Some toys can just bring the most immense joy in the power of their simplicity. Such is the case with Fisher-Price’s Ready for Potty Baby Dora. This baby Dora is the perfect companion for a little girl that’s learning the basics of going to the potty.

Your girl can play with feeding her the bottle and then place her on the potty and chant with her “We did it!”,” “¡Lo hicimos!”

Of course, Ready for Potty Baby Dora is bilingual and as cute as she can be.

Speaking of cute, you must watch this video my husband and I did starring our girl Camila and her new buddy, Ready Potty Baby Dora. ¡De lo más cute!

Oh, and make sure you scroll down after the video to enter the giveaway for your chance to win your own Ready Potty Baby Dora!

Find it at Amazon for $24.88.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I can’t believe our first press tour is done and our Bilingual is Better launch party is over! Ana and I had such a packed schedule last week that it all felt a bit like a blur… until Thursday when the day of the fiesta arrived and we were beyond excited to be able to share our book with so many wonderful people, including a few celebrities and a lot of chiquititos! As well as a ton of media!

The party, beautifully put together by Zikei Events, had two major sponsors and today we’re bringing you highlights from one of them: Fisher-Price. But first let me start by telling you that the venue for the party was, simply put, perfecto! I’m sure those of you who live in South Florida have heard of Cool de Sac because I know that, as a mom of two little ones, if I had something similar near me, I would have a lifetime membership.

If you’ve never been, I think I should just let the photos explain what this awesome space is all about. Suffice it to say that there was not one kid in that place who wasn’t having a blast — especially with the awesome bilingual toys brought by Fisher-Price, which included those from their Laugh & Learn line, as well as the Potty Baby Dora and the Fantastic Gymnastics Dora.

The party was a huge success! We loved seeing so much support from so many people we love and meeting a bunch of news ones who, like us, believe that Bilingual is Better!

We have tons of photos from the event, but we figured the best way for all of you to enjoy them would be with a slideshow. So click away and enjoy!

[Show as slideshow]

The 2012 Summer Olympics are finally here!

We just love the energy that’s generated during an Olympic season and all the fantastic opportunities to show our kids how far one can get by having a real passion, powered by motivation, persistence and hard-work.

And that’s precisely what I got to chat about with Nastia Liukin, 5-time Olympic medalist and gymnast, last week during a recorded Skype conversation. Nastia became a member of the U.S. junior national team when she was 12 years old and won the National all-around title at the age of 13. Since 2005, Nastia has been a key member of the U.S. Senior team. Although she didn’t make it to the Olympics this year, she will be heading to London to cheer on her teammates.

Nastia has partnered up with Fisher-Price to inspire young gymnasts with the launch of Fantastic Gymnastics Dora doll – just in time for the Olympics!

Check out our interview to learn more about Nastia and how she got started with gymnastics through the motivation of her mother and father, both Olympic medalists in gymnastics themselves. She also shares with us just how important it has been for her career and personal life to be bilingual in English and Russian and how that has kept her in touch with her grandmother.

Oh, and then scroll down to enter for your chance to win a brand new Fantastic Gymnastics Dora doll. Yes, she’s bilingual!

{Photo credit: ©2012 Mattel, Inc. All Rights Reserved.}

The video is part of Nickelodeon’s new Dora the Explorer prime time special “Dora’s Christmas Carol Adventure” which premieres this Sunday, Dec. 6th at 8pm (ET/PT).

The song itself is also available for download and/or purchase via major online and retail venues. The CD, from Nickelodeon and Sony Music, includes 16 new holiday songs performed by Dora, featuring classic carols with a Latin twist, including “Deck the Halls,” “Jingle Bells,” and “Santa Claus Is Coming Aquí!” Of course, we suggest you get it via La Tiendita (and support us in the process) or try your chance at winning both the DVD and CD at our sister site, SpanglishBabyFinds.

Dora’s Christmas Carol Adventure–La Noche Buena

Our amiga Dora has gotten herself and her friends into yet another adventure.  This time she volunteers to take Swiper off Santa’s naughty list by showing him the real spirit of la Navidad is giving, not taking away, or “swiping”, in his case.  To accomplish this, they take him to revisit the Swiper of Christmas past, present and future.  A classic holiday tale, told Dora-style.

The first clip I saw of this Nickelodeon primetime special, “Dora’s Christmas Carol Adventure”, was the video of her singing “La Noche Buena.”  Head over to SpanglishBaby to watch it with your kids, if you haven’t already.  I automatically liked that it’s a catchy song to introduce young kids to the meaning of the word for Christmas Eve in Spanish:  Noche Buena.  Plus, it reflects the party atmosphere and even glamour (notice how they’re all dressed in party suits!) that Noche Buena traditionally is in Latin homes.

The CD, Dora´s Christmas, features two other exclusive music video along with the 16 classic holiday tunes performed by Dora-with a Latin twist.

