Baby Prodigy DVD Review and Giveaway!

The wonderful people at baby Prodigy recently sent me three of their educational children's  DVDs to review. And by recently I mean three months ago...sorry guys! They were very understanding about the whole "just had a baby and completely spaced it, sorry!".  Baby Prodigy was started by a mom with a colic-y baby who was looking for something to help calm and soothe her baby, so I am sure she understands the chaoticness that having a newborn can bring to a household!

Here is a little info about baby Prodigy;

"The Baby Prodigy Company is the award-winning creator of infant developmental products that provide parents with quality, educational entertainment for their children from birth through the years of early childhood. Baby Prodigy products, along with main character Dookie Duck™, utilize music and colors along with playful puppets and animation to captivate children of all ages. Currently, Baby Prodigy products include award-winning Videos, DVD’s and classical music CD’s. Many more projects are in the works for this fast-growing children’s entertainment company, including collectible stuffed toys of their characters."


I have to admit, I am not a big advocate for kids watching TV or videos. I hate that they get sucked in and pretty soon they are in the Twilight Zone with no idea what's going on other than what's on the TV. That being said, I am a huge advocate for quality, educational material, especially for young children. And if that is in the form of a DVD, then I am willing to look at it with an open mind. So my trusty research assistant (aka Olive) and I took some time to sit down and watch these wonderful DVDs. They were a nice treat on a few rainy, cold days we were stuck inside.

First up was Baby Preschool. This DVD is geared towards children 1 year and older. Olive really enjoyed watching it! The two main puppets Dookie Duck and Dottie Duck were her favorite and she kept asking  "when are those guys coming back?" whenever they weren't on the screen. She loved all the music and colors as well. I liked that the DVD has a viewer interaction element to it. They ask questions to the viewer about what's on the screen or going on in the story.  It did a great job of keeping her attention without causing her to zone out.

We also watched Baby's First Words 1, which is geared towards children 6 months and up. While it is geared towards a younger audience, Olive still enjoyed it. Once again Dookie and Dottie Duck are here to entertain and educate the viewer. This DVD also has great classical music, colors, familiar toys and objects and engaging scenes with puppets. The main focus is to introduce familiar words such as plane, dog and flower. The words are introduced with a sight word, pictures, animation and toys. Olive really liked saying the vocabulary words with the narrator and talking about all the different representations of the words (toys, picture, puppet, etc).

The third DVD we were sent for review is titled 30 Minutes to a Quiet Baby. This DVD is geared towards babies 3 months and older. So for this DVD we also enlisted Penelope for her input. Penny is only 2 months old, but she seemed to be attracted by the music and colors on the screen. And it must work to quiet a baby since she fell asleep about 4 minutes in! Olive liked the simplicity of this DVD. She liked dancing to the music and talking about the toys and animations on the screen. She also got really excited when she heard some of her favorite songs like "I'm A Little Teapot" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider".

I can certainly say that the baby Prodigy DVDs were a hit in this house! We still won't make a habit of watching TV, but if the need arises, I know we can watch any of the baby Prodigy videos and see quality, educational programming. That won't lead to the Twilight Zone...

You can buy baby Prodigy products on their website and at Toys R' Us. DVDs retail for $12.99.

Or you can enter to win a baby Prodigy DVD set right here!

baby Prodigy has graciously offered up a DVD pack containing the same DVDs I reviewed for one lucky reader!

Mandatory Entry: 

Tell me who you would give the DVDs to if you won! 

Additional Entries:
Leave a separate comment for each entry.
Make sure to include your email address on all comments so I can contact you if you are the winner.

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Winner will be drawn November 19th. Open to US mailing addresses only. Good Luck! 

Land of 10,000

hits! The hit counter just rolled over to 10,000!

Thanks family and friends and random internet strangers! I feel so loved! 

SSOF: Weekly Check-In

So this week was not quite as successful as last week. But i am trying not to be too hard on myself and just accept it and move on.

I haven't done a Bootcamp video since Saturday, but I have been doing daily stretching, sit up and push ups.Well, I've attempted to do push ups. I can do about 5 "girl" push ups before my arms turn into wet noodles. But considering I'm holding or carrying around a 13 pound infant most of the day, I figure my arms are getting a fairly good workout. Not to mention lugging her around in her carseat, iy ya. I should be able to lift cars with one hand pretty soon. (I'm talking Smart cars, not Escalades.) Just call me Hulk. 

I am quite excited to tell you, dear readers,  that sometime in the near future I will be reviewing an ab workout/fitness program that guarantees results. I can't wait to try it out!

 And on a very unrelated note, did you know that Oreo's are dairy free? Which is kind of gross if you really think about it, but awesome for those of us who are avoiding dairy! 

Mmmm, oreos. Now if only Oreo Blizzards were dairy free....hey, a girl can dream can't she?!

Help! I've fallen

off the wagon and I want to get back on! 

This cold has seriously knocked me on my butt. I need to pick myself up and get back to it. Now, who is going to come over here and make me do it? 

Bring cookies!

SSOF: Weekly Check-In

Week two of this little experiment I am conducting. And I am happy to report I am still on the wagon!

I am keeping up with the Busy Mom's Bootcamp, doing (at least) one video a day. I've also added in this Pilates Ab Workout. The videos are great because they are short enough that I can do one or two while the girls are napping. But they are still a great workout!  I know it will take a while to see results, but I am definitely feeling "the burn". 

I haven't been doing much cardio this week, but don't worry I have a good excuse. No really, I do. Two actually.

1) I have a horrendous cold that has settled nicely in my chest. And throat. And nose. And ears. And head. I am a hot mess. Literally.
2) The weather has been as horrendous as my cold. Between the 50 mph winds, pounding rain (and SNOW) and temps in the 30s, we haven't left the house much this week!

I am hoping I can get over this cold sooner rather than later and get my cardio on. Olive is big into running laps around our kitchen, living room and dining room, so there is always that option.
 
So long story short, week two was a success (in my mind). On to week three!

SSOF: Weekly Check-In

(Some Sort of Fitness)

I am proud to say that I got a workout in today. Albeit a short, 10 minute workout, but a workout is a workout. 

I stumbled across the Busy Mom's Bootcamp over at Babyfit (by Sparkpeople!). It is a workout program that consists of doing one 10 minute (or less) workout video per day and five 30 minute cardio sessions per week. Throw in some healthy eating and voila! I am back on the wagon! Ok, not yet. But the intent is there...

I started with Day 1: 10 Minute Cardio Kickboxing.While it was not the hardest workout I have ever done, it did get my heart rate up and yes, I broke a sweat. I also pushed Olive in the cart at Target while carrying Penny in the Ergo, so I am counting that as additional cardio. Baby steps people, baby steps. 

The idea is to follow the workout for four weeks and you will see results in all major muscle groups. And considering the workout videos are only 10 minutes long or less, I really have no excuse for not doing them. Unless I am too tired. Or hungry. Or it's too sunny out. I kid. 

Kind of. We'll see.

Reflections of Motherhood

A friend* sent this video to me today. It's too good not to share, enjoy!






*Thanks Kristin!