leave it there too overwhelmed to deal with it. Hubby comes home and asks why Poppet and I don’t get along better? Trust me, we do. Unfortunately he got to see me at the end of all this, and at the end of my rope! We sit down to dinner. She won’t even try a bite of everything I cut up for her. Papa and her have a battle of wills. Papa wins, she eats a little. Bedtime comes non too quickly and we all settle down for a good night’s sleep. Poppet sleeps right through until 8 am.

Wednesday morning is uneventful. We’re getting ready for our trip, laundry is getting done. Day is great! We play. She has so much energy! She walks around everywhere. A true blast! She has a nap. She wakes up grumpy. Papa comes home. We have soup for dinner. She eats half of it. Her “Uncle” comes over for a movie. She plays a little, mooches his take out from him, and goes to bed. She wakes up at 2 am. She is very restless. She tries so hard to be quiet and go to sleep, but she tosses and turns. She comes up to me, snuggles in for a minute or two, tosses some more, heads Papas direction, snuggles in, repeat….. This goes on for an hour. I put her back in her crib. She cries. We bring her back in bed. She tosses and turns some more. Another ½ hour and I can’t take it anymore. I head to the guestroom, frustrated. Papa puts her in her crib. She cries. Sometime a couple hours later she finally falls back asleep. She wakes up early. She comes in bed with me (Papa now trying to get sleep in guest room as we are to leave at 8:30 for Montreal). She falls asleep and we all wake up at 9:30 am. We get on the road around 11, all happy and rested.

We drive.

“She’s got amazing stamina,” he says to me after she’s complained for an hour before finally falling asleep in the van. Does she ever! She sleeps until we stop for gas. The change in speed wakes her up. Only slept 1 ½ hours. I think she’s teething. You see this cup?

This was 2 minutes with her. After gas and before we stopped for lunch she did this to my finger. It kinda went like this: “She’s sucking on my fing…um, she’s biting my…..aaaah! stop! (trying to undo seatbelt desperately in front seat with one hand) aaaahhhhhh!” I finally get the seatbelt undone as she has now locked her jaw down to the bone of my pinky, right by the nail. One of THE most painful things I’ve experienced! I pry her jaw open. She cries. I retreat to the front seat. I wince. OW! I press and hold my pinky as it throbs. I try to get the deep imprints out of the skin. It burns for ½ an hour. I blog to console myself.

We stop for lunch.

Lunch is great! Poppet is doing great with holding her own wraps these days! Ah, freedom! We get in the car. She has had no play time, no time out of the carseat yet today. It is 4 pm and we have 3 ½ hours to go. We make it 1 ½ before the dramatics from the backseat start again. We manage to make it to the hotel. We set up her awesome doll house. She plays. Life is good. We go to sleep, we sleep like babies. And then it’s today. In perspective, today is anything but frenzied compared to the last 3 days. Enjoy the peace and quiet of this Un-Frenzied Friday!

Warmest regards,

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I am thankful for mat training

We are in a different location almost every week.  Poppet never finds herself in familiar surroundings.  Especially for services, or visiting someone’s home, it is very useful to have a place that is her own.  We lay down a mat and bring toys with us that are only played with when that mat hits the ground.

To make sure things go smoothly when we are on the road, we practice at home almost daily.  As I write this, there is a program playing in the background to mimic services, and Poppet is smack dab in the middle of her blanket with a colouring book and other soft (soundless) toys.  It has become one of the quiet pleasures in my day!

Warmest regards,

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The Toronto City Pass is a booklet that gives you access to 5 of Toronto’s favourite tourist destinations:

CN Tower

Royal Ontario Museum

Toronto Zoo

Ontario Science Centre

Casa Loma

Also included in the booklet are TTC passes for unlimited one day travel.  Each pass is valid for 9 days from the first attraction visit.  (Although, in my experience, often locations do not date stamp the beginning date, and so we’ve used ours for over 6 months now).  All the attractions add up to almost $100 if visited individually, BUT each Toronto City Pass is only $58.40 for adults and $34.50 for kids 4 years old and up.  Great way to invest on a Thrifty Thursday!

And if you happen to be travelling for your vacation, City Pass offers booklets for the following cities:

Atlanta

Boston

Chicago

Hollywood

Houston

New York

Philadelphia

San Francisco

Seattle

Southern California

Warmest regards,

If you enjoy our posts, please consider taking a moment to follow us!  Pardon My Poppet is on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest.  Or you can grab our RSS Feed or Subscribe via E-mail!

I am thankful for the Toronto City Pass

Papa has the day off after a busy week-end, and we stayed in Toronto at my Mum’s last night so we could go to one of the awesome sites Toronto has to offer visitors!  If you haven’t heard of it before, you should check it out.  Even if you live in the Toronto area as we do, it is a great idea for any family staycation!

Warmest regards,

If you enjoy our posts, please consider taking a moment to follow us!  Pardon My Poppet is on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest.  Or you can grab our RSS Feed or Subscribe via E-mail!