Nido Science Discovery and Robot Zoo

We celebrated Mikeila's 2nd birthday but decided not to throw a party same as last year but instead just have a small gathering at home and visited SM Mall of Asia the day after her birthday. Where else could you go to MOA where toddlers can have fun and learn at the same time? At Nido Science Discovery Center and Robot Zoo of course!

Entrance to both Science Discovery Center and Robot Zoo is P500 per head. Children below 2 feet will enjoy the facilities for free.

Ticket already includes 1 Planetarium show which features a 40-minute science movie shown in a dome theater, way better than IMAX. If you have a toddler, better catch the show One World, One Sky (showing at 1:20pm, 4:40pm and 7:20pm). It stars sesame street characters like Elmo and Big Bird. Your kids will enjoy it for sure.

The Robot Zoo features giant robot animals which teaches you how animals move. These are great especially for picture taking though I hope they have more exhibits to showcase inside. It kinda feels "bitin".

Over all, a visit at Nido Science Discovery Center and Robot Zoo is a great bonding experience for your family. Be sure to check it out when you plan to drop by Mall of Asia.

Robot Frog

The kids busy reading in front of the giant squid

What's it like to be a chameleon

Raffy, Mikeila and giant grasshopper

We love this! Squid Race!

Interactive screen where kids can color the images

Giant Platypus

Giant Rhino

Seafood Pasta in Oil

Thanks to Wanda Cooks for this recipe. So simple but delicious. I made this for Mikeila's 2nd birthday and they loved it. :)

Ingredients:
1kg spaghettini or angel's hair (cooked per package instructions)
seafood (shrimp, squid and canned tuna, drained but reserving the oil)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 whole garlic (or more), minced finely
1 tbsp red chili flakes, minced finely
1 cup dried basil
1 cup dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste

How to Cook:

• Warm oil, garlic and red chili flakes in a skillet. Cover and let simmer in low heat for 15 minutes. The oil should barely bubble and make sure the garlic will NOT turn brown.
• Add shrimp and squid and cook in medium-high heat. Add the canned tuna a few minutes after.
• Once cooked, add the basil, parsley and the oil from the canned tuna. Then add salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer for a few minutes
• Pour over pasta and serve.

Win! Free Nido Science Discovery Planetarium Show and Robot Zoo Tickets

It's contest time! Baby Store and More is giving away not one, not two, but THREE tickets to the Planetarium Show and Robot Zoo at Nido Science Discovery Center, Mall of Asia.

Here are the mechanics:

1. Like Baby Store and More's Facebook page
2. Subscribe to Baby Store and More's blog posts. Link can be found at the lower right corner of this page, right below Favorite Links
3. Fill out the form below and tell us why you think you deserve to win the free tickets

It's that easy! The person with the most unique and inspired answer wins. Contest will run from October 5 to October 14. I will announce the winner on October 15 here in my blog and on my FB page. Remember that the ticket will entitle you to 1 free planetarium show and entrance to their much talked about Robot Zoo. The planetarium show alone makes it all worth it. If you have a toddler, I suggest you watch One World, One Sky. Your kids will enjoy it, I promise.

Good luck!

Parent's or Guardian's Name:
Email Address:
Facebook Account
Mailing Address
Kid's Name
Kid's Age
Tell us why you deserve to win 3 tickets to Nido Planetarium Show and Robot Zoo

This online form was provided by Freedback.

Top Android Apps for my Toddler

Kids today have been very lucky to have various types of learning devices and activities available to them. My two year old Mikeila loves to play with my smartphone and already knows how to navigate it. I saw this as an opportunity to teach her so I downloaded several (FREE) baby-friendly, educational or fun apps for her.

Here are the list of apps she loves (in no particular order):

• Kid Songs 1 & 2 - This is a compilation of children's songs coupled with moving flash graphics that your baby can sing along to. Mikeila developed a love for music and she already knows how to sing along with the songs like Clap Your Hands, Bingo, London Bridge, Alphabet Song, Happy Birthday, Finger Family among others.

• Sing Sing Together - Also a compilation of children's songs but each song has a dance move that your kid will enjoy doing.

• Smart books - Smart books have several apps available for download but what we love are Kids Stories, Kids Songs (this is different from the first one mentioned above), Skidamarink and London Bridge)

• Pango Book - an interactive story book featuring Pango and his friends. Mikeila and her cousin Alexa loves giving Pango a bath, blowing and popping balloon and apple picking with Pango

• Ant and Grasshopper (CluePoint Co, Ltd.) - another interactive book where your baby will help the ant from gathering food for the winter. You have the option to read the story yourself or let the recorded story teller read it for you.

• Read Me Stories - consists of The Lion and the Mouse, Is The Moon Made of Cheese and All Aboard!

• Abby Preschool Shape Puzzle - has several puzzle categories for your kids to choose from like toys, animals, fairy tales, vehicles, etc

• Dr. Panda's Restaurant - Teach your children how to cook soup, egg omelet and milk shake with this interactive app

• Baby Learns Numbers - consists of two games which teach kids about numbers. The fishing game is so much fun.

• 5 Pumpkins - 5 Pumpkins also have several educational apps like colors, numbers and shapes. Mikeila can already identify white, blue, green and pink! Cool! :-)

The Truth About Your Baby Powder

When I went to the Mompreneur Summit to pick-up the products I ordered at Tiny Buds, I got intrigued with the display at their booth. They showed Tiny Buds Baby Rice Powder poured on top of a glass with water. What amazes me is that the powder do not mix with the water at all. It really does repel water!

