GET SOPHIE!!’ is an all too familiar exclamation in our house. I admit that I have been known to bellow the phrase at the bottom of the stairs at the top of my voice whilst sighing in the process. I’m not fooling myself; I’m not about to win any awards for ‘Most Ladylike Woman of the Year‘ any time soon.

Before you get to thinking that Sophie is a favoured aunt or some kind of super nanny, allow me to set the record straight. Sophie is…a giraffe.

Those of you with children and actually those of you without, will already be familiar with the squeaky rubber teething toy complete with coal black eyes and a dash of blush that the ladies on the Tom Ford beauty counter would be proud of. Sophie is a girl who knows she’s got sass and totally owns it – at least that’s what I tell myself.

It was actually my mum that bought our original Sophie. I confess that at first I couldn’t really see the appeal; she looked a bit like a chew toy that you would give a dog. Granted she looked like a super duper deluxe version but a squeaky chew toy nonetheless… ‘But what does she do?’, I asked, ‘apart from squeak?‘. Whilst mum waxed lyrical about the natural rubber and the ribbed neck that supposedly soothes babies’ gums, I wasn’t convinced.

Hector told me or rather showed me otherwise. He adores Sophie and with the exception of the science model which I talked about in this post and his Maileg mice, she is most definitely his favourite toy. Initially he adored chewing on her nose, then it was her ears but now it seems that it’s all about the hooves. I can’t tell you why he’s managed to work his way round her anatomy – perhaps there’s a logical reason for doing so or perhaps he’s just trying to cover all the bases.

I’m the first to admit that I’m a marketeer’s dream; we now have the comforter and the teething ring in addition to the original Sophie and I won’t lie to you when I say that I have my eye on a couple of the bath toys too. I call it brand loyalty – my husband tells me I am an easy sell.

Perhaps he’s right, perhaps I’m a total schmuck, but I’ve not yet come across a mum who a) doesn’t have a Sophie in her possession and b) doesn’t rave about how wonderful she is and how she’s saved a teething related disaster on more than one occasion. I’m prepared to hedge my bets then that I’m not the first mum to holler ‘Where’s Sophie?!’

And then about a month ago I found out that Sophie La Girafe also had an organic skincare range too. Did you know about it? Since then we’ve been lucky enough to try the bubble bath as well as the face cream. Confession time here… I say ‘we’ as I’ve also been indulging in a spot of pampering once the child is in bed much to my delight. The cream is gentle enough to use on his skin but works a treat on my dehydrated face (honestly has anyone else found that their skin has gone haywire since giving birth?) without any greasy side effects. And the bubble bath is soapily luxurious without being too heavy on the scent side of things which I’m not a fan of in baby products. I mean a baby should smell like a baby, right? Regardless if it works for mummy and baby then that can only be a good thing particularly as price wise they are at the top end of the budget. A problem shared is a problem halved…or something to that effect.

So are you a Sophie addict or have you found that she’s not really worked for you? Would you recommend her to your pregnant friends? And have any of you tried the Sophie skincare range? What did you think? Are there any other products you feel I should try?

I’d love to hear what you have to say…