Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Review & Giveaway - EZPZ Mini Mat


Vern @ 19mo - 1 March 2017 


Thanks to MumsPick, I got the chance to review this awesome product - EZPZ Mini Mat.



SO WHO AND WHAT IS MUMSPICK?
MumsPick is a distributor of mum-approved baby and toddler products found from all over the world. They seek only the best (quality and safe) for their little ones  and their mission is to provide the best for their babies and keeping the world in mind by sourcing responsibly.


SO WHAT IS EZPZ MINI MAT?

EZPZ Mini Mat is actually a spin-off from the successful original EZPZ Happy Mat. It is a silicon placemat that is also a plate. The only difference is that the Mini Mat is much smaller than the original Happy Mat.

 
EZPZ Happy Mat vs Mini Mat


It is actually an all-in-one placemat that suctions to the table. The mat is made from 100% food-grade silicon that is BPA, PVC and phthalate free. It is designed for infant/toddler of 4mo+. 




FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND FEATURES

I received the package a little later than expected. I initially requested for the Mini Mat because I wanted to bring it along with me during our family trip to Phuket, but we didn't receive it until later on.
Well, anyway, the package came in a plastic parcel.

Upon opening the package, there was a note, a brochure and also a thank you card with it. Very thoughtful of Mumspick indeed.
The Mini Mats were also wrapped nicely with a piece of soft paper.
 
 

Upon unwrapping the paper, i saw that I was given the grey and the lime green Mini Mat which were individually wrapped in plastic
 


The Mini Plates were of a solid pleasing colour of grey and lime green.
The mat is made from 100% food-grade silicon that is BPA, PVC and phthalate free.
The exact dimensions as per their website is:
Dimensions: 8.5 x 7.7 x 1 Portion sizes (i.e., the eyes and smile) are catered to infants at 2oz, 2oz and 4oz 


My first impression was it when I touched it was that it felt solid and sturdy.
 

There is a logo at the bottom right side of the mat.
This is a closer pic of the logo.
 


Now lets see what I think of it when I'm putting them into good use.
Since I received them, I use the Mini Mats almost daily. It is really very useful.

First of all, I love the fact that the Mini Mat fits into most of the high chair trays, especially the OXO Tot Sprout High Chair we have at home. 

And it fits into other hair chair trays as well, such as the Graco High Chair we have in Grandma's house and also the Ikea high chair that is often in most cafe/restaurant. 
So it is easy to bring this Mini Mat out as it fits most high chair trays when eating out places which provides high chairs. 
 
 

And even if it doesn't fit the high chair tray, you could just remove the tray, and move the high chair nearer to the table to use it on the table. Problem solved. 


How about the suction strength? 
I've read that as compared to the Happy Mat the suction is not that strong. But I think it is expected because it has a smaller surface as compared to the Happy Mat. 
What I do is I wipe the surface clean with a damp cloth and I make sure I press the edges firmly onto the table and it works for me everytime.

Well, I've tried it in most surfaces and it works most of the time
Our OXO Tot Sprout High Chair tray is made of a material which is easy to clean, which means it is not a very smooth surface, so I actually did not expect it to have a good suction at all. But surprisingly the suction still works fine!

Our dining table has a glass table top and as expected it works really well. 
I've also tried it on our wooden coffee table as well and it also suctions well. 
 


So it is way better than the normal plastic kid's plate/bowl I let him use, which are usually lightweight in material and easily tipped as Vern tried to scoop the food out.
With the Mini Mat, there is no more tipping and thus, less mess on tip-over food!

But I think I'm lucky Vern doesn't have itchy hands to purposely peel the edges to tip over the Mini Mat. Because I think if he wants to do that, he can. The edges are kinda "fat" so is easy for itchy hands to peel it off if he really wants to. I guess Vern is more interested in his food, which I'm thankful of. 


Oh, and I love that it is so easy to wash. I just wash it with soapy water and leave it on the drying rack to dry.
Please take note that silicon doesn't harbour the growth of mould, bacteria or fungus, so is good.

However, I did serve food such as blognaise pasta and dragon fruits, and I made sure I wash it straight after to make sure it doesn't stain. So make sure for these type of food, please wash it straight after to make sure it does not stain your Mini Mat.

I also find that serving food in the Mini Mat makes my toddler more happy to eat his food.
The eyes and the smiley face makes my toddler happy and he is more inclined to try the varieties of food offered. 

Let's see a short clip on how happy he is eating his food off the EZPZ Mini Mat.



And as compared to the Happy Mat, this Mini Mat is made from a thinner silicon, and is of a more lightweight material, so it makes it a really good travel utensil and to bring it out. 


