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B Reviews: The Robots of Sedna from Printakid
Here’s a fun idea for those of you who are over-achiever-Christmas-gift-buyers-who like to get things done well before Thanksgiving. Personalized books for children from Printakid.com!
I love it when I get free stuff in the mail and all I have to do is write a review of the product on my blog. I can do that. I majored in writing “puff pieces” in college. Well, not exactly “puff” but I never had the heart to write the hard news. I’d glady write for the life and style section over the front lines of a newspaper any day. But enough about me.
This is a review of the “Robots of Sedna” an exciting tale of space creatures named Gorbak and Gimik who kidnap ME! Baby Bug has to rescue me with the help of her trusty cousins Rapunzel, SuperChick and Emster! It’s pretty cool. I don’t think Baby Bug realizes the story has characters from her real life yet but she does like the glossy colorful pages and the big-girl paper that she just can’t wait to stick in her mouth and turn into oooey gooey slobber paste. I think as she gets older she’ll appreciate it more and more.
These books are such a cool idea that I might have to order one for each of Baby Bug’s cousins. There are several storylines available, including some about princesses. I chose the robot one because Baby Bug isn’t into that sissy stuff. (Ha! That’s what I think. We’ll see how wrong I am when she grows up and wants a Disney Princess lunch box.)
Overall I’d say this is a pretty good product and I’m not just saying that because I got it for free. The plot is clever though a little weak in it’s trap-door-opens-from-the-ceiling-and-everybody-is-rescued kind of ending. But what do you expect? Not every book can be award winning. Besides kids love trap door endings. The paper and binding and printing are very nice. Since I worked in the customized direct mail business for seven years I’m used to looking at personalized letters with my eagle eye. I’m usually an expert at spotting what was preprinted and what was printed on the fly with a dot matrix or a color copier. I’d say this was done very well. You can’t even tell that the black plate was added later after the color pictures were printed. Or maybe the whole thing was printed on a color copier. I have no idea how they do things these days. (Sorry to bore you with the shop talk.) My point is: it’s done well enough that the one-up personalization feels seamless.
I think this a very fun gift for children who love it when the whole world revolves around them. And hey, I can’t complain, I’m in the book too!
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Miss Orneriness
You might think everything is peaches and cream here in Baby Bugville with all the smiling cutie patootie pictures I post all the time. It is not so. Baby Bug is not all smiles and soft chubby cheeks. She is very very ornery. She has a streak of obstinance the size of a stinky skunk tail running right through her. Her German relatives on both sides would be very proud. She is MISS Orneriness herself. If there was a contest for baby will power, she would win hands down. Thankfully, she has a cheerful disposition most of the time so the orneriness is tolerable. But boy do I have a lot of work ahead of me. I don’t even like to think about the subject of discipline. It gives me a headache.
This week Baby Bug decided that she no longer wants to eat baby food. She doesn’t even have any teeth yet but she insists that she is a toddler and can eat all of her food with her hands. She likes to feed herself. She has pincer fingers and she can use them. She likes rice crispies and little pieces of cheese and bits of banana. All that other mushy stuff is for babies. She’s too big for pureed beets and green beans and yams. Oh no! Yams are not coming near her lips. If they do, then she spits them out with the wrath of an angry mule. I have made the mistake of feeding her while wearing white two times. If she can reach the bowl that I am holding, she will dump it on the floor with a satisfying splat.
They should make a video game with the object of the game to get the spoon of baby food into the baby’s mouth. As you progress through the levels of difficulty you could battle the waving arms, the spitting, the sneezing and of course the twisting around in her highchair and grabbing at everything. Sometimes I feel like I’m playing miniature golf and I’m trying to putt my ball into the very last hole where the windmill arms keep whipping in front of the hole and getting in my way. I’m definitely honing my skills in the patience department.
The eating strike was not all Baby Bug had in her bag of naughty tricks this week. She also decided that she was too big for naps too. I had just finally gotten into the rhythm of two naps a day (it was sooooo nice) and then one day she up and decided that two 15 minute snoozes, while riding in the car, was plenty of shut eye. She says, “I’m already beautiful, I don’t need beauty sleep.” HA! She does need it. She turned into willful flippy worm baby who refused to nurse, who refused to let me change her diaper AND refused to even smile at her Daddy who usually brings grins from ear to ear. Hail to the Queen of Grump.
Phew!
Thankfully after a dreadful two days, she seems to have returned to the angel baby that she was before. I finally gave up on the food war and let her starve. Not really starve. I just offered her food and when she refused it, I washed it down the drain with a little tear running down my cheek because I worked so hard to make those little cubes of frozen baby food. Letting her win worked like a charm. After missing a few meals, she nursed heartily and ate all of her dinner last night and breakfast this morning. And currently she’s taking a very nice long nap which is why I am finally having a minute to post this blog.
