I looked at the calendar this week (because since leaving teaching I can never remember the day of the week let alone the frickin date!!) and to my utter amazement I suddenly realised that it is less than a month until my tiny little baby girl turns a whole big fat two years old! I’m sorry but when the hell did that happen?! I only brought her home from hospital last week didn’t I? Plus, shouldn’t she be sleeping properly by now??! Anyway, I quickly jumped on Facebook and did an event invite and then popped online to order some invitations for the non-tech savvy or people I simply haven’t gotten around to adding on social media yet and thought phew! At least that was everyone invited – we’re going to do what we did last year and have a BBQ and food in the garden with splash pool and toys for the kids to play with. Obviously we will get a few decorations and a cake as well but she is only two so I should probably make the most of low demanding parties while I can! We’ve decided on the theme (last year we have unicorns – which was possibly more for me than Alyssa and you can read all about her 1st Birthday here) and this year we have gone with Fairy Princess because that is what she chose to have her bedroom decorated in – yes my soon to be 2 year old chose her own room decoration because I held out three choices and it was the one she grabbed onto and wouldn’t let go of. However, just sending out the invites and choosing a theme is only the beginning of part planning really isn’t it…
So of course I decided to refer back to a post that I wrote fairly early on in my blogging life, “Party Planning: Everything You Never Knew You Needed to Know!” and use it as a kind of check list to make sure I have everything I need. To be honest the thing I am worrying most about is what to get her for her presents. She is at a kind of in between age where she is starting to like certain things more than others but quite often also has the attention span of a goldfish meaning she will quickly move on to something else.
I’ve been fortunate enough to work with a lot of different brands through blogging and came up with the plan to look back through some of them in the hopes of finding some good presents for the birthday girl. After a little bit of scrolling I came back across What 2 Buy 4 Kids and thought I’d take a peek at their site and BINGO! Not only do they sort
their products by brand and type but they also allow you to search for specific age groups, so in my case Presents for 2 Year Old Girls! I book marked their page  in order to return and buy a few bits later, but then not long after they got in touch and asked me if I’d like to review some of the toys from their new range that would be suitable for Alyssa!
Firstly we got the “Dear Zoo Matching Pairs Game” which is brilliant because recently Alyssa and I have been practicing her animals, animal sounds
and doing puzzles. This game is simple but fun and can be played two different ways. You can either match the cards with an identical pair or you can follow the guide book and match them with the carrier they are travelling to the zoo in – great fun! So far we have only played it by matching the animals together and will move onto the cages later, but Alyssa does really good impressions of the snake and lion now.
Next we received this absolutely gorgeous “Wooden Mouse Shape Sorter.” Apart from anything else it looks beautiful as well as teaching her all about shapes which is something else we have started doing recently. Add in the fact it’s in pink which is the only colour she has learnt so far and I had one very happy little bubba. She also got faster and faster at matching the shapes to the holes and twisting them round until they went through.
Finally we received “My First Shapes Puzzle” – this is a great collection of ten different puzzles all with only 2 pieces that make different shapes and objects. They are gorgeously bright and colourful, slot together easily when the right pieces are put together (as Alyssa discovered) and are great for learning and practicing new words too. As I said, she is starting to really like puzzles so this was yet another perfect gift for her.
We were so grateful to receive the gorgeous toys from What 2 Buy 4 Kids and I will definitely be going back there to buy some presents for Alyssa’s birthday this month. I’ll be using the search tool that allows me to look at only toys that are suitable for her age which saves a lot of time scrolling through trying to find something suitable. They have such a mix of old and new style toys as well as traditional wooden and ride-on products too. If you’re looking for something for an upcoming birthday or dare I say Christmas present then look no further!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Either a Lion OR a Mouse Sorter for 1 winner –  no monetary exchange available
Contest is open until 23/07/2017
Distribution of  prizes is the responsibility of What 2 Buy 4 Kids
 Mummy in a Tutu cannot be held responsible for lost prizes
This post was written in collaboration with What 2 Buy 4 Kids– all opinions are my own
All winner decisions are final – the winner has 48 hours to claim or a new winner will be drawn
UK Entrants Only
63 Comments
I would love the Lion please for my grandson đŸ™‚ Thanks for the chance x
I would love to win the pink mouse for my niece
lion please or mouse
The lion please.
The mouse would be lovely thank you!
Lion would be awesome thanks
My daughter likes the lion the best. Thanks
The mouse please
I love rainbow stripes so I’d go for the lion, please đŸ™‚
The mouse please
I would love the mouse please.
Love the Lion!
I love the Lion
I think the lion for my 5 year old niece.
Love the lion
The lion would be perfect for my nephew
the mouse please
I would love the lion shape sorter
I love the lion one it’s so bright and colourful
Id love the Mouse please!
The mouse, please đŸ™‚
Good luck with the party preparation. I’m in the midst of it myself, I’ve got three birthdays before the kids go back to school…eeek!
#abloggingoodtime
They both look lovely. Good luck everyone!
Oooh they are gorgeous! We have a lion xyolphone in the same range so if we won, we’d like the lion one. #ablogginggoodtime
What a lucky little girl she is to be getting all those lovely presents! They all look fab! I’ve just survived my son’s 4th birthday party last week, they get worse as they get older!!x #ablogginggoodtime
The lion please
I love the Dear Zoo matching game, it was Amelia’s fave book for months, so I may have to grab a pack of these! Happy (almost) 2nd birthday Alyssa!! #ablogginggoodtime
They are both lovely! I wish my kids were little again! Good luck everyone!
It’s my daughters 3rd birthday in a few weeks and I’m having a similar problem finding toys, I’ll have to check this site out x
#Ablogginggoodtime
We have a wooden shape sorter but I never knew that there were ones in the shape of a mouse till now for I’d have been tempted to get that one instead. May your daughter have a lovely birthday. #ablogginggoodtime
Ooh parties always bring the fear of dread over me! I hate planning them and I’m about to delve into the world of school age parties – there will be no getting away from them. Attending and hosting! It sounds like you’ve got this one sussed though. So much easier in the summer months. #ablogginggoodtime
If I will I would love the lion shape sorter, please. Thanks for this lovely giveaway.
the lion looks super cute! #ablogginggoodtime
the lion would be lovely please
Love the Lion shape sorter. Beautiful rainbow. I love the bright colours
The Lion please
I would like the Lion please
Lion please đŸ™‚
The lion one for grandson
The lion please xx
I’d love to win the lion for my little boy. Thank you.
I would love the mouse if chosen please
mouse please
Love the lion would be a fab present for my lil second birthday next month xx
The mouse please
i wold love the mouse one its so sweet
i think my granddaughter would love playing with this
Lion. Though they are both nice.
Lion please đŸ™‚
I would love to win the lion
The mouse please, for my granddaughter
my grand daughter would love the mouse one but the lion one is really cute as well thanks for the chance.
I would love to win the lion đŸ™‚
I would absolutely love the mouse one for my daughter Sofia she’s one in September , these are lovely xx
I would love the pink mouse for my niece please
lion please
I would love the mouse shape sorter for my daughter Bella x
The mouse
I would like the lion – love the bright colours
I’d love the lion one!
Such a hard decision, but if I was lucky enough to win this would be for my great-niece Mylah, so the pink mouse would be great. Thanks for the chance.
The lion
Lion pls x
love the lion!