Toy Review: Anamalz at PetitBaby.com

I've been hearing so much about Anamalz ($5.99-$6.99) and was very excited to have the opportunity to review them.

Anamalz are made maple, fabric, string and non-toxic glues and paints. They are designed in Australia and made in China. They meet all European toy standards. The animals are flexible and can stand independently.




A Lion, Zebra, Elephant and Hippo arrived in the mail last week. I was surprised at how large these animals are. They fit nicely for a child's hand and won't get lost in the couch cushions, but one could also slip a few in a diaper bag. As soon as they were unpacked, Arielle decided that the Anamalz needed cages. Some small cardboard boxes made excellent cages. A few hours later, I realized that Arielle had been suspiciously quiet for quite some time. She was still sitting on the floor with the Anamalz giving each one its favorite imaginary food. Her lion is a vegetarian and loves munching grass.

A few people mentioned Anamalz as excellent stocking stuffers for Christmas. It's a little late for that, but a few farm animals peeking out of an Easter basket would be a lot of fun. And, the price makes them an affordable, but nice, gender-neutral choice for birthday gifts.



Blog readers can save 15% on Anamalz and other wonderful toys at PetitBaby using the code "sara" until 5/01/2008.

The Greatest Toy Ever

I'm always looking for the perfect toy. It my dreams it is something that would work for one-year-old Linnea AND for three-year-old Arielle, something that won't break despite the best efforts of two wild little monkeys, something that will calm them down when they are fussy and use up their energy when they are hyper. And, it would be safe, educational, and require no supervision. If I had this wonderful toy, I could get the laundry done, wash the floor, write a book, and have a few minutes to myself to do nothing or conquer the universe.

Like I said, in my dreams. In reality nothing this great could exist, right? Well yesterday I realized that this toy does exist, and until very recently, we had one at our house. It was called a Daddy.



A few weeks ago, our Daddy put on his Army outfit and went away for a while. He's helping other mommies and daddies to fight monsters, so their children can be safe, and he'll be back when all the Daddy Kisses in the jar are gone.



It is easy to get caught up in buying toys and looking for the perfect plaything. But, in reality, the greatest toy is a Mommy or a Daddy that gives a child a little time and undivided attention.

I am only just appreciating how much that means. I think I wasted too much time worrying about the fact that I always cleaned the bathroom and I always mopped, rather than appreciating that the time the girls spent with their Daddy while I did these chores, was more worthwhile and more fun than any toy I could pick out - even when he was sleeping and they were jumping on his head.

What I really wanted to do is let my husband know that he is missed and appreciated. And to let my readers know, that although posting has been slow, I have not forgotten the blog and will be posting as much as possible.

PAX Baby - Store Review

One thing I love best about doing this blog, is that I can use it to promote both mom-owned businesses and mom-made toys. PAX Baby is a the creation of Jillian, a stay at home mom with 4 children under 5 years old.

Her store features products that help make child-raising a peaceful experience (or, something a little bit closer to it). She sells beautiful Beco baby carriers, cloth diapers, pretty swaddling blankets and phthalate-free, BPA-free, PVC-free bottles - and TOYS! The selection includes Sarah's Silks play silks, costumes and canopies, play clips, colorful cloth balls and blocks, Yellow Label Kids play foods, and handmade treasures by That's So Childish.

Yellow Label Ice Cream Rattles (3 for $27)



Toys from Yellow Label Kids are made by hand by an artisans who are paid living wages, in accordance with Fair Trade practices.

That's So Childish is a line of dress-up clothing and play things handmade by Blue Reid. They are lovely and expensive, but perfect for a special birthday gift.

Magical flower wands ($12)
What a beautiful way to wish for spring!





Handmade Waldorf inspired doll ($50). The doll is filled with organic millet infused with organic lavender essential oil. Head and hands are filled with unbleached wool, and the hair is crocheted from alpacha yarn. The body and hat made from 100% recycled sweater. Requires regular hugging!





Mini-princess hats ($20)





Jillian primarily works on PAXbaby.com during nap-time, so the shopping cart feature hasn't been added yet, but will be soon. In the meantime, to place your order or make an inquiry, you can email her at PAXbaby@msn.com or call at 805-708-2500 and ask for "Mommy".

My Monkeys - opening February 7!