These are some of the food I served to baby Vern for you all to have some visual guide.
Yummy or not? haha

Left: Blueberries and melon cubes.
Right: Blueberries, Watermelon cubes, mango cubes.
 

Left: Small pieces of duck meat, rice.
Right: Mango, hard boiled egg.
 

Left: Blueberries, manho cubes, meeku.
Right: Melon pieces, Avocade on toast.
  


Let's end this review post on Vern showing his good sign. He shows his index finger instead of his thumb. All toddlers do that, right? At least all my 3 kids did that when they were small!
 
 



GIVEAWAY
I am pleased to announce that MumsPick is sponsoring one EZPZ Mini Mat to a lucky winner!
Win for your baby, or maybe for your friend's baby. ")



HOW TO JOIN (CLOSED)

This giveaway is open to my Malaysian and Singaporean readers. (or as long as you have a Malaysian or Singapore mailing address!)

Giveaway runs for 1 week and ends on 6th April 2017 (Thursday) 11.59pm Malaysian time.

Please fill up the Rafflecopter below
and follow the instructions to to be eligible for a chance to win this giveaway!


a Rafflecopter giveaway


The winner will be chosen randomly using the Rafflecopter and will be posted in this post and will also be contacted via email.
If no reply from the winner within 48 hours, then I will announce a new winner.



WINNER(S) ANNOUNCEMENT

Thank you to all who participated in this giveaway. 

The winner of this giveaway is JACELYN PHUA.

Congratulations!  
You will be receiving an email from me on how to collect the prize(s) soon.


[Please reply the email within 48 hours with your contact details (full name, contact#, delivery address). 

If not, another winner will be chosen to replace you.]





TO PURCHASE 
Please visit MumsPick website  to purchase online.

You can also visit their Facebook Page for more info. 




* Disclosure: I received an EZPZ Mini Mat  for review purpose, but no monetary incentive was received. All text and opinions are of my own and represents my honest opinion of the product(s).

Monday, March 27, 2017

Khye Can Read @ 4 1/2yo!

I bought Peter and Jane books for Shern when he was about 6yo when he was struggling to read. Although he could speak English really well then, but he was still not reading fluently.
I initially bought the starter's boxset of Peter & Jane to see if Shern took a liking to it and also if the books suits him or if they are beneficial for him.

And it did. The books kind of taught Shern how to read. Since he was already 6yo+ then, after reading a few books, it somehow 'clicked' and after several books, he figured out how the words and sounds formed and could read rather fluently then.

To tell the truth, I was rather impressed with the books. Although I know many mothers read the books when they were young. I for one, had never read them.
So I was rather surprised these 'boring' books could be so beneficial.


And now it is Khye's turn. But the difference is that he is only 4 1/2 years old now.
I for one is not someone who pushed my kid on learning how to read asap. But then since young, Khye loves his 123s and ABCs.
He could only talk at 2yo but by 2yrs 4mo, he already knows his ABCs.
And his 3rd birthday theme was Alphabet-themed because of his love for ABCs too.

And recently he is really interested into reading words, as he always asked us to read out the words we see during outings. Or he would spell us a word he sees and ask us to read it.

And that was when I took out the Peter & Jane books for Khye to try.
And as expected, he was sooo happy and he loves the books.

I took it out just a few days ago and he has been reading about a book each day just before bedtime.
The books started off with very simple words in Book 1a, with very much repetition.

Peter.
Jane.
Here is Peter.
Here is Jane.
Here is Peter and Jane.
(new words: is, and)

Here is the dog.
Here is Jane and the dog.
(new words: dog)

What I love about the book is that it lets you read the words as a whole (and not through phonics).
It uses the repetition method of teaching, and introducing new words slowly.
This is the traditional way of learning how to read just like how we used to learn when we were small.

As you know, the English language is very funny. It has lots of rules but yet has lots of exceptions to the rules. So it gets really confusing sometimes.
But when you learn to read the word as a whole, it makes more sense sometimes.

However, Khye and I still use phonics to sound out words that he may not know. He try reading a new word using phonics and it helps too.

This is Khye reading a page of Book 2a all by himself:


And this is Khye again a few days later reading Book 3a:


You can see that there are more words in Book 3a compared to Book 2a.
Khye is really getting the hang of reading now.

Another good thing about these Peter & Jane books is that Khye has a sense of accomplishment because he can read a whole page all by himself.
Unlike if you take a random story book, and he may not know how to read half of the page as there are many words he may not know.

And for Khye's case, when he can read the WHOLE book all by himself, he gets really happy and excited and is really more eager to want to continue reading more.

But most important is don't force. Let the kid guide you. He will let you know when he wants to read. He does not need to finish reading the whole book at one go. A few pages a day is also good.

