Wooden Toys BENHO & Melissa & Doug "Cousins" :)

Benho Toy Company is a part of Zhejiang Hexin Toys who manufacture for large companies such as Hasbro Toys, Melissa & Doug, Tomy, The Children’s Group and others.source

We got our princess' Melissa and Doug Peg Boards in Toys R Us - Malaysia. They seem to look pretty much like the Benho Toys so I searched for it and found that they are certainly related. Their manufacturers are the same. Difference is M&D is an American brand while B is China. The prices has a big gap too, with M&D having thrice the price.

With the country as his biggest weakness, Benho seems to have been building a good reputation and earned quite a number of certifications like ISO and EN, FSC.
European standard EN 71 specifies safety requirements for toys. Compliance with the standard is legally required for all toys sold in the European Union. from wikipedia - click link above

One of BENHO toys available for your toddler. It enhances Math skills and problem solving skills.Please check out new toys at mylilplanet.multiply.com

Wooden Toys @ My Lil Planet

Soft Launch of My Lil Planet

Toys are tools for learning. Kids may not know it but when they play they learn, especially when you give them the right and suitable toys for them.

Puzzles for example help develop their cognitive skills and hand-eye coordination.

They can help in alphabet, numbers, shapes and color recognition. Some kinds teach classification too like vehicles, pets, fruits among others


Puzzles can also teach Math. Through blocks they begin to understand concepts of symmetry, patterns and design.



They can also learn fraction :


And guess what we have them here!


Please click My Lil Planet and see which toy is best for your special ones.

God bless you!

Love,
Em

A Girl worth Fighting For

I heard this line er song from Mulan and I wonder when will someone tell that for me. You know, young girls dream to be fought for hehe.

But this post is not about me but the little girl who for me is worth fighting for. They say this and that about her, the doctor says it will take a while for her to be able to communicate verbally, internet says tough things that we need to go through, some inconsiderate bitches compare my little girl with their little ones and belittle mine because hers can do "mano and other petty things" , one said she is a bad girl when she refused to be carried. It might be disheartening to hear such words but God had given me strength to just hear them out but not linger.

Next month we'll visit the doctor again, there she'll see that Thea can now say lots of things and I'll proudly tell her that Thea's therapists had noted a lot of improvements.

One mother told me she'd rather put her money on therapies rather than bring her son back to the doctor because (she thinks) she knows already what she'll say - err continue therapy. I didnt argue, because probably it's due to financial difficulties, since 1 visit to the doctor is equal to 8 therapies. Plus she knows what's best for her son. The special momma had been through difficult times and scrutiny of many, I dont want to add burden by saying that I dont totally agree with her hyphotesis. It might work for her but I dont think it would for me and my princess.

I view doctors as authority, not sovereign as I still dare to doubt their findings sometimes. Yet ultimately doctors scare me. When they tell me to drink this for a certain number of days I oblige myself to follow, scared that I might put myself in danger if I dont (esp when the they prescribe antibiotic duh).

I got great respect for our developmental pedia. The Philippines has but a few of them and we were able to get a sched without having to wait for long. I believe she was God sent and her secretary an angel for hearing me out when I first called the clinic. The secretary told me the sched is full but one cancelled appointment, lo and behold that was the time we are going back to Pinas for a visit! I took the slot, fast forward we are now set for our third meeting with our doctor.

Contrary to the other mommy's theory, a regular visit to the doctor is a good thing for me. I anticipate the time and reviews her recommendations. I make sure that I do my best to follow the things she'd written. I make notes on what to ask. In short our visit makes me focus on my goal, I liken her to a supervisor who will check on me and give me a good grade if I prove to be working hard.

I already made my mommy assessment - she didnt ask for one but I did anyway. I think it will help her understand my kid better. I couldnt possibly rely to her assessment if she'd only see my daughter for an hour and there is no other basis, well ofcourse she'll ask me how she'd been but a detailed evaluation will be of much help. Yes, I will still have to ask Teacher for her report. I didnt ask her agad since I am still hoping Thea will make more improvement this coming week. If I ask her to make one now, she might not be able to put into it the recent accomplishments.

So there, my view of life and children has changed since we first went to the doctor. We are about to see her again on August, please pray that everything will go well and that we will receive good news!

What is it that is worth fighting for? And what makes you fight for it? The answer to both question is LOVE.

We all have battles to fight. May we learn to see that our God is greater than all of these battles. Never, never lose hope.

Transformers 3 & the new girl

Is it just me? I had a headache watching T3, seriously. I was looking at my watch and it has been over an hour and no climax yet. Well yeah the special effects were great no doubt about it, but hey Michael Bay I hope you squeezed it to a lil less than 2 hours.

The three comments I gathered from the three men err boys who watched it was "Megan Fox is still hotter" "Mas gusto pa din namin si Mikaela" - these comments were from my husband and my 2 nephews.

The new "it" girl Rosie Huntington-Whitley

She is a Victoria Secret model alright. Her role which includes running hours end in 4"heels could have given her callouses nyahaha. She's a beauty but I have to agree with the boys that the girl's physique is much tamer than the previous Transformer girl who is fierce and yeah more much more appealing.

Megan was replaced because of the comment she made at a magazine

"He's like Napoleon and he wants to create this insane, infamous mad-man reputation," Fox told the magazine. "He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he's a nightmare to work for but when you get him away from set, and he's not in director mode, I kind of really enjoy his personality because he's so awkward, so hopelessly awkward. He has no social skills at all. And it's endearing to watch him."

I say she better check her head, it better fit her hat. Her comment that she said she was hotter than Angelina made me dislike her more. Enough about her :p

How did you like Transformers 3?

I wanna watch Monte Carlo, yep I'm more of a sweet "romantic comedy" movie fan than action, but with T3 in all the cinemas in SM Pampanga how could I? Hmmmm I guess I better just wait for Harry's last installment tapos Twilight naman :D

Half Year 2011

Today is July 1, 2011 the beginning of the year's second half. How did your first half went? Was it fun? Was it productive? have you done anything to inspire someone or even make them smile?

My six months were busy months. My starbucks planner (yep the one that made me coffee addict last december) is full of activities. January - March was drawing months, I mean for the house. That wasnt easy, i tell you it aint. April was the start of construction and the house today is still a work in progress. I wont post pictures yet but let me tell you the plastering for the first floor is done, trusses almost and the roof will be installed next week. It certainly looks like a house na and we are excited.

As for the little girl, her sched is full packed too. I enrolled her to SP (that's for speech) last april. Recently she has been going to school from tuesday to friday. She had a hard time during the transition when went to Brunei for a 2-week vacay but she is catching up pretty well. Her teachers had noted many improvements lately.

Have I blogged about how she count?

"Wiyo one two twi foy fay sik memen ayt nine ten wiyo one..." Yep, after ten she goes back to wiyo - that's zero!

She can say the alphabet too. Sings the pirate song, "excise" - exercise with daddy, and a lot of other things. I cannot put into words the joy that we feel everytime she says something new.

She soooo love her dad (vice versa naman). That's L O V E for me. Here she is after playing rockstar with Vhin, Thea holding the mic and daddy the guitar (not shown), they are singing I wanna be a rockstar by BJ from Barney.



There are other things that transpired, like the new business that me and ate lalah has started and another solo business that I am excited to do (not baking muna since I still dont have an oven - nasunog kasi). There are new friends I've met and their roles in our life will always be special.

The second half of the year wont be different, it will still be full of activities as we start to finish the house (ehh start to finish???), I mean we'll start looking for tiles, paints, designs, furniture etc etc.

Hoping for a productive 2nd half for you and me. Happy July everyone.