I wanted to introduce Arielle's new best friend, Meng Monkey. Meng, a fairy monkey, was made by the super talented Marci of My Monkeys.

Marci's beautiful My Monkeys start at $35 for a basic sock monkey, and an be upgraded with accessories at additional cost. Click here to visit the Monkey Gallery.


Marci's Monkeys are well made. The seams are double stitched and she goes over all hand stitching twice with a separate strand of thread. But, these are handcrafted items, particularly the specialty monkeys with several accessories, and should be treated as "nice" dolls and handled with care. Due to small parts, specialty monkeys and monkeys with extra accessories are not made for children under 3 years old. Oh, and Meng's skirt is removable - and that's a big plus with Arielle who loves dressing and undressing her toys.

My Monkeys is opening tomorrow evening, and there is a free lottery to win a sock monkey.

Ahoy There! Review of A.F.E.W. Natural Changes

"Arrr!" Captain Arielle has found a treasure map!

"Where is that treasure?"

Looking for Treasure Island. "Land ho!"

Checking the map one more time.

Digging up the treasure.

"What is it?" The First Mate is curious.

Pirate Booty!

"Mmmmmmmm...." First Mate Milky Breath enjoys a treasured snack.

What a great find! My friend Tasha, who knows how much Arielle likes playing pirate, saw the pirate silk and sent me the link to A.F.E.W. Natural Changes. Stacey Grant creates beautifully dyed, hand-stamped playsilks in two sizes, including pirate maps, mermaid maps and fairy maps, as well as silk bags, felted treasures, and bath confetti. I saw the mini treasure map ($4.75) and knew Arielle would love it. A larger (22") treasure map is also available for $10.00 and would be great for slightly older children. Stacey will personalize the map (for example, "Captain Ari's Treasure Map") at no extra charge.

We chose to forgo personalization as Captain Arielle is sharing the map with First Mate Milky Breath and will likely be able to handle a bigger map soon. The map arrived rolled up in parchment-like paper and sealed in wax with a tag indicating it was for Captain and First Mate - very official and a great presentation! Captain Arielle was very excited and we immediately set up out pirate ship on the living room floor, so she could sail the Seven Seas and find that treasure.

Stacey stocks her store every other Sunday. She will have more maps and other surprises this Sunday (2/10/2008). If she runs out of maps, keep trying. She's got new items coming soon, and has offered our readers a 15% discount code (Sara) until March 31, 2008.

Rabbit & Duck

Rabbit & Duck has 25% off storewide - including Haba and Selecta. a lot of things are sold out, but there are still great deals. I'm about to buy a replacement push toy for Linnea.

Hearthsong and Moolka also have a large sale selection right now. I'm not looking.

2008 Haba

Both Maukilo and Oompa announced today that they have new 2008 Haba in stock. I'm especially loving the Biofino petit fours ($13.99)

and the Black Forest Cake ($13.99).
These look so yummy. I think we need them for tea parties in our play kitchen.
I also like the magnetic puzzles ($11.99) in fun themes like flower fairies and pirates.

These have only nine pieces, so they are perfect for pre-schoolers who are still figuring out how puzzle pieces fit together.
The Sakadra blocks ($23.99) are very pretty and I'm very curious about what other blocks will be coming out. I like the unusual shapes and they would be a nice complement to our existing collection. They have some nice new shapes in natural-colored blocks as well.

If you sign up for Maukilo's email list, they will send a coupon code for 15% off.

Linnea's current favorite toy: 14-15 months

Linnea's current absolute favorite toy is the Bajo Toys Stacking Fellow ($14.39). It arrived shortly after Christmas and I left it on the table to show her later. She discovered it on her own and knew exactly what to do. I think Linnea especially likes the bright red nose and the hat. "Hat" is one of her favorite words right now and the toy gives her an opportunity to practice.

What I like is that the center pole is attached. When I was reading reviews, it seemed that many of the wooden stackers had a removable center ring and it seemed to me that that could be a bit tricky for a little one still working on hand-eye coordination, as well as being one more piece to lose. The Bajo stacker has only four removable pieces (including the head), so it is not overwhelming.


Another favorite is the Vilac Baby Telephone ($9.99). Linnea loves my cell phone and I was worried that this would be too simple for her, but she's happy with the jingly bell and the bright ball on the antennae. She holds it to her ear and says "Hi, Dad!"