I found it hilarious that Dora the Explorer’s version of Santa Claus not only speaks Spanish, actually Spanglish, but also has brown-tone skin.  I had no idea you could actually tan so much in the North Pole! It wasn’t necessary to portray a Latino-esque Santa, but it’s totally cute.  Hey, we could even call him Santa José!  OK, maybe not…

Unfortunately, there´s no Spanish-language track available on this Dora the Explorer movie, either.  But there´s enough Spanish and Latino traditions to make it part of your home-viewing repertoire.  There is, however, a companion hardcover book in Spanish called Dora y La Aventura de Navidad that would be perfect to have as well.

In any case, watch it for yourself and start a new family Christmas tradition leading up to la Noche Buena with “Dora´s Christmas Carol Adventure.”  This one-hour special premieres Sunday, Dec. 6th on Nickelodeon at 8pm (ET/PT). It will encore on Nickelodeon on Monday, Dec. 7, at 9 a.m. (ET/PT) and on Nick Jr. on Sunday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m. (ET).  No worries if you don´t have cable, you can still watch it by downloading it from iTunes starting on Monday, Dec. 14th, or purchasing your very own copy here.  It also makes a wonderful gift!

A Giveaway!!

This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to Random.org, the winner is:  #14-Beth Shepherd.  Felicidades!

Of course we’ve hooked one up for you to win! One lucky winner will receive both “Dora’s Christmas Carol Adventure” DVD and Dora´s Christmas CD.  How giving is that?!

For your chance to win all you have to do is leave a comment telling us which of the 16 tracks on this CD is your, or your child’s, favorite and why. Click on the widget below to sample the songs:

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway. If you want to up your chances at winning, then click here to learn how to get additional entries.

This giveaway ends Sunday, December 6th at midnight EST.

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

{Make sure you’re subscribed to the SBFinds feed via email or RSS so that you can be notified of our weekly Finds, special discounts and more awesome giveaways.}

Our little Dora moved to the city, grew long hair, replaced her furry friends for new Explorer Girls BFFs and now wears a hot pink dress and bedazzling jewelry.  Ay, our niña is all grown up.  Next, she´ll be wanting a Quinceañera!

The much discussed arrival of Mattel´s new Dora the Explorer franchise aimed at girls ages 5-8 is finally here after some eight months of waiting and guessing what kind of girl Dora would grow up to be.

Well, from the press release I received yesterday (haven´t played with the real thing yet)  announcing the arrival of Dora Links as part of the new Explorer Girls line, I can tell you she´s pretty trendy, techie, green and still very bilingual.

Your tween will get a new group of interactive friends who live in an imaginary Puerte Verde which, by the way, is full of Latino neighbors.  The Dora doll connects interactively to this city via USB to your computer.  Once you set up a private account for you child on DoraLinks she can start going on her own adventures with the Explorer Girls.

What has amazed me the most about this whole new interactive doll concept is the way your child can make changes to Dora on-screen and then see them happening to the actual doll.  So, let´s say she changes the color of her eyes to blue on the site, then look at the Dora doll and her eyes will now be blue.  You can even make her hair shorter!  How cool is that?

Dora Links retails at $59.99 and is now available at  major retail and online stores.  Of course, your best bet is to get it through La Tiendita and pay only $50.46!

{We´re working hard to get a Dora Links doll to give away to a lucky reader, so make sure you’re subscribed to the SBFinds feed via email or RSS so that you can be notified when it happens.}

My girl’s favorite phrase lately (said in a very dictator-like tone) is “¡A bailar!”  She manages to get us all dancing on cue and on the spot.  So you can imagine her bliss when she opened the huge Fisher Price box to discover her sorpresa:  a brand new Dance With Me Dora!  Her glee turned into euphoria as soon as she pressed the crystal on Dora’s necklace and the first words out of the doll’s mouth were “¡Vamos a bailar!”

What happened next was that Dora magically and interactively led us into an improvised dance party in our kitchen.  We danced to the música que trae por dentro, literally, and tried our best to follow her choreographed dance moves and bilingual leads.  She spins, she walks on her tippy toes, she guides you in Spanish and English, she lifts her arms up to the sky.  My daughter does too.  I did (had) to, as well.  What’s a mom to do?

After the fiesta in the kitchen, we decided to pamper Dora by brushing her hair, putting on her barette and admiring her new dress.  She’s sporting the threads she wears in “Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom”, her new TV film to be released later this month and the inspiration for this glittering, twirling musical doll.

I would, however, warn you from letting her dance on the table.  My girl’s now decided she likes to watch her dance and caer to the wooden floors.  Not sure how long that can last.

Find Dance with me Dora via La Tiendita, powered by Amazon.

A Giveaway!!

This giveaway is now closed.  Congrtulations to our winner:  Beth Shepherd!!!

We’re giving away one Dance With Me Dora (Retail value of $59.99) to a lucky winner!  For a chance to win it tell us who the doll is for and why she/he would love it.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway.  If you want to up your chances at winning, then click here to learn how to get additional entries.

This giveaway ends Friday, September 18th, at midnight EST.

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

{Make sure you’re subscribed to the SBFinds feed via email or RSS so that you can be notified of our weekly Finds, special discounts and more awesome giveaways.}