With Vividwireless there is no need for a phone line or a cable outlet. It was easy-peasy and all our devices were instantly connected. I had my laptop on for emails while my iPhone tempted me with Instagram or sat on the desk downloading some music at the same time.

But perhaps the best bit is this  – I’m CONSTANTLY using my phone. Connected to apps, answering emails, downloading images. It doesn’t stop. But neither do the bills and the add-ons. I can easily rack up a monthly mobile phone bill in the hundreds because I can’t stay within my data limit and my phone provider just keeps piling more data on – at a cost.

Getting home and having my phone instantly connect to our unlimited 4G LTE Vividwireless internet access is something I have become very used to and very fond of. Then can let Millie watch Peppa Pig on the ABC for Kids app then download images someone has sent me for work without that awful feeling that I’ll be pinged for going over my data limit.

The Vividwireless service provides up to 10 mbps download and 1 mbps upload.

Hubby has been able to quickly and easily connect to his work remotely and rely on the service staying connected while doing so.

Plans start at just $29 a month with unlimited GB access for only $89 per month, allowing you to download as many movies, games or as much music as you like (acceptable use policy applies for the unlimited plan).

The sleek Vividwireless modem

We had no issues with connection. With the simple set-up, I’m sold. Now we’ve given it a go and discovered how well it works, it will be very hard to live without.

Keen to get connected? Vividwireless products and services are available online, by phoning 1300 327 837 or in store from Harvey Norman and The Good Guys.

To check coverage in your area and for more information go to vividwireless.com.au

The modem costs $199 for month-to-month plans with no lock-in contract or 24 month internet plans with a $0 upfront modem cost are available for online and phone orders ($10 delivery fee applies).

*MillieMummyMelbourne received a nominal payment and was provided a Vividwireless modem and a month of unlimited internet access for the purposes of a review

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It’s apps. They’re great. Besides your usual, EVERYONE must have apps (Instagram, Facebook, Urbanspoon, Shazam) there’s numerous pregnancy/baby/parenting ones that are as handy as a wet wipe.

Throughout my pregnancy I used Baby Bump. Enter your due date and each week there’s some info about what’s happening to you, how baby is growing (and strangely the size bub would be if it were a fruit or veg) and a countdown so you know how many days you have left before you’ll be able to see what you’ve been lugging around for 9 months.

It has tips and limited info, but I just liked to be able to peek at it every now and then. It was free and certainly added to my excitement about having a baby as each week my colleagues would ask me how big bub was. “It’s a grapefruit already? Wowsers!”

There’s lots of similar ones out there and some can be quite involved, with space for your bump pics or the ability to connect with other mums-to-be.

Once we brought Millie home and I was in my ‘zombie cow’ state (half asleep and breastfeeding around-the-clock) I found the free app Baby Feed quite useful.

It charts how long baby fed for, on what side, how long it’s been between feeds and if you do a nappy change before/after a feed you can record if it was a poo or just a wee.

I didn’t use it for long, but Baby Feed was good in the early days when you just can’t remember any details about anything. The only problem was this zombie cow often forgot to start or stop the timer. Never mind.

I continue to use The Wonder Weeks app after being told about it in one of my first mother’s group meetings.

The Wonder Weeks is a book written by an infant development expert from the Netherlands and has been condensed for use on an iPhone or android mobile.

After entering your baby’s birth date (or corrected age in Millie’s case – she was prem and born 4 weeks early) it will provide a chart in weeks and indicate when your bub will go through a ‘leap’, or developmental milestone.

According to the author, leaps are when your baby’s brain is changing and so coincide with fussy periods your baby might have. So if bub is particularly sooky or miserable, it’s likely he or she is in the middle of a mental development phase.

It’s certainly interesting. The chart shows what stage your baby is at in terms of age and shows upcoming leaps with a solid line and indicates the weeks your bub might be fussy (storm cloud) or happy (sunshine).

Some mums look to the chart and dread the stormy periods because their bubs behave almost exactly as the chart predicts.

I didn’t really notice too many swings in Millie’s attitude to worry about the pending storm clouds, but it was great to read a summary of the leap as well as to learn what her new abilities would be and when we’d start to see her do them.

The app charts your baby’s leaps until they are 84 weeks old (Millie is about half way through).

Have you discovered any useful baby or parenting apps? Tell me what they are below.

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You see, the kids have been busy playing with their LEGO Duplo every chance they get for some weeks now. Not unusual because they often play with their Duplo, except now there’s an exciting new element that’s added another dimension to their play time and they are crazy about it! I’m not really sure what the jolly man in red is going to deliver on December 25 that would top this?

LEGO has teamed up with Amazon’s Alexa to release LEGO Duplo Stories, a new way to elevate creative play with Duplo.

LEGO Duplo Stories helps preschool kids to develop constructive, exploratory and role-play skills using just their voice and an Alexa-enabled device.

Millie, 5, and Finn, 2, are within the age bracket that the game is best suited to and they both love it equally. And they play together! Can I get a hallelujah?

LEGO Duplo Stories covers 10 themes based on new and existing Duplo sets.

The kids have two decent sized boxes of Duplo and have been able to play along with all the stories using their collection.

Together with my help, they decide the way the story goes while guided by Alexa. It’s a digital ‘choose your own adventure’ and is heaps of fun.

The different stories, told through any Alexa-enabled device, help advance constructive, exploratory and role-play skills with tasks ranging from numeric exercises to colour recognition and creative building challenges.

We have the Echo Spot (rrp $200), a compact device that sits neatly out of sight when not being used, but flashes into action when the kids call out that they are ready to play “LEGO Duplo Stories”.

There are stories that every preschooler will love, helping them to play along with a simple tale and use Duplo to recreate the story they hear.

There’s truck, plane, car, boat and plane stories and a range of stories for the animal lovers too (rabbit, cow, cat, bird and dog).

Millie had no trouble answering the voice and Alexa had no trouble understanding her instructions. It was a bit trickier for Finn to know when to answer Alexa and verbalise what way he wanted the story to go, but at two years old he did well (and it will only get easier as he grows). I only had to prompt him every time he needed to speak to keep the story flowing.

Finn did love digging through his Duplo to find the associated pieces for the story and his little face lit up when the story corresponded to the piece he was holding. I think he thought it was magic.

As a mother, I love that their playtime is the perfect mix of digital technology and physical play and not once have they had to look at a screen.

*MillieMummyMelbourne was gifted an Amazon Eco Spot and the LEGO Duplo Town Steam Train set for the purposes of a review.

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