During the BlogHer@Home festivities, one of the two prizes I entered to win was a cute wooden teether from Little Alouette (the other was a netbook). I was lucky enough to win the teether, and I requested one shaped like a giraffe, since one of Maia’s favourite toys is a rubber teething giraffe and I thought it’d be cute to continue along on the same theme. As it turned out, Little Alouette’s owner was heading out of town and didn’t have any giraffes on hand, so when she returned from vacation she created a giraffe just for us (AWESOME!) and sent it out.
I smiled when the envelope arrived: she had drawn a few hearts on the back, and a big one on the back with “Blogher at Home” written in the middle. I thought that was just really sweet.
GiGi the giraffe is beautifully made and smooth, but that smoothness does not come from a slick polish — rather from natural flax seed oil that is used to finish Little Alouette products. Maia immediately wanted to hold GiGi and chew on it, and it held her attention for awhile. She was still playing with it off and on when Chris came home, but as he and I sat on the couch talking about our day, Maia toppled over and fell on GiGi. The one point on the toy that is not entirely rounded, the ear, caught her on her lip and cut it. Wounds on the mouth bleed heavily, and I admit, I totally freaked out to see blood smeared across her cheek. GiGi was immediately tucked away.
Recently, since Maia’s movements have grown more steady, we’ve brought GiGi out again to play with. I have to admit, I’m not really sure how I feel about this toy. I think it’s lovely, I like that it has the hole in the centre so Maia can hold it easily, I like that it’s all-natural, but I can’t get past the fact that it’s WOOD. And therefore HARD. Now that she has a tooth coming in, I really worry about her chewing on something wooden. Will it chip her tooth? If she bites down too hard, will it push her tooth out of the socket? I’m not sure. I think I’m planning on taking GiGi away again for awhile.
The good news, though, is that when she’s old enough to make up stories about her toys, she’ll have two giraffes to play with! I wonder what sorts of adventures they’ll share with her.
Pros:
- Beautiful, hand-made, all-natural item
- Lots of variety available in the shapes
- Not an obvious teething/baby toy, so can grow into a childhood plaything
- I appreciate the personal attention from the owner
Cons:
- On the first day of owning it, baby injured herself with it
- Not sure how I feel about my baby gnawing on a piece of wood
Please note:
This product was not sent to me for review and I was not asked to write this review. I just feel a little conflicted about GiGi and wanted to share my thoughts!
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