So for now, Khye just finished Book 3a. He can't wait to read more. He was asking for another book just now but we stop him because it is his bedtime already, haha.
My little nerdy boy!


Happy Reading Peter & Jane!

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Review: Eyecon Optometry - Spec-y Khye for 3 Mths @ 4 1/2yo

Khye Wearing Specs Temporarily @ 4 1/2 yo - 3 March 2017

Shern was having a case of eye blinking for about a week and that was when I decided to bring him for an eye checkup before I conclude that it was just his bad habit.
And also the last time he had his eyes checked was when he was 4yo.

Took him back to Eyecon Optometry and requested for Miss Ho as I had good experience with her. 
After about 1/2 hour checkup, it was concluded that there was no eye infection or so and his vision is still very good. 
But Shern had very dry eyes and it may lead to him blinking his eyes more often. She gave Shern 2 weeks to see if the blinking goes away, and if not he might need some artificial tear drops to help him. 

I brought Khye along for an eye test too, although I did not not hear any vision complaints from Khye, but just to make sure there were no lazy eye symptoms or anything.
And what a good thing I did because it turned out Khye was the one that has some problem with his vision.

As a child optometry centre, they have special child optometry tools such as below shapes to replace the usual alphabet chart we are used to.  


Miss Ho just like last time was very patient and thorough. She checked his eyes for everything, long sight, short sight, 3D vision, colour vision, eye pressure, and many others.
She made everything sounded like a game, asking him to be a pirate and read out shapes. It was all fun for Khye.
 
 


It turned out Khye has a problem with his long sightedness (which means he can't see near very well), and somehow affected his 3D vision as well.
His long sightedness also affected his ability to see near things, so he read all the shapes as "circle circle circle" in the last few rows. 

Miss Ho suggested he wears specs full time for 3 months, and then if makes good progress, then will only need to wear during eye strenuous activities such as reading, or watching the tv.
It can be corrected since his is slight and diagnoses early, so maybe in a while he may no more need the glasses. We will see.

Khye was apparently very happy he needs to wear spectacles and was happily choosing one for himself. He wants a purple, pink or a brown one as these are his favourite colours.

In the end, he settled for this one, which is purple AND pink! :D 


For those interested to know the price/fee;
Consultation for Shern was RM43.
Consultation for Khye was waived because he did spectacles. His lenses was RM90+ and the frame depends on the one you choose. His was RM100+.
I find the prices quite reasonable.

This is Khye when daddy took him to collect his spectacles. 
I think he looks quite good in them. And the purple and pink specs suits him! ;)


I'm so thankful there are no problems of all asking Khye to wear his spectacles. He happily wears them day in and day out, except for when he is sleeping. So far so good.

These are some photos of Khye wearing his spectacles happily.
 
 


It has been more than a week now and he is still good.
I just need to teach him to take care of his specs.
Some photos of Khye with Mummy and Pho-pho.
 
 


For those who are looking for Child Optometrist, please look for Miss Ho at Eyecon in Burmah Road, Penang (same row as Tan Mark boostore, Koe Klinik, Raffe Nasi Kandar, 7-11)



Eyecon
Tan & Ho Child Optometry Clinic Sdn Bhd

No 269D, Jalan Burmah,
Pulau Tikus,
10350 Pulau Pinang,
Malaysia.

Tel: +604 226 1410
Fax: +604 226 1410
Email: tanhochildoptometry.com.my
Website: http://www.eyecon.com.my/
(Closed on Tuesdays)

Specialization:Infant / Toddler Vision Assessment, Binocular Vision Assessment, Vision Therapy for Lazy Eye, Squints etc., Visual Motor/Perceptual Skills Assessment, Myopia Control.
Practitioner: Ho Oi ChingB. Optometry (Hons), UKM




Updated on 15 June 2017

3 months had passed and so I took Khye for his follow-up checkup on Monday.
This follow-up check session is shorter, about 1/2 hour long.

Miss Ho told me that his 3D vision improved significantly. He used to not be able to see most of the 3D vision that she showed him 3 months before. But now he could see them as he pointed them out to Miss Ho.

Miss Ho also told me his near sight (which are also affected by his long sightedness) has also improved and the reading is now at 6/7.5 and the other eye in between the 6/7.5 and 6/6 reading.

She is overall very pleased with his improvement, but she told me his reading is still not at "normal" level yet and would like him to continue to wear his glasses for another 6 months.

Yiu-Khye has no problem with wearing glasses and so we are going to soldier on for another 6 months until we see her again in December! ;)

Khye, a very happy boy after he got the ice-cream I promised him after his eye check-up!
12 June 2017



***Please take note that this post is NOT sponsored. I purchased this Eyecon Checkup Session/Spectacles with my own money. All text and opinions are of my own and represents my honest opinion of the product(s).

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