Arielle is modeling the phone. I bought two so they could call each other. Arielle is a little less impressed, but she enjoys carrying it in her purse when she pretends to be Mommy.


Linnea is also very much enjoying dolls (which she will feed with a toy bottle), stacking cups (reviewed in bath toys), pots, pans, bowls and spoons from both my kitchen and the play kitchen, and blocks.

She is particularly playing with the little dwarf and the car from the First Blocks set from Haba ($23.99).

I've recently caught her putting the little dwarf in the car and pushing it around while saying "brmmm... brmmm..."

I love that at this age she's so curious, and so busy, and trying so hard to be like the big people in her life.

Toy Review: Hess Push Toys

Push Toy Vogel Lilly by Hess ($28.49)

Unfortunately, this is going to be my first negative review. Linnea received Lilly from her Granny Bird for Christmas. Yes, this is a very cute toy, but to our disappointment, Lilly was very hard for a one-year old to handle. The toy did not roll smoothly and the bird flipped around making it difficult to push. The final straw was when Lilly's head popped off. I called Moolka and arranged a return. I think we are going to try a Selecta push toy instead. If anyone has afavorite, please comment on it.

Plastic Bath Toys - no more toxic rubber duckies

Happy New Year! Linnea has decided that the computer is a wonderful thing and this makes it very hard to get any writing done, so posts may be slow for a while. She wants to help. Uggh!


While I love this busy stage, I'm hoping she'll move onto something else soon. So stay with me because I have tons of ideas and loads of Christmas toys to review.

I've been meaning to write about bath toys for a while. When Arielle was younger she played with a huge collection of rubber duckies until her mommy read about phthalates and PVC's and then all the rubber duckies swam away. As did the plastic stacking cups and foam bath books.

Unfortunately, plastic is the best material for bath toys. It is waterproof, easy to clean and resists molding. Two companies that make great PVC-free, phthalate-free bath toys (and sand toys) are Spielstabil and Gowi (both made in Europe).

The best selection of Spielstabil is at Maukilo.


A great place to start is the Spielstabil Bath Set ($14.75). The set includes a rubber duckie, a small cup with a water wheel, a larger cup with holes in the bottom, a boat and a water scoop. Last night, I was filling the cup with holes and letting it drip like a shower on Linnea's tummy and she was giggling and giggling. We may need another set because I have not been able to find another PVC-free duckie, and the duckie is quite the coveted item.



I've reviewed the Baby Bucket ($5.95) before. This bucket is great for a toddler to take outdoors and it is great for the bathtub. My children like to pretend to cook with bath water.


Another multi-use toy is the set of five nesting cups ($8.95). Lucky Linnea has two sets - one for stacking and one for the bath. Some of the cups have holes and others don't, so they are fun for playing with and useful for rinsing soapy baby hair. The largest cup has a handle, so it can double as a bucket.


Older children will enjoy filling the bucket with water using the Spielstabil water pump ($10.75). This really works and Arielle really enjoys getting water for the rubber duck.

Gowi toys are made in Poland and Austria. They are bright and colorful safe plastic and pretty hard to find in the U.S., but last year I bought great sand toys at Mastermind toys. We brought the sand toys in for the winter and sometimes use them in the bath. The watering cans are great for rinsing shampoo off "pretty flowers".

Unfortunately, these Gowi bath buckets are out of stock, but I'll update when I can find them again.

Finally, these are probably Made in China, but my daughters love the Alex Tub Tunes water flutes ($9.56). In this case, I may be compromising safety for a learning experience.


I did throw out the soft smelly-plastic connector, so they use these individually. Linnea is so proud that she can make noise and Arielle experiments with changing the volume of water. No symphonies yet, just a lot of fun.


Kathe Kruse (Germany) makes some lovely vinyl bath babies ($54.95-$94.95). These dolls are meant to be played with in the tub and then dried and dressed in their pretty outfits or jammies - what fun for little mommies. I would love to get one, but it would have to be two..... and that would be pricey.

There are also a few non-plastic (wood and cloth) bath toys floating around. However, they tend to be pricier and require extra care to prevent molding. One exception are bath puppets that can be tossed in the washing machine.

Kathe Kruse squirting fish ($9.99)

Sail Boat ($17.50)



Bathtub Boat ($7.50)



Rainbow People Bath Boat ($15.95)