I am so excited to share some wonderful news with you – I have been chosen to be a Fisher-Price Play Ambassador! I was thrilled to hear the news because we are such big Fisher-Price fans in our home. My son loves Little People and all of their fun accessories so we have a large playroom full of Fisher-Price toys. My mom actually saved quite a few of my Fisher-Price toys from growing up (you can see a fun post about these retro toys here) and my son has a lot of fun playing with those older toys when he visits Nana & Papa’s house. 
Wondering what being a Fisher-Price Play Ambassador means? Well, throughout 2013 I’ll be sharing some exciting Fisher-Price news with you on the latest toys and special promotions. Fisher-Price is dedicated to supporting families with young children and believes in the importance of a supportive environment in which they can learn, grow and get the best possible start in life. I can promise you that there are a lot of exciting things coming up with Fisher-Price this year!
Celebrating Milestones with Fisher-Price:
As our little ones grow, they reach so many exciting milestones. There is that first smile that just melts your heart. There is the first time a rattle is grasped in those cute little fingers. Let’s not forget the first taste of solid food and the funny reaction that goes along with it.
One milestone that I think we all look forward to is the first time we hear our child say “Mom” and “Dad”. Actually, I have a funny little story for you. My son was saying “Dad” for months but all of a sudden he started referring to my husband as “Dan”. My husband’s name is not Dan (not even close) but the name has stuck with him now for months. It’s just so cute to hear him say “Dan” that we haven’t tried to correct him yet. In fact, my entire family now refers to my husband as “Dan”.
My son is 20 months now so he still has plenty of milestones ahead of him. We’ve been working a lot on animal noises lately after we heard him say “Moo” when he was playing with his Fisher-Price Little People Animals Noise Farm. So far he knows the noises for a cow, horse, cat, dog, chicken and dinosaur. We’re not sure how a dinosaur made it onto the farm but he does the sound so well! For Christmas this year he received the Little People Zoo Talkers Animal Sounds Zoo so we’ve been trying to work on some zoo animal noises as well. Do you have this toy? If so, you have to try this fun little game with it. My husband and I call it “What animal are you today?” It’s tough to type out the directions so I made a short little video to explain it.
We’ve also been trying to work with him on increasing his vocabulary. While playing with him we talk about a lot of the actions, colours and sounds in each of the toys. By teaching him while we’re playing, I feel that it gives us the benefit of learning in a relaxed environment.
One milestone that we may reach in 2013 is potty training. We purchase his Cheer For Me! Potty quite a while ago so that we could set it up in the bathroom and he could get used to seeing it in there and playing with it. So far he’s using it as another area to store his toys so we may be a long way from potty training.
Are you familiar with the Fisher-Price Playtime Guide? This informative guide talks about the 3 Pillars of Development and the 12 Elements of Enrichment. This guide does an excellent job of breaking down the various stages of development by age groups. It lists some of the skills that your child may be developing at each age and ways that you can help to encourage their growth. For example, it lists that from age 18 – 24 months your child can express a range of moods from joy to frustration to jealousy. This is so true for my little guy right now! When he figures out how to use a toy the right way, he claps and cheers for himself. When he tries to fit a large toy inside a smaller toy and it doesn’t work, he shows his frustration. It’s so interesting to watch him learning through play.
What milestones do you look forward to sharing with your little ones this year?
To stay updated on the latest ideas for family fun, follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Bloglovin’.
Disclosure: I am part of the Fisher-Price Play Ambassador program with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.