So I did the same experiment at home not only with Tiny Buds but also using another famous baby powder brand. Just to check if both repels water just the same. The first video uses another baby powder brand while the second one uses Tiny Buds Baby Rice Powder. Here's what I found out:

The one on the right side of the picture uses another famous powder brand. As soon as I pour the powder on top of the water, a lot of the grains were absorbed immediately. You can see that the water was not clear and some of the powder residue were at the bottom of the glass.

Amazingly, Tiny Buds Baby Rice Powder remained on top of the water! You can see on the left side of the picture that the water is still clear and no powder were absorbed.

I can safely assume that Tiny Buds Baby Rice Powder is better to protect your kids from sweat as it repels water really well. Add to that the fact that it does not contain talc harmful to your kids lungs. I'm really glad I found this product.

Here are more pictures from the experiment:

Going Natural with Tiny Buds

I recently posted an article about Tiny Buds Rice Baby Powder a few weeks back and mentioned that I wish I can offer it at Baby Store and More because I believe in the product so much. Well good thing I came across their FB Page and learned about their Mommy Power Club. Members can avail of Tiny Buds products at a discounted price as long as they meet the minimum purchase requirements. They also gave free samplers of all Tiny Buds products! SWEET!

So for parents out there who would like to give the best and safest baby products for your little ones, head over at my online store Baby Store and More and look for the Tiny Buds Product Listings. I offer the following as of the moment:

Tiny Buds Rice Baby Powder - A premium quality baby powder made from 100% real rice grains. This biodegradable and hypoallergenic baby powder is completely free from harmful talc and other chemicals.

Hypoallergenic, Biodegradable, 100% Talc-Free, 100% Real Rice Grains

Tiny Buds Rice Baby Powder 50g - P99

Tiny Buds Hand Sanitizer - Food-safe ingredients; Safe for kids;  Fruit alcohol extract thus w/o irritating alcohol smell

Tiny Buds Hand Sanitizer 65ml - P68

Tiny Buds Bottle and Utensil Wash - A mild natural cleaner specially formulated to keep baby safe from harmful chemicals.
•  Food-safe Ingredients
• Biodegradable
• Non-toxic
• No harsh chemicals
• No artificial color
• Paraben-free

Tiny Buds Bottle and Utensil Wash 500ml - P259

Tiny Buds Bottle and Utensil Wash Refill Pouch 350ml - P179

Tiny Buds Bottle and Utensil Wash 1 Week Pack 128ml - P78

Go NATURAL!

Mikeila's Trip at the Dentist

I wanted to share what I learned from Mikeila's dentist yesterday. We went to the  Pediatric Dentistry Center of the Philippines along Banawe Ave to have her teeth checked. Mikeila unfortunately was diagnosed with tooth decay on several of her teeth. This maybe the reason why she has poor appetite lately. It can also leave to swelling and infections when left untreated.

We were given 2 options by Dra. Lopez. To take the teeth out and wait for the permanent teeth to come in or to treat the pulp of her teeth and hold on to it as much as we could. This treatment is called pulpotomy or root canal for kids.

We have to weigh the pros and cons of the two options before deciding:

• Baby teeth holds the space for the permanent teeth so taking the tooth out especially the molar can cause crowding once the permanent teeth comes in.  
• Baby teeth will be replaced starting age 7 to 11. Mikeila is only 2. Those years without teeth may affect the kid's self esteem once she goes to school.
• On the other hand,  having a pulp treatment can save her teeth for many years but she needs to be sedated in order that she would not feel the pain of the operation. The dentist said that this is completely safe but we still have our apprehensions because the baby will feel nauseated and groggy the whole day of the operation.

After discussing with hubby Raffy, we decided to take the pulp treatment since saving her teeth is more important to us. The doctor reminded us that even after the treatment, it is still important to change our routine so as to prevent the damage from coming back.

Here are the tips our dentist taught us to prevent tooth decay from coming back.

• Always brush your kid's teeth before going to bed using a toothpaste with 1,000ppm of flouride. Colgate and Floucaril are the brands we use. Do not gargle with water so that the teeth will be left protected with flouride.
• Make sure not to give them milk after brushing. Now this is where our mistake is. We always brush Mikeila's teeth, but we can't resist to give her milk if she asks for it. The milk residue will stay at their teeth the whole night thus causing tooth decay. What we do now is we give her milk before brushing so that she won't ask for it after
• If she eats cookies, candies as snacks, make sure to give her lots of water after in order to wash out the sugar from this treats.
• Always visit your trusted pedia dentist regularly to have your kid's teeth checked. You may start when she reached one year old. You may check out Dra. Fina Lopez of the Pediatric Dentistry Center of the Philippines (see contact details below). She's so nice and was able to explain everything to us.

There you go. Hope these tips will help you prevent your kids from having tooth decay and not suffer what Mikeila's undergoing right now. I hope her treatment will run smoothly and we'll have her teeth healthy again. Will let you know her progress soon.

Pediatric Dentistry Center of the Philippines
5/F Medical Arts Building
Dr. Fe Del Mundo Medical Center
11 Banawe cor Cardiz Sts., Quezon City
Tel # 740-7728
Website: http://www.pediatricdentistry.com.ph
Email: info@pediatricdentistry.com.ph