Bernie’s Blog

I’m sure having fun with my little Reb. At 23 months she’s starting to get into mischief, harassing the doggies, the bird, insist on what shows she wants to watch on TV, and wail when things don’t go her way. She has, so far, spilled coffee on my keyboard and mouse and emptied a box of spaghetti on the floor. I love how she says things – still last syllable twice – but she’s saying so much more. “Remote Control” is “Mote-Mote”. How cute is that? When I ask her to get the remote she brings it to me, so I can change to the show that she wants. Oh did I tell you that she no longer wants to watch Dora? I have no idea what happened, but on her “can watch” list now is Diego, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Wonder Pets, and the Backyardigans. Anything else she would say “No WAY”, “No WAY”! That’s the only thing she is able to say accurately. I always respond by saying “Yes WAY!” I get the feeling she only likes show that don’t have bad guys, like witches, scarecrows, or monsters. Every character has to have a smile on their faces most of the time, cannot be sad. Sigh. She’s so emotional.

So we’ve seen all the shows I’ve mentioned like a gazillion times. Every morning, I turn on On Demand on our Comcast box, and there’s always only two episodes for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Over and over again. She already knows what’s going to happen next, and would shout out the answers or repeat what they say. I have to admit she does watch a lot TV, because I work from home, but she does play with her mini Dora books, Lego, and draw.

One good thing about her is that she is able to play by herself for an extended period of time. Here’s how she plays:
Putting stuff in bags, boxes, take them out again, and put them back.
Play cooking. Stir with spoon, pretend drinking, etc.
Putting stuff on stuff, for example, a toy on Cayenne’s back.
Drawing on everything and anything she sees, including the couch, coffee table, and even her own hands.

Does your toddler like to pinch? Rebecca loves to pinch my arms, my ears. It can be very painful with her nails, and she doesn’t hold back. I just pretend to cry and ask her to say sorry. Before she sleeps she would play with my eyes, nose, ears, hair, and arm. It’s probably some pre-sleeping ritual.

I’m thinking of getting her some kind of wheels for her 2nd birthday, either a toy car or bicycle. I asked her, and she seems to be more excited about driving than riding. I think maybe because she only sees me driving and not cycling. haha. When the weather gets warmer it’ll be great for her to have a trike to take to the park.

What’s Pleo? Or, maybe a better question would be, Who’s Pleo? He’s a lovable little robot dinosaur that I sort of heard a year ago, thought it was cool, but somehow forgot about it, until yesterday, when Engadget did a post on their new baby. I checked out their site, and gasped at the price – $350 for the little one. Sigh.

Here’s my concern. I’m always intrigued with robotic toys, from the now departed AIBO, WoWee’s toys (not too fascinating) and now, Ugobe’s creation – Pleo. The original AIBO costs around $1,500, and they were just way beyond my budget. They did come out with lower-end versions called Latte and Macaron, but still expensive at $800 each. So now Pleo is definitely cheaper than its predecessors, but I’m not sure it has as much functionality as they did. Should I get one, or a Kettler trike for my daughter? Since she’s two, I’m sure Pleo is more for my entertainment than her, and she might be scared by it. So far, when looking at pictures of Pleo on websites she didn’t exhibit any fear, and when I asked her “Do you want that?”, she said “Yes”.

What I really want to see is a full, unbiased review of Pleo – does he really fulfill Ugobe’s three laws of robotics:
Feel and convey emotion
Be aware of themselves and their environment
Learn and develop over time

Would you just take a look at those big blue eyes and friendly face?