Ghetto Fabulous Toys (and some non-ghetto ones)

We have lots of 'it toys' in our house, and of course we've not one but two types of Sophie. But nothing can compare to the big, bright 'Happy Birthday From All of Us' helium balloon that's been in our lounge room for the last two weeks. The Princess is enamoured. I'm talking literally 30 minutes straight of staring and smiling and more recently pulling the string so it bounces up and down (what fun!). I thought this may just be a Princess thing, but no, I had 3 baby friends over yesterday, all about 7 months - and they were all equally awe struck. We had 4 babies just staring and smiling at the balloon for 10 minutes. If it wasn't so adorbs it'd be creepy.
Get yourself to a balloon shop/ florist/ hospital and buy one for your baby - they'll worship it for weeks. The Princess does try to bite it though so just be careful it doesn't pop and scare the bejesus out of them.
Other ghetto fabulous toys:
- yoghurt pots for stacking and knocking over
- tupperware for banging
- muslins
- key
- your hair... if you can stand it. I can't!

And just to be serious, here are a few of the Princess' favourite store bought toys in case you're looking for non-ghetto inspiration:

Bad Buy: John Lewis Baby Bath Toy Bag

I usually bang on here about all the great products I have - but trust me, I've kissed many frogs to find my Prince! Last week's Peter Jones shop produced some winners (like the Jungly Tails book in an earlier post) but also some losers. One loser is the John Lewis Baby Bath Toy Bag - should've read the online reviews first. It just doesn't stick to the wall for more than 15 minutes. It drains well, so I've kind of twisted it around our towel rail over the bath and it works, but just not the way it's meant to. Don't buy this one - buy another. 
Link to John Lewis just so you can see what NOT to buy! John Lewis Baby Bath Toy Bag
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Get this app

Grandpa came to visit recently and was rocking out a few new apps on his iPad. Virtuoso is a free app that makes your iPad into a piano keyboard. F-U-N.
The Princess had a bang up time tickling the ivories so I downloaded it too. She can't get enough. I'm sure there's loads of hearing, co-ordination, cause and effect yada yada benefits but I'm just loving watching her have a good time. (OK, maybe I'm also daydreaming she's the next Beyonce).
iPads are such clever things. I'm sure there are loads of apps we can download and make fun games out of. Check out her styles:

Ducky Bath Thermometer

Cute & practical. Nuff said. I've had this since the Princess was born, she has a bath every night and this little friend has made sure the temperature is always right, plus he's a cute little guy to have in the bath (he sits on the side on sweet little orange feet). She looks for him and smiles at him. Bless her cotton socks. Here he is in tonight's bath:

Digi Duck Thermometer on Amazon